More trouble in Afghanistan

By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
5:09PM BST 08 Jun 2013


The killings in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika came on the same day that one Italian soldier died when a grenade was thrown into an armoured vehicle in Farah province, in the far west of the country.
Scores of foreign soldiers have been killed in 'insider attacks’ in Afghanistan, breeding fierce mistrust and undermining Western efforts to hand over control of the country to local forces.
Last year more than 60 Nato troops, including 14 Britons, were killed by rogue members of the Afghan security forces.
The attack took place on a garrison in Kher Kot in eastern Paktika where the US army is training local forces to take over the fight against the Taliban.
The Afghan soldier had drawn his weapon on the US trainers, two soldiers and a civilian contractor, after a furious row during an instruction session. The Paktika provincial government issued a statement saying “a verbal dispute erupted” between the Afghan soldier and a US soldier. The Afghan soldier was shot dead when other troops on the base returned fire.
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“An individual wearing an ANA (Afghan National Army) uniform turned his weapon against the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) service members in eastern Afghanistan,” according to Nato, which added it was investigating potential ties to the Taliban.
Separately an Italian soldier was killed in western Afghanistan when an insurgent threw a grenade as a patrol was returning to its base.
Green on blue attacks have deeply shaken the confidence and trust of the two sides as the withdrawal of most of the international forces starts in earnest.
Insider attacks accounted for one in every five combat deaths suffered by Nato-led forces in Afghanistan and 16 percent of all American combat casualties Most of the attacks have been carried out by Taliban sympathisers, or at the instigation of the rebel group.
The Taliban insurgents boast the insider attacks are a demonstration of the deep distrust and resentment of ordinary Afghans, even including those who have signed up to defend the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai.
Taliban infiltration of Afghan security forces has forced Nato to take special measures to detect and weed out soldiers and police who have gone over to the other side despite outward loyalty to the coalition.
Nato announced it was limiting joint patrols with Afghan forces. Only large operations would be conducted jointly, with joint patrols evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Nato said.
The coalition has created special teams of “guardian angels” - Nato soldiers who provide a round-the-clock armed guard for their colleagues while they are training their Afghan counterparts.
But Nato commanders also claim many of the incidents are sparked by personal disputes rather than an ideological divide. The Afghan soldier responsible for yesterday’s attack had no known connection to the insurgency.
Saturday's deaths brought to 16 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month. On Thursday, seven Georgian soldiers died in a truck bombing at their base in the south.
The Italian convoy of three Lynx armoured vehicle apparently had been slowed by traffic near an intersection when an attacker ran up and threw an explosive device into the lead vehicle, the ministry said.
It added that the three wounded soldiers’ injuries were not life-threatening.
The Taliban quickly took responsibility for the attack, with spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claiming that the attacker was an 11-year-old boy but Farah province provincial government spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandai says an adult man, who may have been wearing a uniform, was seen throwing a grenade.
The dead soldier was later named as Giuseppe La Rosa, a 31-year-old member of the Third Bersaglieri Regiment.
About 7,000 new recruits a month join the Afghan army alone as the security forces expand rapidly to make up for the withdrawal of combat forces by the end of 2014.
There are now about 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including 66,000 from the United States. Most of the pullout is set for this winter.
The remaining smaller force is expected to be mostly American advisers.



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Cameron Visits British Troops In AfghanistanThe PM insists his strategy in Afghanistan is right as a top soldier says talks with the Taliban should have been tried long ago.9:10pm UK, Saturday 29 June 2013 Video: The Prime Minister met troops on the front line of the war in Afghanistan
Enlarge EmailBy Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

David Cameron travelled to Afghanistan to pay tribute to the work of British troops on Armed Forces Day.

The Prime Minister made an unannounced visit to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province where he met troops on the front line, dined with them in their living quarters and took control of a bomb disposal robot.

He also met Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai in the capital Kabul amid faltering efforts to engage the Taliban in a political process of reconciliation.

Mr Cameron's trip to Afghanistan followed comments made by General Nick Carter, a senior British Army officer and deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).


The Prime Minister holds a press conference with President Karzai

Gen Carter told The Guardian there may have been opportunities to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table more than a decade ago.

"The problems that we have been encountering over the period since then are essentially political problems, and political problems are only ever solved by people talking to each other," he said.

Speaking in Lashkar Gah, Mr Cameron told Sky News: "I think you can argue about whether the settlement we put in place after 2001 could have been better arranged.

"Of course you can make that argument. Since I became Prime Minister in 2010 I have been pushing all the time for a political process and that political process is now under way.


Mr Cameron was shown some of the latest surveillance equipment

"But at the same time I know that you cannot bank on that, which is why we have built up the Afghan army, built up the Afghan police, supported the Afghan government so that after our troops have left ... this country shouldn't be a haven for terrorists."

Mr Cameron, who later moved on to Pakistan for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari, also told soldiers about plans for a permanent memorial to those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since 2001.

The monument for the 444 British personnel killed in the conflict will be built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and will be funded by fines paid by banks following the Libor scandal.

Meanwhile, a senior British military source suggested that Nato forces would need to assist the Afghans for up to five years after the combat role ends in 2014.


The Prime Minister joined British troops for a meal at Camp Bastion

The British military have committed to running an academy for Afghan officers but the source suggested that Nato could also be required to help with close air support, casualty evacuation and logistics.

A senior No 10 source said it will be for the National Security Council to decide what the UK's ongoing role would be but added: "We have done our fair share."

"The Prime Minister has been clear that we have paid a heavy price and already given a lot," he said.

"Our combat troops will leave at the end of next year.

"The only military commitments we have made beyond 2014 are to part-run the officer academy and to provide financial support to sustain Afghan forces. We have not been asked to do anything more.

"The Prime Minister's view is that we have done our fair share and it will now be for other Isaf partners to carry the main burden."

Afghanistan: Taliban Attack On Nato Compound





Last Updated: 8:02AM 02/07/2013





Insurgents including a suicide bomber in a truck have killed six people in an attack on a Nato compound.


The early morning assault began when the truck packed with explosives detonated itself in a vehicle bay, leaving a hole six metres deep and about 15 metres wide.

Three other suicide attackers wearing explosive vests then began a gunfight with guards. All the attackers were killed after about an hour.

Police chief General Ayoub Salangi said two truck drivers waiting to enter the compound and four Nepalese guards died in the attack.

Three other employees were wounded, he said.

The Nato compound, based in the north of Kabul, is used by a number of foreign companies supplying Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Atiqullah, a 54-year-old truck driver, said some of his colleagues had been wounded in the attack.

"I woke up to go for morning prayer and suddenly there was a very heavy explosion followed by gunfire," he said.

"We escaped from the compound and went to another company nearby. Security forces came in 30 minutes and rescued us."

A spokesman for the Taliban said it carried out the attack and said its fighters had entered what it described as "an important foreign base and logistics warehouse".

In June, the Nato coalition formally handed over all security operations across the country to Afghan forces.

But casualties among local forces are mounting as insurgents step up attacks.

Nearly 300 Afghan local and national police have been killed in the last month, according to the Afghan interior ministry.

In the eastern city of Jalalabad this week a bomb disposal expert risked his life to defuse a suicide vest

Nato-led combat troops are preparing to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Related Stories
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Is David Cameron for real??? He was in the Commons a bit earlier today discussing his visit to Afghanistan, pledging £7 million aid to Afghanistan and must have known about this attack.!!!! Apparently there will be a token force left in Afghanistan after 2014

Here's the report and link Panda.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/world/asia/suicide-attack-afghanistan.html?_r=0

Suicide Attack at Afghan Base Kills at Least 9By AZAM AHMED
Published: July 2, 2013

KABUL, Afghanistan — Suicide attackers struck a civilian base on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, early Tuesday morning, blasting their way into the compound and killing four security guards before the five attackers were fatally shot.

Suicide attackers struck a civilian base on the outskirts of Kabul on Tuesday, police said.

The attack took place at 4:30 a.m. when a truck laden with explosives detonated at Camp North Gate, an operation about 24 miles from Bagram Air Base that is primarily used to house employees of the military contractor DynCorp International. The remaining attackers stormed the compound, but were shot by security officers in the ensuing firefight. Four Nepali guards and one Afghan security guard died in the fighting; five civilians were wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of assaults aimed at the capital. Last week, the Taliban launched a sophisticated attack against the presidential palace in Kabul, while insurgents killed as many as 17 people during a June 10 attack on the Supreme Court in Kabul.

With typical flair, a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the insurgents killed 33 people and wounded 44 others, vastly inflating the official casualty count.

The Taliban have kept up the pace of attacks in the capital, refusing to ease the pressure on the government even as a bid to restart peace talks has stalled in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban recently opened an office in Doha to facilitate peace talks, but hopes were quickly dashed after they raised their own flag and placed a sign that appeared to suggest it was akin to an embassy, infuriating the Afghan leadership.

“This attack has no connection to any peace process whatsoever,” Mr. Mujahid said in a statement. “We will continue our military operations until our country is liberated from hands of invaders.”

Violence has continued apace this summer, exacting a particularly heavy toll among Afghan police officers. The Interior Ministry said 299 officers had been killed from May 10 through June 13. During the same period, 617 police were injured.

While it is difficult to know the precise percentage increase in Afghan police deaths over previous years (the Interior Ministry said it did not have the data), the increasing casualties come as Afghans have taken greater responsibility for handling security in the country, with coalition forces officially handing over responsibility last month.

Afghan donkey-bomber kills three NATO troops













Soldiers and their Afghan interpreter killed in Taliban attack as bomber rides donkey into Afghan and NATO army convoy.



Last Modified: 23 Jul 2013 11:58
















































A suicide bomber has rode a donkey into an Afghan and NATO military convoy, killing three soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed on Tuesday three casualties in a bombing in eastern Afghanistan but did not provide their nationalities or any other details.

Afghan authorities said the attack happened in Wardak province, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency just south of the capital Kabul.

Ataullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial administration, told AFP news agency that a suicide bomber riding a donkey blew himself up and killed three NATO soldiers and their Afghan interpreter.

Four Afghan soldiers who were also in the convoy in Sayedabad district were wounded.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban are behind almost all the suicide attacks in the country.

Along with roadside bombings, the suicide attacks often carried out by multiple fighters storming buildings and government facilities in big cities are the group's main tactic.

Wardak is traversed by the highway between Kabul and southern and western provinces, including the key city of Kandahar in the south.

So far this month, seven members of the US-led international coalition have been killed, for a total of 98 this year. Of those, 70 have been identified as Americans.

YET MORE TROUBLE IN AFGHANISTAN;ISIS ARE RECRUITING EX-TALIBAN FIGHTERS AND APPEAR TO BE PLANNING A BASE IN SOUTH AFGHANISTAN.
MISSPELLED CUNTRY,COULD CAUSE A RIOT.

ISIS HAS EXPLOSED A BOMB KILLING 35 CIVILIANS IN KABUL???????????????,MIGHT HAVE BEEN JALALABAD ACTUALY

TALIBAN HAS SEND A WARNING TO AL BAGHDADI SAYING THAT THEY DON'T WANT ISIS IN AFGHANISTAN.
THERE COULD BE TROUBLE BETWEEN THEM.

Great thread this.Puts isis into perspective quite nicely.

Needs nsfw or maybe spellcheck gone into meltdown ?

Doubt even the forums Islamaphobe will be able to generate a suitable response

Great irony,keep it up we need cheering up !

Badboy wrote:YET MORE TROUBLE IN AFGHANISTAN;ISIS ARE RECRUITING EX-TALIBAN FIGHTERS AND APPEAR TO BE PLANNING A BASE IN SOUTH AFGHANISTAN.
MISSPELLED CUNTRY,COULD CAUSE A RIOT.

Good Afternoon Badboy

The trouble with these extreme terror groups is that anyone at all who doesn't agree with them 110% so to speak, is classed as an infidel, and in several places  the Qur'an urges that they be killed. This depends on interpretation and to them, there is only one. So combining this with another of your posts it doesn't surprise me at all that the two terror groups are diametrically opposed to each other. That there are some defections isn't too surprising either. You could describe it as "their road to Damascus" or opportunism depending on how cynical you are. There is absolutely no doubt at all that in every terror group there are some who are out for themselves perhaps even quite a lot. Knowing how their minds work, they may see greater rewards in it for themselves with IS.

One of the lads I still exchange e-mails with in Oman tells me they cannot understand the mentality of the extremists either. Mubarak (which means blessing in Arabic) is a devout Muslim,, and to him the Qur'an is also quite clear  Islam itself means Peace and he doesn't understand how and why these groups can do the things they do in the name of religion. OK they are more relaxed over Islam in Oman than they are in Saudi Arabia, but again Two of the guys I correspond with, say the same, Yahya is a Sunni and Fawzi a Shi'ite. They are the best of friends and don't see why others are not.

So Yes old son, there may be even more trouble brewing in Afghanistan is IS are indeed trying to set up a base there.

THEY RECKON THERE WILL BE CONFRONATIONS BETWEEN ISIS SUPPORTERS AND OTHER ISLAMIC MILITANTS IN SOUTH ASIA,POSSIBLY BY END OF NEXT YEAR.

TALIBAN HAS TAKEN OVER TWO DISTRICTS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

Badboy wrote:TALIBAN HAS TAKEN  OVER TWO DISTRICTS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

This is simply confirmation of all that we said all along. As soon as the coalition troops moved out, and despite the thousands of lives lost, and the $ billions that have been thrown in there, nothing has been accomplished. the poppy fields are still in production, and the heroin made from them is still destroying lives. The Taliban have well infiltrated the police and armed forces for the simple reason that they never went away. The might of the Red Army couldn't do it, and neither could we.

Within a very short time women will be back behind those fashionable blue tents with bars at eye level. The Taliban will be beating anyone who crosses their path. To some it's just a difference in degree. So far this year alone almost as many police and armed forces have died as coalition forces died in the whole 13 years of war. Not to mention innocent Afghanis dying in their hundreds each year.

Killing on the grounds that the killer feels superior to some group or other is  utterly wrong. Whether it's the Taliban, IS, al Shabaab, Boko Haraam, Jew haters, so called white supremacists, and if we are honest black supremacists. None of them are right in what they do, but try telling them that when like so many they do not have the ability to reason

TALIBAN LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON AFGHAN PARLIAMENT ATTACKERS KILLED.
IF TALIBAN AND ISIS START FIGHTING EACH OTHER,I WONDER WHOM WILL WIN.

Badboy wrote:TALIBAN LAUNCHED AN ATTACK ON AFGHAN PARLIAMENT ATTACKERS KILLED.
IF TALIBAN AND ISIS START FIGHTING EACH OTHER,I WONDER WHOM WILL WIN.

With luck, they will kill each other off, and make this world a cleaner and safer place. That I think is to much to hope for. Having said that to paraphrase my Mother while they are fighting each other they are leaving us alone. At least hopefully long enough for our leaders to come to their senses.

MULLAH OMAR IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN DEAD THE LAST TWO YEARS.

ISIS AFFILIATES CONTROL $1BILION WORTH OF DRUGS TRADE IN BADAKHSTAN PROVINCE.
ISIS SEEMS TO BE GROWING IN AFGHANISTAN.

IT IS REPORTED THAT A SENIOR TALIBAN LEADER WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED OR KILLED IN A GUNFIGHT WITH OTHER TALIBAN LEADERS,SAW IT IN A FRONT PAGE SNIPPET ON TIMES?

ISIS MILITANTS HAVE OVERRUN 4 DISTRICTS SOUTH OF JALALABAD,REPORTED TO HAVE 1600 MILITANTS UNDER THEIR COMMAND.

TALIBAN HAS SET UP ITS OWN 1,000 STRONG SPECIAL FORCES TO FIGHT ISIS,I WONDER WHOM MIGHT WIN,WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE.