Taliban executes seven-year-old 'spy'
By staff writers From: NewsCore June 10, 2010 7:18amTALIBAN militants in Afghanistan executed a seven-year-old boy on suspicion of spying for the US-allied government, according to local reports today.
The execution, which has not been confirmed by the extremist organisation, was carried out in the southern Helmand province, government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi told The Times of India.
The boy’s relatives brought the incident to the government’s attention, the newspaper said.
Mr Ahmadi told Iranian news agency Press TV the act was “horrendous”.
It was not immediately clear what information the boy was suspected of leaking. The area is mostly controlled by militants, The Times said.
Taliban fighters in the same province shot down a NATO helicopter overnight as it tried to evacuate a British casualty. Four US soldiers were killed.
There are currently 142,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, by the Pentagon's count, including 94,000 US troops, according to AFP.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said earlier this week that 17,000 to 18,000 troops ordered to Afghanistan by President Barack Obama as part of a 30,000 troop surge have arrived in the country.
http://www.news.com.au/breakin.....frfku0-1225877723830Taliban blamed for Afghan wedding carnage
From: AFP June 10, 2010 4:57PMNATO has blamed the Taliban for a suicide attack that killed at least 40 Afghan wedding guests in an area where US-led troops are massing to drive insurgents from their fiefdom.
Officials said a suicide bomber strapped with explosives had walked into yesterday's wedding party - which relatives said was attended by members of an anti-Taliban militia - and unleashed a deadly hail of ballbearings.
The Taliban, who are leading a nearly nine-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the estimated 142,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, denied responsibility and blamed a NATO airstrike for the deaths.
More than 70 people were wounded when the explosion ripped through the celebrations in Arghandab district, 20 kilometres north of Kandahar city, local officials said.
Most of the victims were male as the explosion occurred in an area of the wedding festivities reserved for men, they said.
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The groom's brother, Mohammad Zanif, said: "My brother was wounded. We don't know what happened. There was an enormous explosion and as a result everyone there was either killed or injured.''
The groom is a policeman and his colleagues were attending the wedding, Kandahar Governor Turiyalai Wisa told a news conference Thursday.
"A suicide attack was the cause of this bloody incident,'' he said.
"The casualties are massive but so far we have been able to confirm 40 people killed and another 78 wounded, which includes 14 children,'' the provincial governor said.
"Our investigation is ongoing and the casualty toll might rise. Most of the wounded are in critical condition, and some of them unfortunately may lose their lives.''
NATO Lieutenant General Nick Parker said: "This ruthless violence brought to the Afghan people at what should have been a time for celebration demonstrates the Taliban's sickening and indiscriminate tactics.''
But the Taliban, who routinely deny causing civilian casualties, blamed the bloodshed on NATO bombing and offered condolences.
"This is a disaster. We blame the foreign forces and the Afghan government for this calamity. We pray for the quick recovery of the wounded and patience for the families of those martyred,'' Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said.
Kandahar is the focus of a massive build-up by US-led military forces trying to drive the Taliban from their spiritual homeland and end their bloody insurgency.
The explosion came during a particularly bloody week for foreign forces with 23 international soldiers killed, including four US servicemen who died when a NATO helicopter was shot down in neighbouring Helmand province.
US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen offered condolences after the wedding attack and warned that more bloodshed was expected.
"We will succeed in Afghanistan. We will prevent that country from ever becoming a safe haven again, but it will be a slow, messy and often deadly business,'' he said in Washington.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the military expected a "high level of violence, particularly this summer'' as coalition forces move into areas controlled by the Taliban.
Relatives told AFP that the groom and other wedding guests were members of an anti-Taliban militia set up with the support of US Special Forces.
Brigadier General Ben Hodges, head of US forces in the south, told AFP that US Special Forces were helping villages organise their own protection against Taliban militants.
"There are some programmes where special forces units are out in a village stability programme where they might find a large village and then help train the locals to defend themselves,'' Hodges said.
The Taliban rejected a "peace jirga'' hosted by President Hamid Karzai last week with a view to coaxing militant fighters to lay down their weapons.
The jirga was marred by a rocket attack for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, prompting two of Karzai's top security officials to resign.
US troops have been in Afghanistan since the invasion to topple the Taliban regime which gave safe haven to Al-Qaeda and refused to surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
AFPhttp://www.theaustralian.com.a.....frg6so-1225878064126Four killed after Taliban hit NATO chopper
From: AFP June 10, 2010 2:33am
TALIBAN militants shot down a NATO helicopter in southern Afghanistan today, killing four soldiers and bringing to 23 the number of foreign troops killed in escalating violence so far this week.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopter came down in Helmand province, a stronghold of Taliban fighting to topple the Western-backed government and evict the 130,000 US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"Four ISAF service members were killed in the crash," a military spokesman said. "The helicopter was brought down by hostile fire," he added.
Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the incident.
"We brought it down with a rocket. It crashed in the Sangin district bazaar today at around 10am (1530 AEST)," Ahmadi said.
According to an AFP tally based on the independent website icasualties.org, 253 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year. Last year was the deadliest yet, with 520 killed.
Much of southern Afghanistan is troubled by a nearly nine-year Taliban insurgency, now in its deadliest phase, and is where US and NATO troops are building up a campaign to flush the militants out of Kandahar city.
The crash brought to five the number of NATO soldiers killed in the south today, after the military announced that a separate soldier had been killed by an improvised bomb explosion, the Taliban weapon of choice.
Twenty-three NATO soldiers have died since Sunday, including 10 on Monday when US-led forces in Afghanistan encountered their deadliest day in combat in two years, with seven Americans, two Australians and a French soldier killed.
In the east, three policemen were killed when their vehicle struck an improvised bomb in Ghazni province on Wednesday, Khyalbaz Sherzai, the Ghazni provincial police chief said.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack.
Despite the mounting casualties, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in London that he expected to see signs of progress in a flagship counter-insurgency strategy "by the end of the year".
Mr Gates said the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, "is pretty confident that by the end of the year he will be able to point to sufficient progress that validates the strategy and also justifies continuing to work at this".
But he cautioned that there were "no illusions" about quick victories and that there was a difficult struggle ahead, warning it would be "tough summer".
Mr Gates said the United States and its allies were under pressure to show some success in the war. Voters in many countries have appeared increasingly weary of casualties in a seemingly endless foreign war.
The US military has warned that casualty tolls will inevitably climb during the increased operations.
NATO, US and Afghan soldiers are preparing their biggest offensive yet against the Taliban in Kandahar province, with total foreign troop numbers set to peak at 150,000 by August.
The Taliban vowed last month to unleash a new campaign of attacks on diplomats, lawmakers and foreign forces.
It claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a landmark Afghan meeting last week convened by President Hamid Karzai in Kabul to drum up support for plans to give jobs and money to militants who lay down their arms.
http://www.news.com.au/world/four-killed-after-taliban-hit-nato-chopper/story-e6frfkyi-1225877698910Deadliest year for troops in Afghanistan
From correspondents in Kabul From: AFP August 26, 2009 3:12amDeath toll ... 63 foreign soldiers have died in Afghanistan this month and 295 have died since January.
THE number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year has surpassed that for all of 2008 with the deaths of four US military personnel in a bomb blast in the country's south.
The soldiers operating under NATO's International Security Assistance Force were killed yesterday by an improvised bomb, the Taliban's weapon of choice, the alliance force said in a statement. The force did not provide the exact location of the fatal attack.
The latest casualties bring to 63 the number of foreign soldiers who have died in Afghanistan this month and to 295 the death toll since January, making this the deadliest year for foreign troops since their 2001 arrival.
Four Australians have been killed in Afghanistan this year, taking the overall toll to 12 since operations began.
Quoting Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, the statement said the soldiers were Americans. They were on patrol "in one of the most violent areas of Afghanistan".
The international force, now numbering more than 100,000 troops, lost 294 soldiers in 2008.
Of those killed so far this year, 172 were Americans compared to 155 who died in Afghanistan last year.
The rest of the dead soldiers were from other nations contributing to efforts to wipe out the worsening Taliban insurgency in the country.
Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are the biggest troop contributors to the international effort, after the US.
The Taliban, in power between 1996 and 2001, have stepped up their attacks each year, prompting President Barack Obama's administration to send additional troops in an effort to defeat the Islamist rebels.
News of the latest troop deaths came after the government said four Afghan civilians were killed and five injured in a roadside bomb attack in the country's east.
The civilians died when a bomb, similar to that which killed the US troops and also planted by Taliban-linked rebels, struck their vehicle in Paktia province, bordering Pakistan.
The spike in troop deaths in Afghanistan has renewed debate in Britain and the US about their continuing role in the conflict.
Most of the deaths are caused by roadside bombs, which also claim a high number of civilian lives.
The violence comes as Afghanistan awaits the results from last week's presidential elections, only the second in its history.
Early results released show President Hamid Karzai only 2 per cent ahead of his nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
The final results are not due before September 3.
http://www.news.com.au/world/deadliest-year-for-troops-in-afghanistan/story-e6frfkyi-1225766198334It is never ending!
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