Afganistan

Taliban ja ISIS toistensa kimpussa
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...alSiteWide+(The+Long+War+Journal+(Site-Wide))

‘Voice of the Caliphate’ radio broadcasts anti-Taliban propaganda in Afghanistan

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The Islamic State’s so-called “province” in the Khorasan (an area covering Afghanistan and Pakistan) has set up a radio station to broadcast anti-Taliban messages and other propaganda. The station is named “Voice of the Caliphate” and it broadcasts on a FM airwave that can be heard in some parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The pro-Islamic State segments are usually uploaded via Spreaker, which provides users with an application to create their own “on-demand audio podcasts,” and then distributed online using social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram.

Authorities in the Nangarhar province, where the Islamic State’s Khorasan “province” is based, claimed to have jammed the station’s signal earlier this month. But the “Voice of the Caliphate” continues to broadcast its messages and also distribute them online. One Spreaker account viewed by The Long War Journal currently hosts more than 30 audio clips from the radio station. The most recent was recorded on Dec. 30.

During one broadcast on December 28, the station recounted a recent battle with the Taliban. The Long War Journal has obtained a translation of the 30 minute program, which originally aired in Pashto.

An unknown presenter began the program by claiming that “hundreds” of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency’s “mercenaries,” acting in the name of the Taliban’s “emirate,” attacked the Islamic State’s mujahideen in the Nazyan District of Nangarhar. The Islamic State has consistently accused the Taliban of being a puppet for Pakistan’s ISI, which is the country’s primary intelligence service. It is a claim that has some truth to it, as the ISI has long backed the Taliban’s operations. The “caliphate’s” men are eager to point the relationship out, because it tarnishes the Taliban’s jihadist credentials.

The “Voice of the Caliphate” said the Islamic State’s men put up a “heroic resistance,” fighting off mercenary militias from Pakistan, Iran and Russia. A number of fighters from these groups were “arrested” and “taken hostage.” The Khorasan “province” also reportedly “seized different types of equipment and weapons” from their foes during the battle, according to the broadcast.

In recent days, some jihadists who are opposed to the Islamic State have posted images of four men who were decapitated, with their heads displayed on a pile of rocks. The pictures purportedly depict Khorasan “province” fighters who were captured and beheaded by either locals or the Taliban. The Long War Journal has decided not to reproduce the gruesome images.

In its Dec. 28 broadcast, the “Voice of the Caliphate’s” radio presenter denied that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s followers had been slain in such a fashion. Instead, the deceased were supposedly “refugees” from Lashkar-e Islam, which merged with other jihadist groups to form a new Pakistani Taliban coalition in March. The radio station accused Lashkar-e Islam of have a “security arrangement” with the Afghan government and claimed the “powerful lions of the Islamic State are not so weak that they can be arrested alive by the apostates and then be beheaded by them.”
 
Afghan forces raid Taliban ‘jail’ in Helmand

Commandos from Afghanistan’s counterterrorism force freed 59 prisoners from a Taliban “jail” in the troubled southern province of Helmand. The raid, and another like it early last month, are key indicators that the province is slipping out of the Afghan government’s control.

Soldiers from the “1st Ktah Khas (KKA), Afghanistan’s national-level counterterrorism unit,” launched an air assault on the makeshift Taliban prison earlier today in the district of Nahr-i-Sarraj, US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), the US military command in the country said in a press release.

The raid was an Afghan led and executed operation, according to USFOR-A. “US forces provided only limited intelligence and planning support to this operation,” the press release stated. “No US forces were on the ground during the operation.”

Afghan forces, backed by US Special Forces, launched a similar raid in the district of Now Zad in Helmand one month ago, on Dec. 3, 2015. The combined forces “freed more than 40 prisoners comprised of Afghan Police, Afghan National Army and Afghan Border Police members,” USFOR-A reported last month. Updating last month’s raid, USFOR-A claimed today that 60 prisoners were freed on Dec. 3.

“Afghan intelligence sources used the intelligence gathered during the Now Zad raid to discover the location of the hostages rescued Saturday in Nahr-i-Sarraj,” USFOR-A stated in today’s press release.

While the operations against the Taliban prisons in Nahr-i-Sarraj and Now Zad highlights potential capabilities of Afghanistan’s Special Security Forces and the Special Mission Wing, which flew the helicopters in both raids, they also emphasize the worsening security situation in Helmand province.

The Afghan jihadist group has continued to press its offensive in Helmand to regain the ground lost between 2009-2011, during the US-led “surge.” Of Helmand’s 13 districts, five are known to be controlled by the Taliban (Nowzad, Musa Qala, Baghran, Dishu, and Sangin), and another five are heavily contested (Nahr-i-Sarraj, Kajaki, Nad Ali, Garmsir and Khanashin). 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.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/01/afghan-forces-raid-taliban-jail-in-helmand.php
 
US soldier killed while fighting the Taliban in Helmand

The Taliban killed one American soldier and wounded two more as they fought alongside Afghan forces in the beleaguered southern Afghan town of Marjah in Helmand province earlier today.

A “US service member died as a result of wounds sustained during operations near Marjah” and two more were wounded, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) confirmed in a press release. The identity and branch of the soldier who was killed was not disclosed, however a US military official based in Afghanistan told The Long War Journal that a US special operations unit was conducting operations in Marjah with Afghan counterparts.

“This is an ongoing situation [and] there is still a fight going on in the immediate surroundings,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a briefing today with reporters.

Cook also said that two HH-60 Pavehawk helicopters, which are used by US Air Force search and rescue teams, attempted to extract the ground force as it came under fire. One of the helicopters was disabled and left at the scene. The Taliban claimed it shot down the Pavehawk.

The Taliban has laid siege to the town of Marjah for more than a month. The district of Nad Ali, which includes Marjah, is almost completely under Taliban control.

Marjah, which was once described by General Stanley McCrystal as a “bleeding ulcer” in 2010 as US Marines fought to clear the Taliban from its stronghold, was one of the first towns in Helmand cleared of the Taliban during the US “surge.” McCrystal said that clearing the Taliban from Marjah and surrounding districts in Helmand and Kandahar would bring an “irreversible sense of momentum” and lead to the Taliban’s defeat.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...led-while-fighting-the-taliban-in-helmand.php
 
British generals were “arrogant, needy and slow” to act during the “messy” 10-year occupation of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan that cost hundreds of British lives, according to an internal report.

Acquired by the Times newspaper following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Ministry of Defence, the Operation Herrick Campaign Study blasts senior military officers over their conduct during the war in Helmand.

“There is an underlying feeling that British command ‘arrogance’ hampered relationships and led to some frustrations on the ground,” the report states.

It also claims that British officers were unwilling to take advice during the war which saw over 450 UK service personnel killed and over 2,000 wounded.

“This manifested itself in a British unwillingness to accept plans or ideas from a subordinate, partner nation battle group,” the study claims.

Also cited is another MoD report which says that their conduct created negative perceptions of British officers.

“We continued to be considered arrogant, needy and slow to make what were perceived as simple tactical decisions,” it says.

The report sheds light on the confused and floundering nature of the UK war aims in Helmand, with the commander of the 16 Air Assault Brigade quoted as saying “we were never really clear what the strategic objectives actually were and how these might be translated into resourced tactical actions on the ground.”

Nevertheless, the report also tries to cover the positives of the war, saying that troops emerged hardened, capable and resilient.

An MoD spokesman told the Times that Britain’s Afghan war delivered “vital security gains for the people of that country.”
Klikkaa laajentaaksesi...
http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/uk-military-blasts-generals-afghan-mess/
 
Senior al Qaeda ‘hidden commander’ thought killed by US in 2014

A senior al Qaeda leader wanted by the US, who has served on the organization’s military committee, is said to have been killed in a US airstrike along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in August 2014. Abu Dujana al Basha, the al Qaeda leader, is a son-in-law and trusted aide to Ayman al Zawahiri and is known as the “hidden commander” for his organization behind the scenes.

Al Qaeda has not officially confirmed Basha’s death, but often does not issue eulogies for slain leaders and commanders. Reports of his death are given credibility because known al Qaeda leaders repeated the claim.

His death was first reported in a eulogy that was published by a jihadist known as Abdulsalam al Uthman on Twitter in early December. Uthman’s account of Basha’s death was then retweeted by other known al Qaeda supporters and members.

It is unclear if Basha was killed in an airstrike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. If he was killed in Pakistan, the US only launched one strike that month, on Aug. 6, 2014. The strike took place in the Datta Khel area of Pakistan’s tribal agency of North Waziristan. The Datta Khel area has served as an al Qaeda command and control center in the past, and several key al Qaeda leaders and military commanders, including Mustafa Abu Yazid, a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri; Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army; and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, have been killed in US drone strikes there.

The “hidden commander”

Basha was called the “hidden commander” because he was relatively unknown to the outside world, yet he played a key role in the establishment of al Qaeda’s newest branch in South Asia. According to Uthman, Basha was responsible for establishing al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. Ayman al Zawahiri announced the establishment of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent in September 2014, just one month prior to Basha’s reported death.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...en-commander-thought-killed-by-us-in-2014.php
 
Kabul Peace Talks with Taliban Expected This Month
Agence France-Presse | Feb 07, 2016

Direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban are "expected to take place" by the end of the month, representatives from four countries involved in precursor road map negotiations said in a joint statement issued Saturday in Islamabad.

The statement by delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States came after a third round of talks between the four powers and is the strongest indication yet the Taliban are willing to return to negotiations six months after an earlier round of direct dialogue fell away.

It comes as the insurgents wage an unprecedented winter campaign of violence across Afghanistan, more than 14 years after they were driven out of power by US-led NATO forces.

"The Group stressed that the outcome of the reconciliation process should be a political settlement that results in the cessation of violence, and durable peace in Afghanistan," the statement said.

"Towards this end, the QCG (Quadrilateral Coordination Group) countries agreed to continue joint efforts for setting a date for direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups expected to take place by the end of February 2016."

The statement added the group would hold its next meeting in Kabul on February 23.

The role of Pakistan, which backed the Islamist group during their 1996 - 2001 rule and is accused of continuing to provide shelter to its leaders in exile, is seen as key in persuading the Taliban to return to talks.

The first round of the road map talks was held in Islamabad last month, where delegates began laying the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Islamist group.

A second round was held in Kabul on January 18 which urged the Taliban groups to enter into early talks with the Afghan government without preconditions.

Taliban representatives have been notably absent during the process and analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off.

The Taliban has 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.

Pakistan hosted a milestone first round of talks directly with the Taliban in July last year.

But the negotiations stalled when the insurgents belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar, sparking infighting within the group.

The statement added the four countries "called on all Taliban groups to join the peace talks". The dominant faction of the Taliban is led by Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who officially succeeding founder Mullah Omar.

A major breakaway faction meanwhile is led by Muhammad Rasul, whose faction is seen by some analysts as closer to Iran.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/...n-expected-this-month.html?ESRC=todayinmil.sm
 
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.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/02/afghan-military-abandons-district-in-helmand.php
 
Afghan forces raid another Taliban ‘prison’ in Helmand

The Afghan military raided a Taliban “prison” in Helmand province and freed 35 people, including women and children. The Taliban jail is the third in Helmand to have been targeted by Afghan forces since December 2015. The presence of Taliban prisons highlights the deteriorating security situation in Helmand, where Afghan forces are losing ground to the jihadist group.

The raid, which was executed on Feb. 26 likely by Commandos from Afghanistan’s counterterrorism unit, took place “in an area between Nad Ali and Marjah districts,” TOLONews reported.
Afghan special forces are said to have captured seven Taliban prison guards and freed “five women, 25 children and five men.” No casualties were reported.

Nad Ali is heavily contested by the Taliban, which controls most of the rural areas in the district. The Taliban is also besieging the town of Marjah, and controls most of that district. According to The Washington Post, 90 percent of Marjah is said to be Taliban controlled.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...alSiteWide+(The+Long+War+Journal+(Site-Wide))
 
Sat Mar 5, 2016 4:35pm EST
Taliban says rejects 'futile' Afghanistan peace talks


The Taliban said on Saturday it would not take part in peace talks brokered by representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, casting doubt on efforts to revive negotiations.

The Taliban, ousted from power in a U.S.-led military intervention in 2001, has been waging a violent insurgency to try to topple Afghanistan's Western-backed government and re-establish a fundamentalist Islamic regime.

Following a meeting of the so-called Quadrilateral Coordination Group made up of representatives of the four countries in Kabul in February, officials said they expected direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban to begin in early March.

But the Taliban, which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, denied it would be participating in any upcoming talks in Islamabad.

"We reject all such rumors and unequivocally state that the leader of Islamic Emirate has not authorized anyone to participate in this meeting," the group said in a statement.

"(Islamic Emirate) once again reiterates that unless the occupation of Afghanistan is ended, black lists eliminated and innocent prisoners freed, such futile misleading negotiations will not bear any results," it added.

The rejection follows efforts to revive talks that broke down last year following the announcement of the death of the Taliban's founder and long-time leader Mullah Mohammed Omar some two years earlier.

The U.S. State Department called on the Islamist movement to come to the negotiating table, saying Afghanistan's allies would continue to back the Kabul government as it fights the insurgency.

"The Taliban have a choice: to join good-faith negotiations for peace, or continue to fight a war in which they are killing their fellow Afghans and destroying their country," it said in a statement.

"If they choose the latter course, they will continue to face the combined efforts of the Afghan security forces and their international partners," it said.

New leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has laid down preconditions for taking part in any talks as he struggles to overcome factional infighting, with some breakaway groups opposing any negotiations whatsoever.

Heavy fighting has continued over the winter from Helmand in the south to Jowzjan province in the north, while a series of suicide attacks have been launched in the capital, underlining the difficulty of restarting the peace process.

(Reporting by Josh Smith and Mushtaq Yusufzai; Editing by Jane Merriman and Helen Popper)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSKCN0W70JP
 
Taliban tuhosi Afganistanin armeijan helikopterin improvisoidulla räjähteellä

Taliban destroys Afghan army helicopter in IED attack at military base

The Taliban destroyed an Afghan National Army helicopter as it landed on a remote Army base in the northeastern province of Kunar late last month. The Afghan government previously claimed the helicopter was damaged in an “emergency landing,” but the Taliban recorded the attack on video.

The dramatic video was produced by Al Emera, an official propaganda outlet of the Taliban, and released today by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Muhajid.


The Taliban claimed the helicopter, an Mi-8 Hip transport, was destroyed by an IED, or improvised explosive device, as it landed on a hilltop outpost in the Nari district in Kunar on March 24. According to the Taliban, 21 Afghan Army “commandos” were killed in the attack. The number of Afghan soldiers killed in the blast has not been confirmed.


The video is narrated by Taliban fighters who recorded the attack. As helicopter landed at the small base, several soldiers were close by watching the aircraft land. Within 30 seconds after landing, a massive blast toppled the aircraft, and completely destroyed it. There is little chance anyone onboard survived the blast. The fate of the soldiers who were watching the landing is unknown. The blast was likely caused by a bomb that was placed underneath the aircraft, as the explosion appeared to originate from under the helicopter.


The placement of the IED, which was on the helicopter landing pad inside the base, would indicate security is extremely weak on the outpost, or the Taliban placed soldiers inside who planted the bomb. Additionally, the Taliban team that recorded the video and likely detonated the bomb was close to the base, indicating that Afghan troops are not patrolling the perimeter.


The Afghan government denied initial claims that the helicopter was destroyed by the Taliban. On March 29, Kunar Governor Wahidulllah Kalimzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the helicopter landed at the outpost due to “some technical fault.”


“The helicopter was carrying logistics for security posts and made an emergency landing on a military base after developing some technical fault,” he said, according to Pajhwok. He also claimed that the air crew was not injured in the so-called “emergency landing.”

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http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...helicopter-in-ied-attack-on-military-base.php
 
US military searches for Kabul Attack Network members

The US military made an unusual public plea for information yesterday in its hunt for eight members of a terrorist network which is plotting attacks in four provinces in eastern Afghanistan. The organization, known as the Kabul Attack Network, is comprised of fighters from various jihadist groups operating in the country, and has endured for years.

“Insurgents from the Haqqani and Taliban networks are known to be planning attacks on the Afghan people in the Parwan, Khost, Kabul, and Logar Provinces, Afghanistan,” US Forces Afghanistan, or USFOR-A, reported in a press release.

USFOR-A identified the “insurgents” as Hayatullah, Mullah Mushfiq, Sangari, and Faruq from Parwan province; Tila Khan and Mansour from Khost; Hamdard-Hasib from Kabul; and Talha from Logar. Anyone with information on those individuals was encouraged to call 0702210396, USFOR-A said.

Yesterday’s call for information from USFOR-A followed a deadly suicide assault on a security installation in Kabul which took place on April 19. The Taliban killed 64 people and wounded 347 more in that attack.

The insurgents identified by USFOR-A are undoubtedly members of what the US military previously called the Kabul Attack Network. This network is made up of fighters from the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and cooperates with terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda.

Top Afghan intelligence officials have linked the Kabul Attack Network to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate as well. The network’s tentacles extend outward from Kabul into the surrounding provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Parwan, Kunar, Ghazni, and Zabul, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...alSiteWide+(The+Long+War+Journal+(Site-Wide))
 
Koulutuksen vaaroja. Pari koulutettavaa hyökkäsi koulutettavien kimppuun.

2 Romanian soldiers killed in insider attack in Afghanistan

Two Romanian soldiers were killed and another was wounded today in an insider or “green-on-blue” attack, where Afghan security personnel turn their weapons on coalition forces. The Romanian troops were ambushed on a base in Kandahar as they were training Afghan forces. The assault is the first of its kind recorded in Afghanistan in more than a year.

Resolute Support, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, confirmed that two soldiers were killed today “when two individuals wearing Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) uniforms opened fire at an ANDSF compound in Southern Afghanistan,” according to a press release.

Coalition troops “returned fire and killed the shooters,” Resolute Support noted. The NATO mission did not disclose number of attackers who were killed or their affiliation or motivation, the location of the “incident,” or the slain soldier’s home country.

“We continue to train, advise and assist the ANDSF, and do not view this incident as representative of the positive relationship between our forces,” Resolute Support stated.

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed two of their soldiers were killed and another was wounded “following an incident that occurred today near the city of Kandahar, while executing a mission to train the Afghan police.”

Romania provided 588 of the 12,486 troops operating under Resolute Support, according to the NATO command.

It is unclear if today’s attack was carried out by the Taliban or an allied group, or disgruntled Afghan forces. Given that more than one member of the Afghan security forces was involved in the ambush, it was likely executed by the Taliban. The Taliban has not released a statement claiming credit for today’s attack, but has claimed similar incidents in the past and has promoted these kind of operations in its propaganda.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...s-killed-in-insider-attack-in-afghanistan.php
 
US, Afghan forces rescue son of former Pakistani prime minister from ‘al Qaeda cell’

US Special Operations Forces and Afghan Commandos rescued Ali Haider Gilani, the son of Pakistan’s former prime minister, in a joint raid earlier today. The operation took place in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province, a known hotbed for the Haqqani Network and al Qaeda. Al Qaeda operated a camp in Paktika as of the summer of 2015, and one of its top leaders was killed in an airstrike there as well.

“Four enemy combatants were killed as a result of the operation,” NATO’s Resolute Support mission said in a statement released to the press. “No other injuries or damage was observed or reported.”

The statement did not offer any details about the group targeted, but said the “counterterror mission was planned and launched after evidence of terrorist activity was confirmed.”

The US military typically reserves counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan for al Qaeda and allied groups, and usually does not use special operations forces to target the Taliban.

“It was another operation in our continuous efforts against Al Qaeda,” Tawab Ghorzang, a spokesman for the National Security Council of Afghanistan, told the press, according to The New York Times.

“We did not have specific information that Mr. Gilani was held there, but that there was an al Qaeda cell there,” Ghorzang continued.

Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, wrote on Facebook that Gilani “was recovered after 3 years of captivity from an al Qaeda affiliated group.”

Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped in 2013. His father, Yusuf Raza Gilani, was Pakistan’s Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012. According to the Associated Press and other outlets, he has said that the hostage-takers wanted “several al Qaeda prisoners” in exchange for his son.

Paktika is a traditional stronghold of the Haqqani Network, the powerful Taliban subgroup that is backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The Haqqani Network is based in eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal agency of North Waziristan.

Siraj Haqqani, the group’s operational leader, serves as one of the Taliban’s two deputy emirs and is also a member of al Qaeda’s executive council. The Taliban and Haqqani Network are known to shelter al Qaeda’s men and they conduct joint operations with the group inside of Afghanistan.

The US military, under the aegis of the International Security Assistance Force, targeted al Qaeda’s network in Paktika seven times between November 2008 and September 2012. The US military identified the presence of a sizable camp in one of those raids. In May 2009, the US military killed 29 Haqqani Network fighters while hunting for Mullah Sangeen Zadran at a “foreign fighter encampment” in the Wor Mamay district. In another raid in the Mata Khan district, the US killed an al Qaeda “weapons expert.” [See LWJ report, ISAF raids against al Qaeda and allies in Afghanistan 2007-2013.]

Al Qaeda is known to have operated a training camp in Paktika as recently as the summer of 2015. In October 2015, the US targeted and destroyed two al Qaeda camps, including one that covered approximately 30 square miles, in Kandahar’s Shorabak district. Afterwards, General John Campbell, the commander of the Resolute Support Mission, disclosed that intelligence for that operation was gleaned from information seized at an al Qaeda camp in Paktika.

Campbell explained to the The Washington Post that the Shorabak camps “were discovered after a raid this summer [of 2015] on another al Qaeda facility in the Barmal district of eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province.”

One of al Qaeda’s top leaders was based in Paktika, indicating that the group felt the area was safe enough to operate there. Abu Khalil al Sudani, one of al Qaeda’s most senior figures, was killed in an airstrike in the Bermal district in July 2015.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...kistani-prime-minister-from-al-qaeda-cell.php
 
Afghan Officials: Haqqani Network Controls Taliban Command

by Ayaz Gul May 09, 2016

Officials in Afghanistan say the State Department designated terrorist group, the al-Qaida linked Haqqani network, has effectively taken over battlefield command of the Taliban insurgency.

Haqqani militants allegedly operate from sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan and are known for staging high-profile suicide assaults on Afghan and international forces.

"The Taliban are currently being commanded by [the] Haqqani [network]. We believe Haqqani and al-Qaida are two different names for the same terrorist organization," Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Seddiqi, told reporters in Kabul. He said Afghan security forces military strategists are aware of the terrorist threat and dealing with all of them as a common enemy of Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan leaders have long alleged the Haqqani network has ties to Pakistani military-intelligence. The group has fought along side the Taliban in the 15-year Afghan conflict, but mostly operated independently, until last year when its fugitive chief Sirajuddin Haqqani was named deputy to Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

Officials at NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan last week also warned of the Haqqani network, describing it as "the most lethal" and "most competent" terrorist organization in the area.

"Siraj Haqqani, has been named the number two for the Taliban. And we think that he is increasing really, his day-to-day role in terms of conducting Taliban military operations," says U.S. Army Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, deputy chief of staff for communications for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

"And we think that he is trying to exert more influence really, on the leadership with some of these shadow governors in some of these other places [in Afghanistan]," Cleveland noted. But he underscored concerns about the Haqqanis branching out from their traditional area and then focus on high profile attacks like the one that killed nearly 70 people in Kabul last month.

Tensions with Pakistan

The Haqqani network's growing role is likely to fuel Afghanistan's tensions with Pakistan. Kabul has consistently pressed Islamabad to crackdown on the group, claiming it has evidence showing Haqqanis were behind the April 19 deadly bombing in the Afghan capital.

Pakistani officials dismiss allegations the network is still operating from their territory. A senior foreign policy aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week urged Afghans to share the evidence, saying Islamabad's probe into the violence has established it had nothing to do with it.

Despite emerging new security challenges, Afghan officials claim their forces have inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents since the Taliban launched its so-called spring offensive last month.

Kabul's ambassador to Islamabad, Hazrat Omer Zakhilwal, tells VOA the battlefield successes have boosted moral of Afghan forces, which have received far less casualties than the previous fighting season.

"There were a lot of expectations within the Taliban and the supporters of the Taliban that their spring offensive would result in significant advancements for the Taliban and that there would be collapse of a few provinces by now," Zakhilwal said. "The complete opposite happened. The Taliban received and are still receiving tremendous casualties. They did not make any advancement. They are struggling right now with respective their spring offensive and objectives."

Afghan officials say U.S air support has been sought in certain cases, but foreign troops are not involved in ground combat.

Cleveland says about 75 percent of the Afghan Special Operation Forces missions are conducted independently, with no coalition assistance whatsoever.

"Out of that remaining 25 percent, a percentage of that, we're not going into the field with them, we're just essentially helping them with the planning and intelligence and advising and those types of things," he said.

Afghan forces

Independent Western security experts like Ted Callahan, who is based in northern Afghanistan, also agree with Kabul's assessment of the fighting.

Callahan says support from international forces has played a key role in operations Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have conducted, particularly in northern provinces, including Kunduz, which the Taliban had briefly overrun in 2015.

"I would say the mood of the local population is much more optimistic than we have seen for several months previously. But at the same time the question is how sustainable is this current model, because if you look it is really dependent on having international forces and their assets present," said Callahan.

Afghan forces have intensified counter-insurgency operations after the April 19 Kabul attack that officials blamed on the Haqqani network.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has dismissed as propaganda claims the insurgent group has suffered massive casualties and failed to achieve its objectives.

"Our spring offensive is not a week long or a moth-long activity. It is a full one year operation and our mujahideen will prevail as they did last year," Mujahid asserted.

Analysts believe the intensifying Afghan conflict means further deterioration of the country's relations with Pakistan.

A four-nation process, involving the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to promote talks with the Taliban as well as Kabul's normal ties to Islamabad are now "practically hostage" to Afghan expectations of a direct Pakistani action against the Haqqani network, says an Afghan presidential aid, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2016/05/mil-160509-voa01.htm?_m=3n.002a.1713.qa0ao069zz.1kph
 
Taliban offensive in north stresses Afghan military

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archi...fensive-in-north-stresses-afghan-military.php

The Taliban has surrounded a number of Afghan troops in Baghlan near the provincial capital, putting pressure on Afghan troops which were already stretched thin fighting on four different fronts.

Taliban fighters have encircled Afghan forces in the district of Pul-i-Khumri, which hosts the capital city of the same name, families of the troops claimed. The Afghan soldiers have been been under siege for one week, according to TOLONews, and the military has yet to move to relieve the forces.

“The government doesn’t listen to us … forces can go there, but they don’t go. The government has aircraft, but don’t use them,” a relative of one of the soldiers trapped in Pul-i-Khumri district told the Afghan news agency.

The Taliban claimed to have taken over large areas of Pul-i-Khumri and the neighboring district of Baghlan-i-Jadid (also known as Baghlan-i-Markazi). On May 14, the Taliban released a statement on Voice of Jihad claiming its fighters “[dismantled] two more bases as well as [purged] two villages from the enemy after hours of fighting” in Baghlan-i-Jadid and “took over a major military base and a number of checkpoints” in Pul-i-Khumri.

The next day, the Taliban released a detailed report claiming major gains in Pul-i-Khumri. According to the statement, the Taliban overran nine villages and four “posts,” while its fighters “laid a siege around a fortified base and blocked off the main road extending to Mazar-i-Sharif,” the capital of Balkh province. The Taliban claimed it repelled Afghan forces attempting to break the siege of the base.

While it is difficult to independently confirm the Taliban’s claims bout the fighting in Baghlan, press reports indicate that the jihadist organization has made gains in the north and are disrupting transportation on the Ring Road, or Highway 1, in Baghlan. The Ring Road connects Afghanistan’s largest cities and is the major highway in the country.

Last week, The New York Times confirmed that the Taliban shut down the vital artery after ambushing policemen guarding it.

“The northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif was cut off, as were road connections to eight northern provinces,” the Times reported on May 14.

The Taliban offensive in Baghlan is straining Afghan security forces, which have primarily focused on securing the capital of Kabul while holding off the jihadist group from taking over the provincial capitals of Helmand in the south and Kunduz, which borders Baghlan in the north. The Taliban overran Kunduz City in September 2015 and held it for two weeks before US special operations forces led the fight to retake the provincial capital. In Helmand, the Taliban control or contest most of the districts, and have laid siege to the capital of Laskar Gah for several months.

Afghan forces have been stretched thin attempting to fight the Taliban on multiple fronts. Forces are often shifted from one theater to another to take back ground from the Taliban, but once the military pulls back, the areas fall back under Taliban control.

The Taliban has not confined its fighting to Kunduz, Baghlan, and Helmand. The group has made gains in Kandahar and is also pressing Afghan forces in eastern provinces such as Kunar, Khost, and Paktika, and western provinces such as Badghis and Farah.
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aj77 kirjoitti:
That day a lone Gurkha took out 30 Taliban using every weapon within reach

http://www.businessinsider.com/gurkha-dipprasad-pun-took-out-30-taliban-2016-5?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
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Tämä kertoo kaiken :salut::salut::salut:

“At that time I wasn’t worried, there wasn’t any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint, I was alone,” he told the crowd gathered at the ceremony. “I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I’d kill as many of them as I could before they killed me.”

In all, he fired off 250 machine gun rounds, 180 SA80 rounds, threw six phosphorous grenades and six normal grenades, and one claymore mine.

Pun comes from a long line of Gurkhas. His father served in the Gurkha Rifles, as did his grandfather, who received the Victoria Cross for an action in the World War II Burma theater.
 
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Pakistan protests US airstrike on Mansour as ‘a violation of sovereignty’
BY BILL ROGGIO | May 23rd, 2016 | [email protected] | @billroggio
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal statement protesting the US drone strike that killed Taliban emir Mullah Mansour in Baluchistan province on May 21 as “a violation of its sovereignty,” and claimed that the prime minister and army chief of staff were only notified after the fact. Pakistan has officially protested some US drone strikes in the past, typically when a so-called “good Taliban” leader is targeted.

The statement, reproduced in full below, was released on May 22 on the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Pakistan’s condemnation of the airstrike that targeted Mansour is not without precedence. The government has issued numerous protests in the past. These public statements have been issued when the US targets members of the Taliban or other groups which are supported by powerful and influential elements of Pakistan’s military, Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, and government. These groups, such as the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network, the Hafiz Gul Bahadar Group, and the Mullah Nazir Group, are referred to in Pakistani circles as the “good Taliban,” as they do not advocate attacking the Pakistani state. However they do support jihadist groups that wage war on the government (also known as the “bad Taliban”) and shelter foreign terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. The so-called good Taliban also support and wage jihad in Afghanistan and India. [See Threat Matrix reports, Pakistan condemns drone strike that targeted ‘good Taliban, and Good Taliban are not our problem, adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister says.]

The Pakistani government sometimes even condemns US airstrikes in which al Qaeda leaders were killed. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs objected to an Oct. 30, 2014 drone strike in South Waziristan that killed “Adil,” an Arab al Qaeda commander. Adil was killed alongside a Haqqani Network commander known as Abdullah Haqqani, who ran suicide bomber cells in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has even condemned drone strikes that targeted the bad Taliban, such as the Nov. 1, 2013 attack that killed Hakeemullah Mehsud, the previous emir of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. Hakeemullah was responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Pakistanis and waged a brutal insurgency against the government. Taliban fighters under his command have launched suicide attacks and assaults in mosques, shrines, hospitals, markets, hotels, police stations, and military bases.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement: Reported death of a Taliban leader in a drone strike

On late Saturday 21st May, 2016, the United States shared information that a drone strike was carried out in Pakistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, in which reportedly the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhter Mansoor was targeted. This information was shared with the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff after the drone strike.

According to the information gathered so far, a person named Wali Muhammad S/o Shah Muhammad carrying a Pakistani passport and an I.D. Card, resident of Qilla Abdullah, entered Pakistan from Taftan border on 21st May. His passport was bearing a valid Iranian visa. He was traveling on a vehicle hired from a transport company in Taftan. This vehicle was found destroyed at Kochaki along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The driver’s name was Muhammad Azam whose body has been identified and collected by his relatives. The identity of the second body is being verified on the basis of evidence found at the site of the incident and other relevant information.

While further investigations are being carried out, Pakistan wishes to once again state that the drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well.

It may be recalled that the fifth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) held on 18th May had reiterated that a politically negotiated settlement was the only viable option for lasting peace in Afghanistan and called upon the Taliban to give up violence and join peace talks.
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