he is said to dwell in the castle of Kronborg, his beard grown down to the floor, and to sleep there until some date when Denmark is in mortal danger, at which time he will rise up and deliver the nation
Showing posts with label War in Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War in Afghanistan. Show all posts
US targeted 2 senior al Qaeda leaders in eastern Afghanistan The US Department of Defense has announced that two senior al Qaeda leaders were targeted in airstrikes in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on Oct. 23. The two jihadists are Faruq al Qatani, who has long served as one of al Qaeda’s top commanders in Afghanistan, and Bilal al Utabi. Both have been involved in al Qaeda’s efforts to strike the US and the West, according to the Pentagon. “We are still assessing the results of the strikes, but their demise would represent a significant blow to the terrorist group’s presence in Afghanistan, which remains committed to facilitating attacks against the United States, our allies, and partners,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. Qatani has been al Qaeda’s “emir for northeastern Afghanistan” and was “assigned by the group’s leadership to re-establish al Qaeda safe havens in Afghanistan,” according to Cook. He was also “a senior planner for attacks against the United States, and has a long history of directing deadly attacks against US forces and our coalition allies.” The Pentagon’s description of Qatani mirrors the short biography provided by the Treasury Department in February, when Qatani was added to the US government’s list of designated terrorists. In addition to his responsibilities inside Afghanistan, Treasury said Qatani has contributed to “al Qaeda’s external operations planning,” meaning plots against the West. [See LWJ report, Treasury designates head of al Qaeda’s eastern zone in Afghanistan.] The Pentagon connected Bilal al Utabi to al Qaeda’s anti-Western plans as well. Utabi “is assessed to have been involved in efforts to re-establish a safe haven in Afghanistan from which to threaten the West, and in efforts to recruit and train foreign fighters,” according to Cook’s statement. Cook added that Qatani and Utabi were targeted “[a]fter an extensive period of surveillance … at what was assessed as command-and-control locations in remote areas of Kunar province.” “If these strikes are determined to be successful,” Cook’s press release continued, then “eliminating these core leaders of al Qaeda will disrupt efforts to plot against the United States and our allies and partners around the world, reduce the threat to our Afghan partners, and assist their efforts to deny al Qaeda safe haven in Afghanistan.” Qatani identified as a key figure in Osama bin Laden’s files As The Long War Journal previously reported, Qatani’s importance to al Qaeda can be seen in declassified files recovered during the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011. In a memo to bin Laden dated June 19, 2010, for example, Atiyah Abd al Rahman heaped praise on Qatani. [See LWJ report, Osama Bin Laden’s Files: ‘Very strong military activity in Afghanistan’.] “As I have reported before, we have a good battalion over there [Afghanistan] led by brother Faruq al Qatari [Qatani],” Rahman, who was one of bin Laden’s top lieutenants at the time, wrote. “He is the best of a good crew,” Rahman continued. “He recently sent us a message telling us that he has arranged everything to receive us; he said the locations are good, there are supporters and everything.” Rahman’s memo shows, therefore, that Qatani was deeply involved in the relocation of al Qaeda cadres from northern Pakistan into Afghanistan several years ago. The effort to “re-establish al Qaeda safe havens in Afghanistan” mentioned by the Pentagon in Cook’s statement actually began in 2010, if not sooner. Another missive found in Osama bin Laden’s lair also included a discussion of the move back into Afghanistan. In a letter dated Oct. 21, 2010, bin Laden told Rahman – who ironically was subsequently killed in a US drone strike – that al Qaeda should relocate as many “brothers” as possible to the eastern Afghan provinces of Nuristan, Kunar, Ghazni and Zabul to avoid the US drone campaign in North and South Waziristan. And al Qaeda did just that. Bin Laden knew that Qatani had cleared the way for his al Qaeda comrades to live and fight in Afghanistan. [See LWJ reports, Bin Laden advised relocation of some leaders to Afghanistan due to drone strikes in Waziristan and Osama Bin Laden’s Files: Al Qaeda relocated operatives out of northern Pakistan.] In the years since bin Laden’s death, Qatani continued to support the Taliban-led insurgency, while also plotting terror around the world.
Barack Obama can chalk up another two dead in his efforts to lose everything gained in Afghanistan. The story comes from DAWN.
Gunman kills two Americans near Kabul base, Nato says Two Americans including a civilian were killed when a gunman opened fire near a Nato base in Kabul on Wednesday, with Afghan officials calling it an “insider attack”. “One US service member and one US civilian died as a result of wounds sustained in Kabul today,”said Nato in a statement, adding that three other Americans were wounded in the incident. “The two individuals were killed during an attack near a coalition base by an unknown assailant, who was later killed,” the statement added. The shootout occurred at a military ammunition supply point near Camp Morehead, a base used for Afghan commando training," said an American official. No insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which highlights growing insecurity in Afghanistan as the Taliban step up their nationwide insurgency. Defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri earlier indicated it was a so-called insider attack, saying one Nato soldier had been killed and five others were wounded by a gunman wearing military uniform. Nato said the Americans were conducting duties as part of their mission to train, advise and assist Afghan forces when they came under attack, adding that an investigation had been launched into the incident. “Anytime we lose a member of our team, it is deeply painful,” said top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson. “Our sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and the units of those involved in this incident. To those who continue to target coalition forces. We will continue to pursue our mission to help our partners create a better Afghanistan,” he added. So-called “green-on-blue” attacks ─ when Afghan soldiers or police turn their guns on international troops ─ have been a major problem during Nato's long years fighting alongside Afghan forces. Gunmen wearing Afghan military uniforms shot dead two Romanian soldiers in the southern province of Kandahar in May. In a similar attack in August last year, a man wearing an Afghan military uniform shot dead two American soldiers in the southern opium-rich province of Helmand. And in April last year an American soldier was killed in a firefight between US and Afghan troops in eastern Afghanistan. Western officials say most such attacks stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings rather than insurgent plots. The killings have bred fierce mistrust between local and foreign forces even as the rate of such incidents has dropped in recent years. Nato troops have adopted special security measures in recent years to try to counter the threat. Insider attacks have also plagued Afghan troops, depleting morale and causing mistrust within security ranks. In September, two Afghan soldiers with suspected Taliban links killed at least 12 of their comrades as they slept in the volatile northern province of Kunduz.
This story fromDAWN got ZERO coverage from American main stream media because it further demonstrates how effective Barack Hussein Obama is at LOSING wars. Remember, in 2011, VP Joe Biden said this: "the Taliban per se is not our enemy." Yeah, and Sarah Palin was the dumb one, right?
80 dead, 231 wounded as twin blasts strike Hazara demonstration in Kabul KABUL: Two powerful explosions on Saturday ripped through crowds of minority Hazaras in Kabul who had gathered to protest over a power line, killing at least 80 people and leaving 231 others wounded, Afghan public health ministry said. Islamic State group claimed responsibility for twin explosions. The bombings, apparently aimed at sowing sectarian discord in a country well known for Shia-Sunni harmony, came as thousands of Hazaras gathered to protest over a multi-million-dollar power line. “As a result of the attack 80 people were martyred and 231 others were wounded,” the interior ministry said in a statement. “Based on initial information, the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers... The third attacker was gunned down by security forces.” The Taliban, who are in the middle of their annual summer offensive and are more powerful than IS, strongly denied any involvement in the attack. IS claimed the bombings in a statement carried by its affiliated Amaq news agency, calling it an attack on Shias. One of the march organisers Laila Mohammadi said she arrived at the scene soon after the blast and saw “many dead and wounded people”. 'Horrific attack' The attack came as thousands of demonstrators gathered to demand that a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population. “The horrific attack on a group of peaceful protestors in Kabul demonstrates the utter disregard that armed groups have for human life,” Amnesty International said in a statement. Footage on Afghan television and photographs posted on social media showed a scene of carnage, with numerous bodies and body parts spread across the square. Seddq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said police were working to confirm initial reports of the blast.
A victim was carried to an
ambulance on Tuesday in Kabul after a bombing at the Defense Ministry
killed 64 people and wounded 347.Credit
Jawad Jalali/European Pressphoto Agency The story comes from DAWN.
Death toll from Taliban attack in Kabul rises to 64 KABUL: The Afghan Interior Ministry says the death toll from Tuesday's Taliban attack in Kabul has risen sharply overnight to 64. The Afghan healthy ministry yesterday said at least 320 people were wounded in the attack. The attackers targeted an agency that provides protection for high-ranking government officials, similar to the United States Secret Service. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck outside the compound, and a pair of gunmen entered the compound in the aftermath before being killed in a battle with military forces. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
I remember the suicide bombing attack in Khost, Afghanistan that killed a slew of American CIA personnel like it was yesterday and for now, the news to come out that Pakistan's intelligence group, the ISI, paid the Taliban-associated Haqqani Group to carry out that suicide bomber mission is incredible and jaw dropping. And there is yet to be any response from the Obama administration. Oh wait, it was in 2009. Maybe it was a joint effort by the ISI and the Obama administration.... The story comes from CNS News.
No Comment From U.S. on Claim That Pakistani Intelligence Agency Funded Deadly Attack on CIA Personnel (CNSNews.com) – It was the deadliest attack sustained by the CIA in 26 years, and according to a just-declassified U.S. intelligence cable, Pakistan’s military intelligence agency paid a notorious Islamist terror group $200,000 to carry it out. State Department spokesman John Kirby, asked about the claim Thursday, declined to “speak about intelligence matters.” The shock allegation – that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate financed the Haqqani network’s suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees at Camp Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan on December 30, 2009 – is contained in a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) document, marked secret and dated February 6 of the following year. It was obtained, in heavily-redacted form, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute at The George Washington University. Claims about collusion between the ISI and terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan are not new, but the document indicates that the military intelligence agency of a major recipient of U.S. military funding directly financed the costliest attack against CIA personnel since Hezbollah bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983. (Eight CIA personnel were among 17 Americans killed in Beirut, where a total of 63 people died.) The Haqqani network (HQN), a militant Taliban faction founded by a veteran anti-Soviet mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, has its stronghold in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, just across the border from Khost province. It is led by his son, Sirajuddin, who has a $10 million dollar U.S. reward on his head. The bomb attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman was, according to subsequent book by Washington Post reporter Joby Warrick, carried out by a Jordanian, Humam Khalil al-Balawi, who claimed to have inside information about al-Qaeda and was allowed into the base to share that purported intelligence. Instead he detonated a bomb, killing himself, the seven CIA employees, his Jordanian military intelligence officer handler, and the base’s external security chief, an Afghan named Arghawan, who had driven al-Balawi from the nearby Pakistan border to the camp. The attack was memorialized in the movie Zero Dark Thirty. The declassified Feb. 6, 2010 DIA document includes a heading: “PAKISTAN INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE AND HAQQANI NETWORK INVOLVEMENT IN THE 30 DECEMBER 2009 SUICIDE ATTACK ON FORWARD OPERATING BASE CHAPMAN.” Following a redacted portion, the cable continues, “During discussions at an unknown date between Haqqani, Salar and an unidentified ISI-D officer or Officers, Haqqani and Salar were provided USD 200,000 to enable the attack on Chapman.” (Haqqani is not otherwise identified. The cable may refer to Sirajuddin or possibly his younger brother Badruddin, another HQN militant who was killed in a 2012 U.S. drone strike.) The cable says Haqqani gave the $200,000 to the individual named Salar, who is not further identified. It says Salar passed on the planning details to someone named Mullawi Sakh, who in turn contacted Arghawan. “Arghawan was promised USD 100,000 by Salar for his assistance to enable a suicide mission by an unarmed Jordanian National,” it continues. “Following the attack, Salar was believed to have kept the 100,000 promised to Arghawan because Arghawan died during the suicide attack.” ‘It’s not going to discriminate against a terrorist group’ Asked about the allegation of ISI support for the HQN attack, State Department spokesman Kirby said, “I’m not going to speak about intelligence matters.” “I would just say that we’ve been consistently clear with the highest levels of the government of Pakistan that it must target all militant groups, including the Haqqani network, al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e Toiba,” he said. Asked specifically about the claim relating to “one of your friendly countries paying money to terrorists to kill your personnel,” Kirby said, “I understand the question. I’m not going to speak to intelligence matters or leaked documents.” After some back-and-forth about the provenance of the documents, Kirby was asked, “Do you think the ISI still has links with Haqqani network?” “Listen, I’ve already answered that question,” he replied. “We’ve made it clear what our expectations of the government of Pakistan are, and the government of Pakistan has made it clear publicly, repeatedly that it’s not going to discriminate against groups.” Pakistan is currently the fifth-largest U.S. foreign assistance recipient, with the administration requesting $742 million in aid in fiscal year 2017. A second declassified DIA cable obtained by the National Security Archive, dated Jan. 11, 2009, reads in part, “As of late December 2009, at the end of every month, senior Haqqani network leadership met with the ISID in Islamabad. The meetings were attended by Siraj Haqqani and Badruddin (Haqqani). ISID Col (Nasib) chaired the meetings. ISID Major (Daqud) and Sobedar (Zarim) were also in attendance.” “An unknown amount of funding was provided to the Haqqanis for use in unspecified operations during these meetings. There were two meetings between the ISID and the Haqqani network leadership in December 2009. The first discussed funding for operations in Khowst province. These funds were later provided to tribal elders in Khowst province for their support of the Haqqani network,” it says. “The second meeting involved ISID direction to the Haqqanis to expedite attack preparations and lethality in Afghanistan,” the cable states. Aside from the Chapman attack, the U.S. believes the HQN was responsible for or involved in a number of major terror attacks in Afghanistan, including the deadly July 2008 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul (also reportedly carried out with ISI involvement, according to communications intercepted by the U.S.); a May 2010 suicide bombing in Kabul that five American soldiers, one Canadian soldier and 12 Afghan civilians; a Sept. 2011 bomb attack on a NATO outpost that killed five Afghans and injured 77 U.S. soldiers; and a Sept. 2011 assault on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. In September 2011, then-Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told a Senate committee that the Haqqani network was a “veritable arm” of the ISI. The statement caused an uproar in Pakistan. The ISI’s main focus through its more than 60-year history has been India, Pakistan’s rival. Governments in New Delhi have long accused the agency of sponsoring groups fighting to end Indian rule in disputed Kashmir. In Afghanistan, the ISI served as a conduit for U.S. aid to mujahideen fighting the Soviets during the 1980s. It subsequently played a key role in setting up the Afghan Taliban – and only cut ties with that group under U.S. pressure after 9/11.
Countdown to Afghanistan being controlled by the Taliban once again.....3...2...1.... The story comes from The Long War Journal.
Afghan military abandons district in Helmand The Afghan military withdrew its remaining combat forces from the district of Musa Qala in Helmand province today after battling the Taliban there for nearly a year. The district is now firmly under the control of the Taliban. The Afghan Army commander in charge of the fighting in Helmand characterized the Army’s withdrawal from Musa Qala as a redeployment of forces. “Their presence in the area [in Musa Qala] did not mean anything,” Mohammad Moeen Faqir, the commander of 215th Corps told Reuters. “We will use them in battle with enemies in other parts of Helmand province.” According to Reuters, Faqir said the beleaguered troops who were based in Musa Qala will be relocated to the town of Gereshk in Nahr-i-Sarraj district in Helmand, where the Taliban is pressing an offensive to take over the central part of the province. The Afghan military’s retreat from Helmand means the Taliban is now fully in control of the district. The Long War Journal previously assessed Musa Qala as being under Taliban control, as Afghan forces were confined to a few bases and according to Afghan press reports, the Taliban was controlling and administering key areas of the district, including government buildings and the bazaar. Musa Qala has switched hands between Coalition and Afghan forces and the Taliban several times over the past decade. In September 2006, the British made a secret deal with the Taliban that ultimately led to the Taliban controlling the district. The district center switched hands several times between 2007 up until US forces surged in Helmand in late 2009. [See LWJ report, The checkered history of Musa Qala.] When US forces began withdrawing from Helmand in 2011, the Taliban immediately restarted offensive operations in Musa Qala and the surrounding districts. Security in Helmand has spiraled out of control as the Taliban has pressed its offensive to regain the ground lost there between 2009-2011. Of Helmand’s 13 districts, four are known to be controlled by the Taliban (Nowzad, Musa Qala, Baghran, Dishu, and Khanashin), and another five are heavily contested (Nahr-i-Sarraj, Kajaki, Nad Ali, Garmsir and Sangin). Of the remaining three districts, The Long War Journal believes two (Washir and Nawa-i-Barak) are contested, but the situation is unclear. Only Lashkar Gah, the district that hosts the provincial capital, has not seen significant Taliban activity. US and British special operations forces have been deployed to Helmand since the summer of 2015 to support the struggling Afghan forces. Most recently, the US deployed an additional 500 Special Forces advisers to oppose the Taliban. However, the reintroduction of US and British forces in Helmand has not prevented the districts of Nowzad, Musa Qala, and Sangin from falling to the Taliban. Outside of Helmand, the Taliban has significantly expanded its influence in the past year. The Taliban now controls 38 districts in Afghanistan and contests another 40, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. These numbers may be low given the methodology used to assess control in contested districts.
I hate to tell you....I told you so. The story comes from DAWN.
Dozens of Afghan soldiers, policemen killed during Taliban offensive in Helmand LASHKAR GAH: Dozens of Afghan soldiers and policemen have been killed in the southern province of Helmand since Sunday as the Taliban presses an in one of its heartlands, officials said. Three local officials, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they have been ordered not to talk about casualty figures, said 25 soldiers and 27 policemen had been killed in separate incidents in the province. Afghan security forces, fighting largely alone since the withdrawal of international forces in 2014, have been struggling for months to hold back the insurgency in Helmand, where the Taliban inflicted hundreds of casualties on Nato troops during years of fighting. At least 11,000 civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan last year, in the worst year for civilian casualties since the United Nations began keeping records in 2009. Heavy fighting over the winter points to the potential for even more bloodshed this year. As well as the fighting in Helmand, Taliban operations in the northern provinces of Jowzjan, Kunduz and Baghlan have also severely stretched government forces and caused heavy casualties over recent days. In the worst incident in Helmand this week, insurgents in captured military Humvee vehicles packed with explosives launched a suicide attack on a checkpoint in the district centre of Sangin on Sunday, killing seven soldiers and 15 policemen. Nine soldiers were also killed in combat in Sangin, while another nine died in fighting in Musa Qalah district, northeast of Sangin, the officials said. In other incidents, 10 policemen were killed fighting in Gereshk, a road junction north of the district capital Lashkar Gah, while two more were killed on Monday night in Khan Nashim in the south of the province by a man wearing a police uniform. The Taliban, which the United States now estimates controls or threatens around a third of the country, have overrun large parts of Helmand, leaving beleagured government forces in district centres like Sangin and Marjah barely clinging on to a few official buildings. Heavily mined roads have prevented reinforcements and supplies arriving, leaving many units cut off. “Right now, some 250 police and 300 soldiers are surrounded by Taliban in Marjah and our forces are providing them support from the air,” one of the officials said. “Roads to Sangin are mostly blocked with explosive devices and we cannot send reinforcements.” The outgoing US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, recently ordered several hundred American troops to the province to bolster the defence, although they will be restricted to an advisory role unless they come under attack themselves.
Suicide bomber kills 20 outside Kabul police base KABUL: At least 20 policemen were killed Monday when a suicide bomber struck a police base in Kabul Monday. Scores of people were also wounded as the attacker blew himself up in a queue of police officers waiting to enter the base, leaving several bodies and charred debris strewn around the area. The carnage marks one of the worst attacks on Afghan forces in recent months, despite a renewed push international push to restart formal peace talks which stalled last year. “As a result of the terrorist attack near the Afghan National Civil Order Police headquarters... 20 people were martyred and 29 others were wounded,” the interior ministry said in a statement. A senior ministry source told AFP that all of those killed were policemen, and at least three critically wounded officers were battling for their lives in hospital. The health ministry said some of those wounded were hit in the chest by flying shrapnel. Ambulances rushed to the scene, which was cordoned off by authorities after the bombing which comes amid the Taliban's unprecedented winter offensive. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claiming on Twitter that up to 40 police were killed and wounded. The attack comes just ahead of a third round of four-country “roadmap talks” trying to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban. Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are set to convene in Islamabad on February 6 in a bid to seek a negotiated end to the 14-year Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets in Afghanistan this winter, when fighting usually abates, underscoring a worsening security situation. Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the militants to seize more territory in an attempt to wrangle greater concessions during talks. Kabul in blackout as govt struggles to fix power lines Militants and bad weather in northern Afghanistan have hampered efforts to repair power lines that were destroyed last week, cutting electricity in the capital, Kabul, to about six hours a day, officials said on Monday. Insurgents last week destroyed an electricity pylon in the Dand Shahabuddin district of Baghlan province that brought power from Uzbekistan to meet almost half of Kabul's 600 megawatt daily requirement. Mirwais Alami, chief commercial officer at Afghanistan's national power company, said repair crews had been unable to get close to the power lines because of mines and the threat from insurgents and said residents reported that more pylons had been brought down. “Enemy forces have brought machine saws and have been cutting down electricity pylons,” he said. The Taliban has denied being responsible for bringing down the power lines, saying such tactics, which hit ordinary people, do not fit with their fight against the foreign-backed government. The destruction of the power lines has hit businesses and industry and added further misery for Kabul's long-suffering residents, already tested by a series of suicide bomb attacks this year. For the well-off with private generators, the cuts have meant higher fuel bills but for those who rely on the public grid, they have meant dark nights and reliance on wood-burning stoves to fight the winter cold. Abdul Satar Barez, the provincial governor of Baghlan, said operations to secure the area in order to allow repair crews to work on the pylons had been suspended due to fog and bad weather. “Taliban are still in the area, they are a threat and danger and we cannot launch our operation now. We are waiting for the weather to get better,” he said.
If I ever have hoped for a Taliban lie, it is going to be about this news story as news reports say 6 NATO troops were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing outside of Bagram Air Base but the Taliban spokesman says they killed 19 American troops. Get those prayers going folks. The story comes from DAWN.
Suicide attack on US-Afghan patrol kills six Nato soldiers KABUL: At least six Nato soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a joint US-Afghan patrol near Bagram air base in Afghanistan on Monday. Brig Gen William Shoffner, head of public affairs at Nato's Resolute Support base in the Afghan capital Kabul, said that three foreign troops were also wounded in the attack. However, in a tweet, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility and said 19 US soldiers had been killed and a number wounded. The Nato headquarters in Kabul confirmed there had been a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack near Bagram Air Base and said it was under investigation. Shoffner said the attack happened at around 1.30 pm local time in the vicinity of the base, which is the biggest US military facility in Afghanistan. Nato could not confirm the nationality of the dead, according to policy. Bagram District Governor Abdul Shukur Qudusi also confirmed the incident and the number of casualties. The police chief of Parwan province said three Afghan policemen had been wounded in the attack. He said he was not authorised to give details on foreign troop casualties. Bagram, around 40 km to the north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, is one of the main bases for the 9,800 US troops left in Afghanistan after international troops ended combat operations last year. The attack comes just over a week after suicide attacks on Kandahar air base in southern Afghanistan and on a Spanish embassy guest house in Kabul, underlining the Taliban's ability to hit high-profile targets linked to the U.S.-backed government. On Monday, Taliban forces in Helmand closed in on the district of Sangin as they tightened their grip on the volatile southern province.
Photograph purporting to show 10 members of the Taliban suicide
assault team that attacked Kandahar International Airport. Image
released on Voice of Jihad.
So, if I can divert your attention off of ISIS for just a moment, Afghanistan continues to spiral into another lost war for Barack Obama (which will make him 0-2). I wonder. How many U.S. Presidents lost consecutive wars?
Anyway, the Taliban are killing and trying to be more creative than the ISIS boys. The story comes from The Long War Journal.
Taliban suicide squad kills dozens in assault on Kandahar airport A Taliban suicide assault team killed more than 30 people in an attack on Kandahar International Airport in southern Afghanistan that lasted for more than a day before Afghan forces backed by the U.S. military could regain control. The attack began yesterday when groups of fighters armed with assault rifles and dressed in military fatigues penetrated security at the base. Afghan officials said the Taliban assault team enter via one of the gates, then took up positions at a school, a bazaar, and other buildings in a civilian area of the airport. Kandahar International Airport abuts Kandahar Airbase, where more than 2,000 U.S. and NATO forces are stationed. Fighting lasted for nearly 20 hours before the main thrust of the Taliban assault was defeated. According to Reuters, nine Taliban fighters were killed, one was wounded and captured, and one more is currently holding off Afghan forces at the airbase. At least 10 and possibly 11 Taliban fighters were involved in the assault. The Taliban released photographs that showed 10 members of the suicide assault team. The Taliban offered a vastly different results of the operations. The Afghan Ministry of Defense reported that 37 soldiers and civilians were killed and another 35 were wounded. The Taliban claimed that “over 150 invaders [U.S. and NATO forces] and hirelings [Afghan security forces] have also been killed.” Additionally, the Taliban claimed it destroyed “27 APCs,” or armored personnel carriers, and “many aircraft parked inside the base have also caught fire and have been destroyed.” The Taliban routinely exaggerate the effects of its operations. No U.S. or NATO personnel are reported to have been killed or wounded, and there has been no indication that U.S. warplanes were damaged or destroyed. The Taliban provided several updates at Voice of Jihad on the attack on Kandahar’s airport, and even claimed that the “martyrdom seekers” involved in the assault “called via telephone to inform our correspondent” to provided updates on the battle. Coalition and Afghan air bases and other major military installations have been a frequent target of the Taliban over the past several years. The most prominent attack took place at Camp Bastion in Helmand province on Sept. 14, 2012. A 15-man Taliban team penetrated the perimeter at the airbase, destroyed six USMC Harriers and damaged two more, and killed the U.S. squadron commander and a sergeant. Fourteen of the 15 members of the assault team were killed, while the last was wounded and captured. The Taliban have also launched multiple suicide assaults against the Afghan military, police, governmental institutions including the parliament, courts, and hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners and the Afghan elite. The Taliban does not hide the fact that it trains and deploys suicide teams to attack Western and Afghan targets inside the country. In early November, the Taliban advertised the “Suicide Mujahideen Muaskar ul Fida’s” pledge of fealty to its emir, Mullah Mansour. Two key leaders of the “Suicide Groups” have been identified by the Taliban. Mullah Taj Mir Jawad has been described as the head of a “martyrdom-seekers battalion.” Jawad swore allegiance to Mullah Mansour in a video released by the group in September. Qari Abdul Raouf Zakir, the “commander” of the Taliban’s “suicide groups,” also swore allegiance to Mullah Mansour in the same video as Jawad. Qari Zakir, who was designated as a terrorist by the State Department in November 2012, has long commanded the Haqqani Network’s suicide operations. The suicide assault, or coordinated attack using one or more suicide bombers and an assault team, is a tactic frequently used by a numbe rof jihadists groups operating worldwide. The Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, al Qaeda and its branches, allied groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the rival Islamic State have all used this tactic across the Middle East and Africa. This tactic has begun to be exported by jihadist groups to the West. In November, an Islamic State suicide assault team attacked Paris, France and killed more than 120 people.
So much for the Obama mastermind plan of "train the locals and everything will be just fine."
Do you suppose our boywonder Commander-in-Chief has addressed in his brilliant mind just the actual number of Green-on-Blue attacks that will occur now for the small contingency of U.S. troops he decided to leave in Afghanistan on their own? The story comes from The Long War Journal.
Dozens of Afghan troops surrender to Taliban in Helmand Sixty-five Afghan soldiers and several of their officers laid down their weapons two days ago and surrendered to the Taliban in the embattled district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand. Some reports suggested that the Afghan troops defected to the Taliban, but the jihadist group has indicated that the troops merely laid down their arms. The Afghan company’s surrender was confirmed by both Afghan officials and the Taliban. Helmand governor Mirza Rahimi told reporters that “65 Afghan security force members including three commanders surrendered in Sangin district,” TOLONews reported. Oddly enough, he stated that “the situation is under control in the district.” The Taliban reported yesterday that “5 commander [sic] and 65 ANA [Afghan National Army] trooper [sic] from an outpost located in Station area repented their mistakes and surrendered to Mujahideen on Thursday at around 05:00 am local time.” The Afghan soldiers handed over “5 APCs, 3 mortar tubes, 2 SPG9 artillery pieces, 18 US machine guns, 50 US rifles and a large amount of ammunition and other equipment,” the Taliban reported on its official website, Voice of Jihad. The Taliban apparently had laid siege to the base for two weeks before the Afghan soldiers abdicated. A mother of one of the soldiers claimed the base was under attack for 15 days before the soldiers quit the fight, and that the Afghan military and police did not intervene to save them. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense has denied that its soldiers in Sangin surrendered to the Taliban. “Our troops will never surrender to the enemy,” the ministry’s spokesman said to TOLONews.”There might be some problems. This is war. Moving forward and backwards, defending and leaving strongholds can happen in war and they are allowed to do this.” Sangin is one of several districts in Helmand that are hotly contested. The Taliban has released numerous statements about the fighting there, and just yesterday claimed to have overrun “2 more check posts … located near the old hospital and Eid Gah area of the district bazaar.” In Helmand, the Taliban controls or contests six of the province’s 13 districts, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. All of the districts due north of the provincial capital of Laskhar Gah — Sangin, Baghran, Musa Qala, Kajaki, and Now Zad — are controlled or heavily contested by the jihadist group. The Taliban uses these districts to assemble its forces and assault Lashkar Gah and neighboring districts. Taliban forces are currently positioned in Marja and Babaji, just miles from Lashkar Gah. If Lashkar Gah falls to the Taliban, it would be the second city to do so this year. Kunduz fell under Taliban control for two weeks before the jihadist forces were driven from the city. Lashkar Gah is not the only provincial capital facing a direct threat. One month ago, the Taliban pressed an offensive to take control of Ghazni city but failed to do so; Taliban forces remain on the outskirts of the city. Additionally, Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, which borders Helmand to the north, is also imperiled. Four of the six districts in Uruzgan are heavily contested by the Taliban. The situation in southern Afghanistan has deteriorated since the US military began withdrawing its forces beginning in 2012. Jihadist groups have become emboldened as Afghan forces have been unable to prevent the return of the Taliban. Al Qaeda was so confident that it established two training camps, one of them extending for 30 square miles, in Kandahar’s Shorabak district. The US military destroyed the camps during a four-day assault in October.
The dominoes in Afghanistan keep falling. You think keeping 5,000 troops is going to do the trick, Barry? The story comes from The Long War Journal.
Taliban threatens provincial capital of Helmand The Taliban continues to press its offensive in southern Afghanistan and is reported to have advanced within miles of the city of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province. Within the past week, the Taliban has stepped up attacks in the districts of Laskhar Gah, Nad Ali, and Nahr-i-Sarraj in central Helmand, according to Afghan press reports and the jihadist group’s propaganda. The Taliban seized control of the town of Babaji and “all the checkpoints up to Gereshk” in Nahr-i-Sarraj on Oct. 20, the leader of provincial council’s security committee told Afghan Islamic Press. The jihadist group also claimed it seized Babaji in a statement released on its propaganda website, Voice of Jihad. Babaji is less than five miles north of Lashkar Gah. Additionally, the Taliban claimed it “liberated” areas in the district of Nad Ali, which is due west of Lashkar Gah. On Oct. 20, the jihadist group claimed that it overran “a large strategic ANA [Afghan National Army] outpost located in Ismat Bazaar” in the town of Marja in Nad Ali. Afghan officials confirmed the Taliban has taken control of areas around the provincial capital and that Afghan security personnel, including an “Afghan special police unit,” from the Ministry of Interior have arrived in Lashkar Gah to stage a counterattack. According to Pajwhok Afghan News, the police spokesman for Helmand said that “operations were underway in [the Babaji] area of Lashkar Gah, Nad Ali and Gereshk districts and the forces had advanced while the insurgents had lost courage to put up resistance.” The Taliban denied reports that it lost control of areas it seized in Nahr-i-Sarraj and Nad Ali. “Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate are still in control over those areas of Nad Ali and Babaji districts liberated by Mujahidden amid 3 days long operation,” according to a statement on Voice of Jihad. The Taliban offensive around Lashkar Gah is similar to the offensive that allowed the group to take control of Kunduz city in the Afghan north for more than a week at the end of September. The Taliban seized control of outlying districts in Kunduz and neighboring province before assaulting the provincial capital. The offensive to seize Kunduz city began in April 2015. In Helmand, the Taliban control or contest six of the province’s 13 districts, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. All of the districts due north of Laskhar Gah — Baghran, Musa Qala, Kajaki, Sangin, and Now Zad — are controlled or heavily contested by the jihadist group. The Taliban uses these districts to assemble its forces and assault Lashkar Gah and neighboring districts. If Lashkar Gah falls to the Taliban, it would be the second city to do so this year. Lashkar Gah isn’t the only provincial capital that is under direct threat. The Taliban pressed an offensive to take control of Ghazni city two weeks ago, but failed to do so, and remains on the outskirts of the city. Additionally, Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, which borders Helmand to the north, is also imperiled. Four of the six districts in Uruzgan are heavily contested by the Taliban.
In a relatively short time after Barack Hussein Obama unbelievably snatched victory in Iraq and fed it to the jaws of defeat, this worthless excuse of a President has lost the War in Afghanistan. He's 0 for 2. He's batting 1.000 as a loser commander-in-chief. He's never won a war. He's never won a battle. He's never won a damn thing in his life. (Now some moron from the Left will say.."Hey asshole! He won 2 Presidential elections!" and I'll respond with "no, the color of his skin won him 2 Presidential elections"). This is an excellent article about the complete mess in Afghanistan which is 100% the fault of Barack Hussein Obama. Who else. The guy could fuck up a wet dream. The story comes from The Long War Journal.
Are we losing Afghanistan again? “ALLAH has promised us victory and America has promised us defeat,” Mullah Muhammad Omar, the first head of the Taliban, once said, “so we shall see which of the two promises will be fulfilled.” When his colleagues admitted this summer that Mullah Omar had died, Al Qaeda and affiliated groups around the globe remembered those words — victory is a divine certainty — in their eulogies. And in Afghanistan today, though the majority of Afghans still do not identify with the Taliban or Al Qaeda, Mullah Omar’s bold defiance in the face of a superpower is beginning to look prescient. Since early September, the Taliban have swept through Afghanistan’s north, seizing numerous districts and even, briefly, the provincial capital Kunduz. The United Nations has determined that the Taliban threat to approximately half of the country’s 398 districts is either “high” or “extreme.” Indeed, by our count, more than 30 districts are already under Taliban control. And the insurgents are currently threatening provincial capitals in both northern and southern Afghanistan. Confronted with this grim reality, President Obama has decided to keep 9,800 American troops in the country through much of 2016 and 5,500 thereafter. The president was right to change course, but it is difficult to see how much of a difference this small force can make. The United States troops currently in Afghanistan have not been able to thwart the Taliban’s advance. They were able to help push them out of Kunduz, but only after the Taliban’s two-week reign of terror. This suggests that additional troops are needed, not fewer. When justifying his decision last week, the president explained that American troops would “remain engaged in two narrow but critical missions — training Afghan forces, and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of Al Qaeda.” He added, “We’ve always known that we had to maintain a counterterrorism operation in that region in order to tamp down any re-emergence of active Al Qaeda networks.” But the president has not explained the full scope of what is at stake. Al Qaeda has already re-emerged. Just two days before the president’s statement, the military announced that it led raids against two Qaeda training camps in the south, one of which was an astonishing 30 square miles in size. The operation lasted several days, and involved 63 airstrikes and more than 200 ground troops, including both Americans and Afghan commandos. “We struck a major Al Qaeda sanctuary in the center of the Taliban’s historic heartland,” Brig. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, a military spokesman, said. General Shoffner described it as “one of the largest joint ground-assault operations we have ever conducted in Afghanistan.” Other significant Qaeda facilities are already being identified in local press reporting. Recently, Hossam Abdul Raouf, a chief lieutenant of the Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, confirmed in an audio message that Qaeda’s senior leadership has relocated out of northern Pakistan — no secret to the military and the C.I.A., which have been hunting senior Qaeda figures in Afghanistan and elsewhere throughout the year. The Taliban are not hiding their continuing alliance with Al Qaeda. In August, Mr. Zawahri pledged his allegiance to Mullah Omar’s successor, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. Within hours, Mullah Mansour publicly accepted the “esteemed” Mr. Zawahri’s oath of fealty. And Qaeda members are integrated into the Taliban’s chain of command. In fact, foreign fighters affiliated with Al Qaeda played a significant role in the Taliban-led assault on Kunduz. The United States made many mistakes in the 9/11 wars. After routing the Taliban and Al Qaeda in late 2001, President George W. Bush did not dedicate the resources necessary to finish the fight. President Obama was right in December 2009 to announce a surge of forces in Afghanistan, but it was short-lived. Al Qaeda is not nearly as “decimated” in South Asia as Mr. Obama has claimed. We don’t think 5,500 troops is enough. No one is calling for a full-scale occupation of the country. But a force of as many as 20,000 to 25,000 would far better support our local Afghan allies, helping them defend multiple provincial capitals at the same time and fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in their strongholds. While many believe that Al Qaeda is solely focused on attacking the West, it has devoted most of its efforts to waging insurgencies. This is the key to understanding how it has been able to regenerate repeatedly over the past 14 years. Al Qaeda draws would-be terrorists from the larger pool of paramilitary forces fighting to restore the Taliban to power in Afghanistan or to build radical nation-states elsewhere. Therefore, the mission of the United States is bigger than the one Mr. Obama envisions. Drones and select counterterrorism raids are not enough to end the threat. Al Qaeda and like-minded groups were founded on the myth that the Soviet Union was defeated in Afghanistan because of the mujahedeen’s faith in Allah alone. This helped spawn a generation of new wars and terrorist attacks, most of which have targeted Muslims. Should the Afghans suffer additional territorial losses, Mullah Omar’s words will appear prophetic. And a new myth, one that will feed the Taliban’s and Al Qaeda’s violence for years to come, will be born.
Barack Hussein Obama, perhaps trying to spare himself the complete humiliation of another botched war...decided to keep 5,000 troops in Afghanistan - breaking his promise to Code Pink to bring them home, but in all of this, the Taliban are quick to tell President Weak Knees to go pound sand. Believe me, 5,000 American troops will not save the north, the south and much of the west in Afghanistan from falling to the Taliban. As always, Obama's plan is to TRAIN Afghan troops - you see, Barack Obama thinks that America's fighting forces are the quality they are, simply because they had some good training. He's full of shit. As always. The story comes from DAWN.
Taliban defiant over delay to US troop reduction in Afghanistan KABUL: The Taliban on Friday brushed aside a US decision to delay withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, saying it would do nothing to save an “unwinnable war” and promising to step up its campaign against the Western-backed government in Kabul. President Barack Obama's decision to drop plans for a radical reduction in US forces next year was greeted with relief by the administration in Kabul, which had feared being abandoned by its most powerful ally. Afghan forces, who took over from international troops after Nato ended most combat operations last year, have struggled to contain the spreading insurgency and remain dependent on allies for air and logistical support. The US will maintain a 9,800-strong force for most of next year, and instead of reducing it to a token presence based around the fortified US embassy in Kabul, will keep 5,500 troops from 2017 for training and counter-terrorism operations. The Taliban, which showed its growing strength last month by seizing the key northern city of Kunduz and holding it for three days, said the forces would not be enough to halt its advance. “Maintaining American troops in Afghanistan can in no way slow down the rapid process of our jihad and struggle,” the militant group said in a statement that promised further attacks on US troops and installations. “If the invaders lost the war in Afghanistan with the presence of hundreds of thousands of troops, their hopes of reversing the tide with five thousand troops are also misguided,” it added. US fears over the growing influence of the ultra-radical self-styled Islamic State in Afghanistan, as well as concerns that denying support to President Ashraf Ghani would risk the rapid collapse of his government, prompted Obama to drop a promise to pull troops out before his presidency ends in Jan 2017. But there was no word on what political solution may be possible to end a 14-year conflict. One militant commander close to the Taliban's leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour said Obama's move destroyed any hope of a revival in the stalled peace process. “It means they aren't sincere about a peaceful solution to the Afghan crisis,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It's a joke. They will have to leave Afghanistan, but they will damage the peace process through these tactics,” he said. Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said Afghan troops needed more support, but he added: “The war cannot be won, otherwise 140,000 US and other troops should have won it. Conclusion? The solution must be political.” 'They should stay' Ghani's national unity government with Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has come under growing strain in the crisis, particularly in the wake of the fall of Kunduz and ongoing attacks in the capital Kabul. For some Afghans, Obama's move was welcome. “As the war continues all over Afghanistan, the presence of US troops is hugely needed and they should stay here,” said Kabul resident Haji Fahim. But there was little optimism among Western analysts and diplomats that the troop contingent would do much to reverse a deteriorating situation, given the lack of a peace process. Without talks involving neighbouring powers including Pakistan, blamed by many Afghans for backing the insurgency, and a sustained assault on corruption which has blighted government, there would be no lasting stability, said Afzal Ashraf, a consultant fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. Afghan security forces, theoretically numbering almost 350,000, have suffered heavy combat losses and desertions and still need their international allies. US military support for the Afghan army has been in the spotlight following a deadly US air strike on a hospital in Kunduz run by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, prompting calls for tighter controls over such attacks. The Taliban's ability to strike outside its main heartlands in the south and east of the country was amply demonstrated by its success in Kunduz, a region where it has traditionally not been strong. It has also advanced in other areas, cutting off the main highway linking Kabul with the key southern city of Kandahar and threatening the provincial centre of Ghazni this week.
