Afghanistan
Current Operations
EUPOL Afghanistan
EU Police Mission in Afghanistan (EU)
Since: 06/07
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UNAMA
United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UN-Peacebuilding)
Since: 03/02
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ISAF
International Security Assistance Force (UN-mandated)
Since: 01/02
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Taliban threatens spike in violence (29.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
A top Taliban commander warned Wednesday that militants would unleash a wave of ambushes, roadside bombs and suicide attacks in a new spring offensive. In a possible harbinger of coming violence, coalition and Afghan troops killed 42 militants in three operations, officials said.
Australia boosting Afghan force (29.04.2009)
(Source:BBC / UK)
Australia is to send an additional 450 troops to Afghanistan because of what Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the deteriorating security situation there. The announcement is also a response to diplomatic pressure from US President Barack Obama for America's allies to increase their contribution. The troops will be used to help train the Afghan army and provide security for August's presidential election.
Taliban advance in Pakistan prompts shift by U.S. (29.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
The Pakistani government's inability to stem Taliban advances has forced the Obama administration to recalibrate its Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy a month after unveiling it. What was planned as a step-by-step process of greater military and economic engagement with Pakistan -- as immediate attention focused on Afghanistan -- has been rapidly overtaken by the worsening situation on the ground.
Civilians flee as Pakistani forces hit resistance (29.04.2009)
(Source:New York Times / USA)
The Pakistani forces air-dropped commandos into the main town in Buner on Wednesday and quickly retook control of it from Taliban militants who flooded into the area last week, the military said. But the district was far from recaptured and the military may be in for a hard fight.
Karzai announces re-election bid (28.04.2009)
(Source:Al Jazzera / Qatar)
Afghanistan's president has said that he will soon register his candidacy for August's presidential election. Hamid Karzai made his first public declaration that he will run in the vote during a news conference in Kabul with Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, on Monday.
U.S. sets fight in the poppies to stop Taliban (28.04.2009)
(Source:New York Times / USA)
American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban’s main source of money, the country’s multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group’s operations. The plan to send 20,000 Marines and soldiers into Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul Provinces this summer promises weeks and perhaps months of heavy fighting, since American officers expect the Taliban to vigorously defend what makes up the economic engine for the insurgency.
Brown in Afghanistan to discuss new strategy (27.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew to Afghanistan on Monday touting a new security strategy for the region, as international alarm has spread over Taliban advances in neighboring Pakistan. … Officials traveling with Brown said the new strategy, to be published on Wednesday, will echo a plan unveiled by the new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama in calling for a tight focus on fighting al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Taliban: peace pact with Pakistan is 'worthless' (27.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
Taliban militants said Monday their peace deal with the Pakistani government was "worthless" after authorities deployed helicopters and artillery against hide-outs of Islamist guerrillas seeking to extend their grip along the Afghan border. A collapse of the pact would likely please Obama administration officials pressing Islamabad hard for more robust action against extremists threatening Pakistan's stability and U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
New Zealand wants exit plan for commandos in Afghanistan (23.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
New Zealand's prime minister said Monday that he wants an exit strategy before sending the country's elite Special Air Service combat troops back to Afghanistan as the U.S. has requested. Prime Minister John Key said that sending the commandos for a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan "would be a very hard decision, not something we would take lightly."
Reservists might be used in Afghanistan to fill civilian jobs (23.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
Military reservists may be asked to volunteer to fill many of the hundreds of additional U.S. civilian positions in Afghanistan called for in the Obama administration's strategy for that nation and neighboring Pakistan, officials said yesterday.
The occasional Taleban (23.04.2009)
(Source:IWPR / UK)
Impoverished young men struggling to find work hired by insurgents as part-time fighters.
US signs Afghanistan transit deal with Tajikistan: US official (21.04.2009)
(Source:Times of India / India)
The United States and Tajikistan have agreed a deal on the transit of non-military cargoes for Western operations in Afghanistan, US assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher said Tuesday. "Yes, it's done," Boucher said in response to a question about the long-expected transit deal with the ex-Soviet republic that neighbours Afghanistan.
U.S. wants broader Pakistan military ties: official (21.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
The Obama administration wants to pursue broader military ties with Pakistan to help Islamabad combat a growing threat from militant groups including the Taliban, a Pentagon official said Tuesday. Michele Flournoy, U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, said Washington wants to provide the Pakistani army with training and advice on counterinsurgency tactics developed in Iraq and Afghanistan and support ongoing operations with intelligence and other assistance.
Presidential politics reveal complexities in the Afghan political system (21.04.2009)
(Source:ErasiaNet / USA)
One of the chief weaknesses of President Hamid Karzai’s administration in Afghanistan is that its authority does not extend across the entire country. It is ironic, then, that one of Karzai’s main challengers in Afghanistan’s upcoming presidential election asserts that the incumbent has too much power concentrated in his hands.
Extremist tide rises in Pakistan (20.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
A potentially troubling era dawned Sunday in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where a top Islamist militant leader, emboldened by a peace agreement with the federal government, laid out an ambitious plan to bring a "complete Islamic system" to the surrounding northwest region and the entire country.
US “regrets” Afghan civilian deaths (20.04.2009)
(Source:Al Jazeera / Qatar)
The senior US and Nato commander in Afghanistan has apologised for civilian casualties caused by international forces, saying there is not enough money in the world to replace the loss of an Afghan life. General David McKiernan made the remarks on Sunday, following repeated calls from Hamed Karzai, the Afghan president, for explanations of civilian deaths.
Afghanistan aims to double police force (19.04.2009)
(Source:RFE, RL / International)
Afghanistan hopes to double the size of its 82,000-strong police force and in the meantime will recruit and train 15,000 new police by the Aug. 20 presidential election, the Interior Minister said. Hanif Atmar told a news conference on April 19 that Afghan authorities had asked international donors to approve a "strategic increase" in the size of the force, the full scope of which would be announced in June after a study into the country's needs.
Karzai objects to direct U.S. talks with Taliban (19.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday said U.S. efforts to tame the growing Taliban insurgency through negotiations would fail unless his government agreed to such talks. … But in an interview with CNN, Karzai objected to the strategy of having U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan conduct direct talks with Taliban members in order to persuade them to abandon their struggle and join local militias.
Croatian, US military instructors deploy for Afghanistan (17.04.2009)
(Source:Southeast European Times / International)
After weeks of joint preparation on Croatian training grounds, a group of 12 Croatian and 12 US military instructors has deployed to Afghanistan, where they will train the national army. The group will be based in Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north of the country, under the command of Croatian Major Ivan Galovic, a career military man.
UN seeks to settle Afghan project problems with US (15.04.2009)
(Source:Reliefweb / International)
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was working to resolve quickly a row with the U.S. government's aid agency over infrastructure projects in Afghanistan and would refund any money in dispute. The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) admitted to "lapses" in its reports back to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on how it was carrying out the projects and wanted anyone involved in fraud to be disciplined.
Pakistani Taliban in swat say won't give up guns (15.04.2009)
(Source:Asharq Al-Awsat / UK)
Pakistani Taliban will not lay down their arms in a northwestern valley as part of a deal that included the introduction of sharia law but will take their "struggle" to new areas, a militant spokesman said on Wednesday. President Asif Ali Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation on Monday imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley to end Taliban violence.
Afghan unrest will rise in 2009: US military chief (15.04.2009)
(Source:Reliefweb / International)
Violence in Afghanistan is set to rise in the coming months as extra US troops arrive in the country to battle a bloody insurgency, US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen warned Tuesday. "I look forward to a very active year. I want to be clear that my expectations are as we add more troops, the violence level in Afghanistan is going to go up," Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told ABC television.
Afghanistan fears Swat deal may harm its security (14.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
Afghanistan said Tuesday it was concerned its own security could be hurt by a deal between Pakistan and Taliban guerrillas to impose Islamic law on a Pakistani valley. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signed a regulation on Monday imposing sharia on Swat, a picturesque valley in northwest Pakistan, as part of a deal to end violence from the strict Islamist guerrillas. But Afghanistan, fighting its own insurgency against the Taliban, has long worried that success by the Taliban in Pakistan could embolden the militants on both sides of the border.
Iran offers to train Afghan police in drugs fight (13.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
Iran said on Monday it was ready to help train Afghan police in fighting the drugs trade, but Tehran was not discussing the narcotics problem with NATO forces in its eastern neighbor. Iran offered at a U.N. meeting in The Hague on March 31 to assist Afghanistan in combating drugs, in a gesture to a U.S. call for regional support in Afghanistan that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as promising.
Poland approves extra 400 troops for Afghanistan (10.04.2009)
(Source:Times of India / India)
Polish President Lech Kaczynski has approved the deployment of an extra 400 troops to Afghanistan, boosting the number of Poles with the NATO-led force there to 2,000, the presidency's website said.
Corruption undercuts U.S. hope for Afghan police (08.04.2009)
(Source:New York Times / USA)
As part of his new strategy for Afghanistan, President Obama has announced plans to send 4,000 more American troops this spring to train the Afghan National Police and Army. But a shortage of American trainers is only one factor hampering the Afghan police. If the experience of the American troops already training police officers in Ghazni Province is any indication, better policing may be impossible for Afghanistan unless government officials at all levels stop cannibalizing their civil administration and police force for a quick profit.
NATO expands its role in Afghanistan (05.04.2009)
(Source:Reliefweb / International)
NATO Heads of State and Government, meeting today at the Strasbourg-Kehl Summit, agreed to a number of new initiatives for Afghanistan, including a significant expansion of the training and support effort for Afghan National Security Forces, enhanced engagement with neighbouring countries and a more integrated approach to working with the International Community and the Afghan Government to implement the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS).
Extra Nato troops for Afghan poll (04.04.2009)
(Source:BBC / UK)
Nato has agreed to boost troop numbers to cover the Afghan presidential election in August, outgoing alliance chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said. US President Barack Obama said his alliance partners would deploy about 5,000 troops and trainers "to advance [Washington's] new strategy".
NGOs say foreign troops must better protect Afghans (03.04.2009)
(Source:RFE, RL / International)
Foreign aid agencies have said international military forces need to better protect civilians and be more open about accidental deaths and injuries, or they risk undermining their mission to stabilize Afghanistan. Military "hearts and minds" efforts to win over ordinary Afghans are also putting humanitarian work at risk because soldiers are blurring the lines between combat and aid, the 11 agencies said in a joint report, "Caught in the Conflict."
Splintered Taliban thwarts Afghan peace (03.04.2009)
(Source:Washington Post / USA)
When voter registration stations opened in southern Afghanistan several months ago, officials feared they would be attacked by Taliban fighters who control much of the region. Instead, the process went smoothly and not a shot was fired. … But when a Taliban commander in Wardak province accepted an offer of reconciliation last month from the government, which is trying to persuade "moderate Taliban" fighters to lay down their weapons and participate in the elections, he was shot dead three days later. … These accounts demonstrate the confusing, contradictory forces at work as the government in Kabul, … .