Taliban stronger than ever: Hakimullah’s spokesman

MIR ALI, Pakistan: Pakistan’s Taliban movement is stronger than ever despite the killing of its top commander and will stage more suicide attacks if the army launches another offensive against it, a top militant told The Associated Press.

Qari Hussain Mehsud, known for training Taliban suicide bombers, met with an AP reporter Thursday at a secret location in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border, just hours before a US missile strike hit the tribal region and killed 12 people. He has been appointed the latest spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban’s new chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.

The US has launched dozens of missiles to take out top Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan’s northwest over the past year. Although Pakistan routinely protests the strikes, it is widely believed to secretly cooperate with them.

One such missile strike in August killed the Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, and Qari Hussain Mehsud’s comments appeared to be the latest attempt by militants to end speculation of a rift among insurgent commanders following the killing.

‘Our movement has gained more strength after the martyrdom of Baitullah Mehsud,’ he said. ‘We are united.’

The militant commander, who looked to be in his 40s and had a curly black beard and mustache, was surrounded by dozens of other militants and local residents. At one point, he assured those gathered that Islam allowed suicide bombings.

The AP was given the interview on condition that it would not reveal the meeting’s exact location and wait a day before publishing the remarks.

Qari Mehsud acknowledged that he was leading a group of suicide bombers known as the ‘Fidayeen-e-Islam,’ and said the attackers were ready to give their lives if Pakistan proceeds with offensives in the tribal areas.

‘We have enough suicide bombers, and they are asking me to let them sacrifice their lives in the name of Islam, but we will send suicide bombers only if the government acts against us,’ he said.

Pakistan’s northwest region bordering Afghanistan has provided Islamic militants with safe havens from which to plan attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. In particular, the mountainous, lawless tribal regions – where the government wields little control – are favored breeding grounds for insurgents, who have also attacked Pakistani government workers and security forces.

Pakistan has launched multiple offensives in its tribal regions and other parts of the northwest to root out the militants.

It was supposed to launch an offensive in South Waziristan aimed at taking out Baitullah Mehsud earlier this year. But now the army appears content to keep its operations in that region limited since the US missile strike that felled the Pakistani Taliban chief.

Qari Hussain Mehsud also praised al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban head Mullah Omar as heroes of Islam. Bin Laden is rumored to be hiding in Pakistan’s tribal belt, while Omar is believed to be in Quetta, a city in southwest Balochistan province.

The latest missile strike took place late Thursday in the village of Dande Darpa Khel in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters on the record.

Twelve people died, though it was unclear who they were. The village is a reputed stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, an insurgent commander blamed for many of the most deadly attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. –AP

Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia to act against drugs, terror

TRIESTE: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia agreed on Friday to improve cooperation on fighting terrorism, combating illegal drug production and trafficking and promoting good-neighbourly relations, regional stability and sustainable development.

The agreement was reached in a meeting held here by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi with his Afghan and Russian counterparts, R.D. Spanta and S. Lavrov.

According to a joint statement issued after the meeting, the foreign ministers discussed prospects of cooperation among the three countries.

They decided to explore the potential of cooperation in the areas of border control, exchange of information on terrorist activities and organisations, training of anti-terrorist and anti-drug police personnel, as well as promoting tolerance and inter-cultural dialogue and tripartite cultural and humanitarian exchanges.

They recognised that the terrorist threat could not be countered solely by enforcement measures, which, they said, must be accompanied by efforts to promote socio-economic rehabilitation and development of the region.

The ministers emphasised that terrorist activities were largely financed by the proceeds from illegal drug trafficking.

They expressed their conviction that the fight against drugs must be intensified and focussed on all elements of the chain: cultivation, production, trafficking, consumption and supply.

They called upon the international community to take additional steps in cooperation with the Kabul government to combat the drug threat.—APP

Pak, Afghanistan, Turkey to intensify cooperation against terrorism

ANKARA: The presidents of Pakistan, Turkey and Afghanistan met to discuss greater cooperation on security and intelligence sharing in a trilateral meeting here on Wednesday.

In the meeting held at Presidential Palace, President Asif Ali Zardari, Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed various issues of importance including ways to address the menace of terrorism by adopting a regional approach. The military and intelligence chiefs of the three countries also attended the trilateral meeting.

Addressing a joint press conference with President Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karazai, Turkish President Gul said the security services of Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan would step up cooperation against terrorism and his country would also arrange special counter-terrorism courses for the two countries.

Earlier, President Zardari had a meeting with President Abdullah Gul, which was followed by his talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish President and Prime Minister also held separate meetings with President Hamid Karzai. The meeting is aimed at discussing the ways to improve regional situation and making joint efforts for ensuring peace.

Turkey had brought the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan together at tripartite summits held in 2007 and 2008, where the talks aimed at reducing tensions over militant attacks along the Pak-Afghan border and to build trust between the two neighbors.

India sends commandos for Indian Embassy officials in Pak

NEW DELHI: The Indian government has sent a special unit of trained commandos to Pakistan to protect top diplomats of the Indian Embassy there, Indian official news reported Tuesday.

It said the batch of 16 personnel, trained in commando skills and unarmed combat, from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was sent to the neighbouring country last month.

“They will perform VIP security duties after assessing the situation there,” CISF Director General N R Das told reporters here on the sidelines of the force’s 40th raising day.

The team includes few drivers who are trained in VIP security drills.

Das said the security of the Indian Embassy is looked after by the Pakistan government. The actual role of the CISF commandos would be finalised after an assessment report is prepared.

Some of the members of the team will also perform technical support duties.

The CISF commandos protect diplomats at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu while the ITBP earlier guarded the Indian Embassy officials in Afghanistan.

source : jang.com.pk

2 months into 2009, US deaths spike in Afghanistan

KABUL – U.S. deaths in Afghanistan increased threefold during the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, after thousands more troops deployed and commanders ramped up winter operations against an increasingly violent insurgency.

As troops pour into the country and violence rises, another sobering measure has also increased: More Afghan civilians are dying in U.S. and allied operations than at the hands of the Taliban, according to a count by The Associated Press. In the first two months of the year, U.S., NATO or Afghan forces have killed 100 civilians, while militants have killed 60.

President Barack Obama recently announced the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to bolster 38,000 already in the country, increasing the U.S. focus on Afghanistan while a drawdown begins in Iraq. The latest casualty toll among U.S. forces could portend a deadlier year in Afghanistan than the U.S. military has experienced since the Taliban’s ouster in 2001.

“I think that because you are going to see that additional engagement, there is a risk of greater additional casualties in the short term, just as there was in Iraq,” Obama told the Pentagon Channel on Friday from Camp Lejeune, N.C. “That is something we will have to monitor very carefully.”

Twenty-nine U.S. troops died in Afghanistan the first two months of 2009 — compared with eight Americans in the first two months of 2008.

Part of the increase is due to the influx of troops. In early 2008 there were about 27,000 forces in the country, some 10,000 fewer than today.

But U.S. troops are also operating in new, dangerous areas. A brigade of 10th Mountain Division soldiers deployed to two insurgent-heavy provinces outside Kabul in January — Wardak and Logar. And American forces are increasingly operating in Taliban heartland in the south.

“It has a lot to do with the fact that we have a presence in places and going into places and disrupting insurgents in area where they haven’t been bothered much,” Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, said Saturday. That, he said, means more battles and more attacks.

American troop deaths occurred at a much higher rate in Afghanistan than in Iraq in January and February. Thirty-one U.S. forces have died in Iraq so far this year, but there are roughly 140,000 American troops in Iraq, more than three times the number in Afghanistan.

The decreasing U.S. death toll in Iraq coincides with an overall decline in violence largely attributed to a cease-fire by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni decision to join forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Julian said that troops in Afghanistan have “maintained the pressure throughout the winter months” this season, though in previous years there had been a lull.

About a third of the 29 deaths this year were caused by roadside bombs, including an attack in Kandahar province on Tuesday that killed four U.S. troops. Julian said insurgents are using more IEDs and fewer direct attacks because militants die in large numbers when they fight the U.S. head on.

The number of other NATO soldiers killed so far this year has risen as well, but not at the same rate. Last year 13 soldiers from other NATO countries died in January and February, compared with 18 in the first two months of 2009. Of those 18 deaths, 12 were British.

Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. and NATO commander in the country, said he thinks that Taliban militants are “resilient” but not necessarily stronger.

“I’m not with the group that says everything is in a downward spiral, that the Taliban are resurgent and stronger than they were. I think they’re very resilient, but I don’t necessarily think they’re stronger,” McKiernan told the Chicago Tribune in an interview published Friday.

“And I do see some measures of progress in this country. Now I’m not going to say everything is going to improve dramatically in 2009, but I think as a military commander, I am not going to be pessimistic about this. I’m going to be glass-is-half-full.”

Violence in all categories is up in general so far this year. Militant deaths rose from 129 in early 2008 to 308 in early 2009, according to numbers compiled by The Associated Press based on figures from U.S., NATO and Afghan officials.

Civilian deaths from U.S. and NATO operations have also spiked, despite increasingly emotional pleas from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to address the problem.

Last year the Taliban set off several large suicide bombs in crowded areas, killing around 180 Afghan civilians the first two months of the year, while U.S., NATO or Afghan forces killed fewer than 10.

But the numbers have reversed this year. In the first two months of 2009 some 100 Afghan civilians have been killed by U.S., NATO or Afghan forces, according to the AP count, many during overnight missions by Special Operations Forces. Militants have killed around 60.

source : news.yahoo.com

Pakistan says Taliban beaten back in border region

KHAR, Pakistan – Pakistan has beaten the Taliban in a major stronghold close to the Afghan border, is close to victory in another and expects to pacify most of the remaining tribal areas before the end of the year, commanders said Saturday.

The upbeat assessment of conditions in the arid, mountainous regions of Bajur and Mohmand follows international criticism of Pakistan for accepting a cease-fire with militants behind a bloody campaign in Swat Valley, just next to the tribal regions.

Many analysts also fear that growing political turmoil between the government and opposition could distract attention from the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban just as Washington wants more concerted action.

The United States and independent analysts have praised the offensive in Bajur, saying it has helped stem the passage of militants from Pakistan into Afghanistan, where violence against American and NATO troops is running at its highest level since the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Pakistan’s tribal regions are believed to be a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders. Foreign governments fear extremists there could be plotting attacks on the West.

Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said the insurgency had been “dismantled” in Bajur after six months of battles between well-armed militants and soldiers backed by tanks and helicopter gunships.

He said 1,600 militants had been killed and 150 civilians had died. Both figures were impossible to verify independently.

“Their resistance has broken down. We control the roads,” he told reporters flown to the northwestern region by helicopter. “They have lost.”

Col. Saif Ullah, commander in the neighboring region of Mohmand, said troops had repelled insurgents from most of the territory and it would soon be cleared.

“There are no more no-go areas. The militants are running away,” he said.

The army took reporters to witness a ceremony marking the victory over the militants conducted by tribal elders and military commanders close to a Bajur town that was the site of a major battle last week. Rows of shops selling household goods and furniture were destroyed, and tanks were parked amid the debris. Residents — most of whom fled before the battle — had not returned to the town in a valley leading to Afghanistan.

American commanders say the Afghan province of Kunar which borders Bajur is still one of the most treacherous areas for their soldiers. The U.S. has earmarked it for some of the thousands of reinforcements being deployed to Afghanistan this year.

Khan said the defeated insurgents were mostly Afghans and Pakistanis, with some Uzbeks and a few Arabs caught in the early days of the offensive.

He said the army had failed to capture any insurgent leaders and that they had most likely fled into Afghanistan. Asked why, he said it was the job of special forces or intelligence agencies — not the army — to capture individual suspects.

Khan said the army had done its job of restoring government rule to the region, predicting military operations in the five of the seven tribal areas under his command “would be over by the end of the year.”

He did not discuss conditions in the North and South Wazirstan regions which are not under his command. Both areas are considered major al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds and are frequently hit by missiles fired by unmanned U.S. aircraft.

The display of Pakistan’s military gains in the area came as it faces criticism for failing to dislodge militants from the nearby Swat region, where troops and insurgents are observing a cease-fire while the commander of the Taliban considers a proposed peace deal. The United States and NATO worry a deal could turn the scenic region into a militant haven.

Political developments in the desperately poor country of 170 million people have also concerned the West.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court banned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from elected office, triggering violent protests by his supporters. Sharif says he will join demonstrations later this month by lawyers who helped bring down former military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Aside from fears the confrontation will undermine the anti-terror fight, it is also raising worries about possible military intervention, a frequent result of political turmoil between civilian leaders in Pakistan.

source : news.yahoo.com

Three foreign troops killed in Afghanistan

KABUL: Three soldiers in the US-led coalition helping to fight a Taliban-led insurgency in southern Afghanistan have died after their patrol was hit by a bomb, the US military said late Friday.

The three were killed on Friday in the southern province of Uruzgan, it said in a statement. It did not give their nationalities. “Three coalition service members died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device during a combat reconnaissance patrol in the Uruzgan province, Friday,” it said.

Many of the troops in Uruzgan — where Taliban have a strong presence — are Australian and Dutch nationals serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces.

The latest fatalities take to 39 the number of international troops to lose their lives in Afghanistan this year, most of them in attacks.

source : jang.com.pk

Blast damages NATO oil tanker in Pakistan: official

PESHAWAR: One person was killed and two wounded in northwest Pakistan on Saturday when a bomb exploded near a fuel tanker destined for NATO forces in Afghanistan, an official said.

The remote-controlled bomb was planted on the main highway linking Peshawar city with the Torkham border crossing, local official Fazle Akbar told by telephone.

The blast partially damaged the oil tanker, but its driver escaped injuries, Akbar said, adding a passer-by was killed and two local men were injured. A security official also confirmed the incident but gave no casualty figure.

The explosion occurred in the troubled tribal district of Khyber, where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents have carried out a series of attacks on NATO vehicles and terminals outside the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The NATO and US-led forces in landlocked Afghanistan are hugely dependent on Pakistan for their supplies and equipment, around 80 percent of which are transported through the neighbouring country. Militants earlier this month blew up a key bridge on the main supply route for NATO forces and torched several trucks bringing goods from the southern port of Karachi for forces battling a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

source : jang.com.pk

Kyrgyz president signs law closing US base

BISHKEK: Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed into law on Friday the closure of a key US military supply base for Afghanistan, his press office said, making good on a decision that shocked Washington.

Parliament voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favour of the bill to close the Manas air base outside the Kyrgyz capital, with 78 out of 81 lawmakers present voting in favour. One MP voted against and two abstained.

The US military will have 180 days to remove its soldiers and equipment from the base once, as officially notified by the government. Bakiyev’s announcement last month of the closure came after Russia offered more than two billion dollars in aid to the struggling Kyrgyz economy. The government has insisted that Moscow did not set the closure as a condition.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Poland that the US would not pay beyond a “reasonable” amount to use the Manas base and said the vote would not be “the last word.”"I think we are prepared to look at the fees and see if there is a justification for a somewhat larger payment, but we’re not going to be ridiculous about it,” he said. “We’re prepared to do something that we think is reasonable.” The United States pays 17.4 million dollars a year to use the strategic air base, which serves as a vital hub for moving troops and supplies in and out of Afghanistan.

source : jang.com.pk

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan approve US transit to Afghanistan

DUSHANBE: Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have approved the transit via their territories of non-lethal US supplies for troops in Afghanistan, US Rear Admiral Mark Harnitchek said Friday.

“Tajikistan has given its agreement to the use of its rail and automobile routes for the transit of non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying on a visit to Dushanbe by Tajik television.

He said that Uzbekistan had also “agreed” to the transit and Washington planned to send 50-200 containers weekly from Uzbekistan into Tajikistan and then by land into neighbouring Afghanistan.

Washington has been seeking new routes for supplies to Afghanistan after Kyrgyzstan’s shock announcement that it is to close a US air base that has served as a key transit point for supplies.

source : jang.com.pk

Kyrgyzstan set to approve US air base closure

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament is set to approve a government proposal on Thursday to close a U.S. airbase, which is a vital transit point for U.S.-led troops fighting in nearby Afghanistan.

The closing of Manas, the last remaining U.S. air base in Central Asia, poses a challenge to new U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to send additional troops to Afghanistan to boost NATO and U.S. military efforts to defeat Taliban insurgents.

No victory against Taliban soon: Australia

SYDNEY: Australia’s defence minister warned Thursday he did not expect victory against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in the near future and would not commit more troops unless NATO members did so too.

Warning that Australia’s 1,000-strong contingent was likely to remain in the war-torn country for years to come, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that other countries needed to do more.

“Australia could double its troop numbers tomorrow and without significant additional contributions from others it would make no difference,” he said.

“We have always said this is not about numeric. It’s about ensuring, before we even consider doing more, that those NATO countries, which I believe are under committed, are prepared to do more.”

Fitzgibbon was speaking from Poland where NATO defence ministers were gathering to reassess strategy on Afghanistan as the United States prepares to deploy 17,000 more troops to fight Taliban-led insurgents.

Asked how long Australian troops would remain in Afghanistan, Fitzgibbon replied: “No-one believes we will meet with success any time soon. The reality is we are talking years.

“How many years we don’t know because we don’t yet know how much will there is amongst the NATO partners to achieve success.”

source : jang.com.pk

Kyrgyz parliament approves US base closure

BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted Thursday to close a key U.S. air base in the country a move that could hamper President Barack Obama’s efforts to increase the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Deputies voted 78-1 for the government-backed bill to cancel the lease agreement on the Manas air base, a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month to and from Afghanistan. Two deputies abstained.

If President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signs the bill and Kyrgyz authorities issue an eviction notice, the United States will have180 days to vacate the base.

source : jang.com.pk

Kabul welcomes extra US troops, Afghans wary

KABUL: Afghan officials Wednesday welcomed US President Barack Obama’s decision to send 17,000 more soldiers to fight a Taliban-led insurgency here, but ordinary people feared more troops would mean more attacks.

In his first major military decision since taking office in January, Obama on Tuesday agreed to the deployment “to stabilise a deteriorating situation” in Afghanistan. “It’s a positive move,” Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Is’haq Payman told.

“But we have our own conditions. We want these troops to be deployed in areas where they could play a positive role in suppressing terrorists,” he said. “We want them to be deployed along the border, in eastern, southeastern and southern parts of the country.” Many of the attacks in Afghanistan are carried out by militants holed up in Pakistan’s lawless tribal zones, who infiltrate the porous 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile), largely mountainous border. Payman said the US reinforcements would also allow growing Afghan security forces to concentrate on vital training instead of fighting the insurgency, which started after the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001.

source : jang.com.pk

U.S. air strike kills Afghan boy among a dozen dead

HEART: U.S. forces killed at least one child, video footage obtained on Wednesday showed, in an air strike in western Afghanistan that Afghan police say killed 12 civilians and U.S. forces said killed 16 militants.

Videos taken in the Gozara district of Herat province in the aftermath of the attack on Monday showed mangled, unrecognizable clumps of flesh – all that remained of several people and dozens of animals killed in a tented nomad encampment. One body that was recognizable was that of a young boy. “The information we have is 12 civilians, including six women, four men and two children have been killed in the bombardment,” General Ikramuddin Yawar, chief of police in western Afghanistan told.

source : jang.com.pk

Australia could bolster Afghanistan troop numbers

CANBERRA: Australia welcomed a U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan and could also send more soldiers, if European allies agreed to do the same, Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Wednesday.

Fitzgibbon told Australian television he looked forward to discussing details of the plan to deploy an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to battle al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a NATO forum in Krakow, Poland, this week. President Barack Obama’s administration has not yet requested a larger Australian contribution, but such a request would be considered, Fitzgibbon said.

source : jang.com.pk

US in contact with Pakistan over Swat agreement: State Deptt.

WASHINGTON: The United States State Department had no specific comment to offer on the Swat peace agreement, saying it is in contact with the Pakistani government to learn about the full strategy.

“We are in touch with the government in Pakistan, we are discussing the issue, but that is all I have for you at the moment,” a State Department spokesman said at the daily briefing in his cautious response to questions on the development that Pakistan said would help bring peace to its restive valley in the northwestern province, bordering Afghanistan.

Spokesman Gordon K. Duguid, asked to comment on enforcement of Shariat-based justice system in Swat said, “As I understand that Islamic law is within the constitutional framework of Pakistan, so I don’t know that is particularly an issue for anyone outside of Pakistan to discuss.”

Pressed if Washington saw the agreement as a good or bad development, he said “We have seen these sorts of actions before, what is important is that we are all working together to fight terrorism, and particularly to fight the cross-border activities that some Taliban engage in, in attacking in Afghanistan.”

Asked if the United States shared NATO’s comments on the possible impact the agreement may have in terms of providing sanctuaries for militants, he said: “We are a part of NATO, I saw those comments, I did not see the full context of them, however. So I won’t, I don’t have anything further to offer on that.

source : jang.com.pk

Clinton lands in Indonesia with message for Muslims

JAKARTA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Wednesday in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, on her first mission to start mending US ties with the Islamic world.

She was to meet Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and leaders of the Jakarta-based Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) later in the day on the second leg of her four-nation trip through Asia.

Wearing a red coat over a black blouse and trousers, Clinton touched down under heavy skies and was greeted by senior officials and a choir of female students from US President Barack Obama’s old primary school in Jakarta.

Obama, who spent part of his childhood here in the late 1960s, has promised to improve relations with the Islamic world after the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan under his predecessor George W. Bush.

“We have a responsibility to speak out and to work with the Muslim world on behalf of positive change and to enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists,” Clinton told students in Japan on Tuesday.

In her first trip to a Muslim country in her new role, Clinton would also meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday before leaving for South Korea and China.

Obama’s personal connection with Indonesia has made him hugely popular in the country of 234 million people, and expectations are high he will visit early in his presidency to reach out to the Muslim world.

source : jang.com.pk

Osama bin Laden may well be in Parachinar: Report

CALIFORNIA: Fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden is most likely hiding out in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released today.

A research team led by geographer Thomas Gillespie of the University of California-Los Angeles used geographic analytical tools that have been successful in locating urban criminals and endangered species.

Basing their conclusion on nighttime satellite images and other techniques, the scientists suggest bin Laden may well be in one of three compounds in Parachinar, a town 12 miles from the Pakistan border. The research incorporates public reports of bin Laden’s habits and whereabouts since his flight from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in 2001.

The results, reported in the MIT International Review, are being greeted with polite but skeptical interest among people involved in the hunt for bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader behind 9/11. Bin Laden’s whereabouts are considered “one of the most important political questions of our time,” the study notes.

“I’ve never really believed the sitting-in-a-cave theory. That’s the last place you would want to be bottled up,” Gillespie says. The study’s real value, he says, is in combining satellite records of geographic locations, patterns of nighttime electricity use and population-detection methods to produce a technique for locating fugitives.

source : jang.com.pk

Kyrgyzstan takes step towards US air base closure

BISHKEK; Kyrgyzstan moved a step closer to evicting U.S. troops on Monday after the government sent to parliament the final package of documents required to close down an air base used to support U.S. forces in nearby Afghanistan.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced in early February that he had decided to close the Manas air base because Washington had refused to pay more rent for it.

Parliament, dominated by Bakiyev’s party, had been due to vote on the move shortly after the original announcement but later asked officials to submit a number of follow-up documents.

“The package of documents has been now received by parliament,” said a parliament spokesman. He refused to say when the assembly would now vote on it. Kyrgyz officials say voting may not take place for weeks, possibly until April.

source : jang.com.pk

Germany names envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan

BERLIN: Germany on Monday followed the lead of the US and Britain in announcing the appointment of a special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The appointment of Bernd Muetzelburg, currently Germany’s ambassador to India, to the role will “further intensify Germany’s diplomatic engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the foreign ministry in Berlin said.

Germany is currently raising troop levels in Afghanistan to around 4,500 under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Most of Germany’s soldiers are based in the relatively peaceful north.

Last Monday Britain appointed Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles as its envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

source : jang.com.pk

Swat situation affected entire country: Holbrooke

NEW DELHI: U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke Monday said the Swat situation affected the entire country.

Talking to journalists after arriving here, Holbrooke said he learned about the Nizam-e-Adl accord and Swat ceasefire when he was in the plane and therefore has very limited knowledge on the new developments. I would talk to the U.S. Ambassador on the ceasefire agreement, he added.

Richard Holbrooke said he could not go to Swat during his recent Pakistan visit and added that not only the people of Swat are facing hardship due to the bad situation there but the entire country including Karachi and Islamabad is also being affected.

source : jang.com.pk

Russia still haunted by Afghan ghosts

MOSCOW: Russia on Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of the Soviet pullout from Afghanistan haunted by its catastrophic war against Islamists and convinced the trauma harbours lessons for Western forces today.

On February 15, 1989 the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan, ending a war that Moscow initially saw as a brief incursion to bolster its Afghan supporters but became a protracted and bloody struggle that lasted almost 10 years. The war, which cost over 13,000 Soviet lives and may have killed as many as one million Afghans, led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the takeover of Afghanistan by the Islamist Taliban.

source : jang.com.pk

Afghanistan to take part in US review: Karzai

KABUL: US President Barack Obama has accepted Kabul’s request to be part of a major review of US strategy in the “war on terror” in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai and a US envoy said Sunday.

Karzai said he asked Obama by letter for Afghanistan to have a role in the review, which is under way amid concerns about worsening security in this country seven years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke brought the message to Karzai on Saturday that Obama had accepted, the Afghan leader told a joint press conference. A delegation from Afghanistan chaired by Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta would travel to Washington “and will be working jointly with the US government in the review of the strategy in the war on terrorism,” he said.

Holbrooke arrived late Thursday and met with a range of Afghan officials and politicians, international military commanders and diplomats before holding talks with Karzai late Saturday. He has held similar wide-ranging meetings in Pakistan and is due to continue his tour of the region in India.

source : jang.com.pk

Pakistan says tri-series in Dubai cancelled

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket received a further blow Friday with the cancellation of a tri-series in Dubai scheduled for late March due to the unavailability of the Sri Lankan team, a top official said.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Salim Altaf told that the event would be scrapped. “We have been told by organisers that the tri-series has been cancelled because, I believe, the Sri Lankan team is unavailable,” said Altaf.

The third team was to be Bangladesh. Altaf said he did not know why Sri Lanka could not participate. The event was part of a nine-million dollar deal with Dubai Sports City last year, which was to provide Pakistan with cricket at neutral venue after foreign teams refused to tour the country over security fears. Pakistan did not play a single Test last year after Australia postponed a tour in March citing security risks. They rescheduled the tour in two visits — for one-dayers in 2009 and Tests in 2010.

But they refused again to tour Pakistan after Canberra refused permission over fear that players could be targeted because the Australian army is among international troops deployed in neighbouring Afghanistan. The series will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from April 24 to May 7.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) also withdrew the eight-nation Champions trophy from Pakistan after three teams refused to tour. The ICC will decide the new venue in April. Pakistan cricket suffered another setback when India refused to send its team across the border following heightened tension in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan has admitted that part of the planning for the attacks, which killed 165 people, was done inside Pakistan.

source : jang.com.pk

NATO, US-led troops give Afghans larger role

KABUL: NATO and US-led troops in Afghanistan have agreed to include more Afghans in counter-terrorism operations to improve coordination and minimise civilian casualties, the military said Friday.

The agreement was reached after consultations between Defence Minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak and the top international commander in Afghanistan, US General David McKiernan, a joint statement said.

Tensions have increased between Afghanistan and its Western allies over mounting civilian casualties as a result of military operations and nighttime house searches that Afghans say are aggressive and intrusive. They agreed “to include more Afghan representatives in the planning and execution of counter-terrorism missions, with more attention to night operations, actions in populated areas and searches,” the statement said.

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Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KHOST: A bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday killed two soldiers from the NATO-led force helping to fight an escalating Taliban-led insurgency, a military spokeswoman said.

The blast, similar to scores of others orchestrated by the Taliban against security forces, was on the outskirts of the eastern town of Khost on a road leading to the main US base in eastern Afghanistan.

“Two alliance soldiers were killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) and one wounded,” Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Neilson-Green, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told. She could not disclose the nationalities of those killed in the blast but most soldiers in eastern Afghanistan are US nationals.

Neilson-Green said it was not immediately clear what kind of device caused the explosion. Khost has seen a rash of suicide attacks over the past few months, most claimed by the Taliban. Afghan police confirmed the blast and also said the cause was not immediately clear. “It was against a coalition convoy,” provincial police chief Abdul Qayoum Baqizoi told.

source : jang.com.pk

Two NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

KHOST: A bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday killed two soldiers from the NATO-led force helping to fight an escalating Taliban-led insurgency, a military spokeswoman said.

The blast, similar to scores of others orchestrated by the Taliban against security forces, was on the outskirts of the eastern town of Khost on a road leading to the main US base in eastern Afghanistan.

“Two alliance soldiers were killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) and one wounded,” Lieutenant Colonel Rumi Neilson-Green, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told. She could not disclose the nationalities of those killed in the blast but most soldiers in eastern Afghanistan are US nationals.

Neilson-Green said it was not immediately clear what kind of device caused the explosion. Khost has seen a rash of suicide attacks over the past few months, most claimed by the Taliban. Afghan police confirmed the blast and also said the cause was not immediately clear. “It was against a coalition convoy,” provincial police chief Abdul Qayoum Baqizoi told.

NATO chief lashes European allies over Afghanistan

MUNICH: The head of NATO joined Saturday a chorus of criticism of European allies refusing to step up their efforts in Afghanistan, as the United States prepares to send in thousands more troops.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warned the Europeans that they were undermining their leadership credentials and upsetting the balance within the world’s biggest military alliance, as it battles a Taliban-led insurgency. “I am frankly concerned when I hear the United States is planning a major commitment for Afghanistan, but other allies ruling out doing more,” he said, at a major international security conference in Munich, southern Germany. “That is not good for the political balance of this mission, he said

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Biden rules out Afghan success sans Pakistan

MUNICH: The United States is seeking to set “clear and achievable” goals for Afghanistan in a comprehensive strategy for which both Washington and its allies must take responsibility, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday.

This strategy should bring together U.S. civilian and military resources in order to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for Islamist militants and help Afghans develop the capacity to secure their own future.

Speaking to a security conference, he also said that, “no strategy for Afghanistan can succeed without Pakistan.

“We must all strengthen our cooperation with the people and government of Pakistan, help them stabilise the Tribal Areas and promote economic development and opportunity throughout the country.”

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Afghanistan welcomes new US troops: defence minister

DAVOS: Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak backed US plans to send more troops to Afghanistan to help ensure security until the national army is ready to take over.

“There is a gap that has to be breached (until Afghan troops can take over) and there will be a requirement of international forces,” he told a panel at the Davos forum.

US President Barack Obama is reviewing Afghan policy after receiving a request from the US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, for a 30,000-troop buildup. Some troops are to be moved from Iraq to Afghanistan.

“The final solution has to be an Afghan solution,” Wardak said, explaining that the national army had to be built up and trained.

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US ready to cut Karzai adrift

WASHINGTON: The US administration hinted that President Barack Obama would take strong stance about Afghan President Hamid Karzai whereas new US policy for Afghanistan would be based on war rather than development.

US officials said Karzai is considered to be a big hindrance in the way of attainment of US objectives in Afghanistan.

International support for Mr Karzai has waned spectacularly, amid worsening violence, endemic corruption and weak leadership. But until very recently, diplomats insisted there were no viable alternatives even as fighting has intensified and the Taliban insurgency in the south has grown.

Mr Obama has already started getting to grips with the challenge of Afghanistan; he received a briefing on the coming American troop “surge” from General David Petraeus, his first full day in the Oval Office. Last night, Mr Obama appointed the veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke as his new special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Taliban abduct 9 construction workers in Afghanistan

KABUL: Taliban insurgents abducted nine workers of a private construction company in a raid in western Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

The militants also burnt down rooms housing the employees of the firm along with their equipment in the attack on Tuesday in Robat Sangi district of Herat province, the ministry said in a statement. The workers were constructing a border police post in the area.

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Hillary concerned over civilian casualties at Pak-Afghan border

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she has personally expressed US concerns to both Pakistan and Afghanistan over civilian casualties in its attacks against militant targets in the Pak-Afghan border region, which she termed as a source of instability for both neighbours.

Clinton declined to comment specifically on any of the drone attacks on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border but indicated that as the Barack Obama Administration moves forward the issue of civilian casualties will be part of its assessment.

“I am not prepared to talk about that. I think that, as I mentioned, we are looking very broadly and comprehensively at the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and along our borders. I have personally expressed to both President (Hamid) Karzai and President (Asif Ali) Zardari our concern about civilian casualties. That is an area that, you know, we are following closely,” she told reporters at the State Department.

“And it will be as we move forward, certainly, a part of our assessment. But there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan are a source of instability for Afghanistan, for Pakistan, and far beyond the borders of those two countries. So there will be more to report about our views as to how we’re going to proceed in the future,” she added.

The Secretary of State said the Obama Administration felt it was imperative to appoint a high-level representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“With Afghanistan and Pakistan, there has been an ongoing review that was begun under the former administration that has put a lot of actions in motion.

“And we are engaged very vigorously in trying to assess what has been done before and what we are going to be doing. And we thought it imperative that we had a high-level representative” and in this case, Richard Holbrooke “to be guiding that process with us.”

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Afghan president: US forces killed 16 civilians

KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai has condemned a U.S. operation he says killed 16 Afghan civilians, while hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an angry demonstration.

Karzai said the killing of innocent Afghans “is strengthening the terrorists.”

He also announced that his Ministry of Defense sent to Washington a draft technical agreement — also sent to NATO headquarters — that seeks to give Afghanistan more oversight over U.S. military operations.

The president’s criticism follows a U.S. raid early Saturday that American officials said killed 15 armed militants. Afghan officials said those killed were civilians. Demonstrators rallied in Laghman province Sunday, near the site of the raid.

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Afghanistan promoted to play ICC World Cricket League

BUENOS AIRES: Afghanistan’s cricketers, who just five years ago were using crashed military helicopters as dressing rooms, hope to edge closer to the international elite here this week.

After two successive promotions, Afghanistan take part in the six-nation ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Argentina from Saturday with a place in the top two ensuring a spot in April’s 2011 World Cup qualifier.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC), having helped guide the team’s development from a rag-tag outfit who learnt the game as refugees living in Pakistan, are confident that there is no reason why the Afghans can’t continue their rise.

“For the ACC, it has been a tremendous journey of taking a very talented team from the clutches of war and destruction to new heights of playing international cricket,” said ACC development officer Mohammad Iqbal Sikander.

Sikander outlined the problems that Afghanistan, who will tackle Argentina, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and the Cayman Islands here, have faced.

“In 2003-04, the facilities in Afghanistan were non-existent, they were playing on open areas by the side of the hills without even the basic cricket requirement – that is, the pitch,” he said.
“
On one of the grounds they had a damaged helicopter and a plane that were being used as two dressing rooms.”

There is plenty at stake here from January 24-31. The top two sides will play in the 12-nation World Cup Qualifier in April in South Africa.

The top four sides there will qualify for the 2011 showpiece, while the top six teams will receive ODI status for the next four years.

Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan believes his team can complete what once looked distinctly like an impossible dream.

“Two or three years before I started playing for the national team I didn’t even play cricket,” said Hamid.

“I want to play international cricket so people can see the Afghan team. I’d like to play against England at Lord’s and against Australia in Melbourne.”

Uganda and Argentina are expected to be among the main contenders over the next week here.

Uganda are coached by South African-born Ebrahim Mohamed while Hamish Barton, a former first-class cricketer in New Zealand, has an important player-coach role for Argentina.

source  : jang.com.pk

Obama terms Afghanistan, Pak central front in war on terror

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday said Afghanistan and Pakistan are the central front in the America’s war against terrorism and deteriorating situation in the region poses grave threat to the global security.

“This is the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism,” Obama said reiterating that the Afghan-Pak problem can’t be resolved in isolation.

There has to be regional approach to it, he argued.

Addressing the officials of the State Department after Richard Holbrooke was appointed Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said, “There, as in the Middle East, we must understand that we cannot deal with our problems in isolation.”

Obama said his administration is committed to refocusing attention and resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to spending those resources wisely. “That’s why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy,” he said.

Obama alleged that the Afghan government had been unable to deliver basic services. “Al-Qaeda and the Taliban strike from bases embedded in rugged tribal terrain along the Pakistani border. And while we have yet to see another attack on our soil since 9/11, Al-Qaeda terrorists remain at large and remain plotting,” he said.

Giving an inkling of his yet to be Afghan policy, Obama said, “We will seek stronger partnerships with the governments of the region, sustain cooperation with our NATO allies, deeper engagement with the Afghan and Pakistani people, and a comprehensive strategy to combat terror and extremism.”

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No plans to reinforce French Afghanistan force: minister

PARIS: France’s defence minister said Wednesday Paris had no plans to send more troops to Afghanistan, despite plans by US President Barack Obama to step up the pressure on a resurgent Taliban.

“As far as France is concerned, we have made the necessary efforts and there is no question, for now, of considering extra reinforcements,” Defence Minister Herve Morin told French radio Europe 1. France is the fourth-largest contributor to the international military force in Afghanistan with more than 2,600 troops deployed in the region, mainly around Kabul and in forward bases in the east of the country. Paris has also stationed six Mirage 2000 fighter jets outside the southern city of Kandahar to support US and NATO-led troops on the ground. Last month Morin denied a report that France planned to increase its contingent in the country, but said it would move its troops currently in Kabul as Afghan forces took responsibility for security of the capital. French public opinion is opposed to the mission: more than half of respondents to an opinion poll carried out in August, after 10 paratroopers were killed in combat, called for a withdrawal. The Taliban have threatened attacks in France unless the troops are brought home, and in the run-up to Christmas an unidentified individual demanded a withdrawal after hiding a bundle of dynamite in a Parisian store. The French government is to make a policy statement next Wednesday in parliament on its foreign military operations outside Afghanistan.

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Leave Afghanistan, Taliban militants tell Obama

KABUL: The insurgent Taliban said Wednesday that US President Barack Obama should learn from the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan and pull his troops out of the country to allow Afghans to decide their own fate.

“We have no problem with Obama,” a spokesman for the extremist Islamist movement told after the inauguration of the new US president. However, “he must learn lessons from (former US president George W. Bush and before that the Soviets,” Yousuf Ahmadi said by telephone. Afghan mujahedeen (holy warriors) drove out Soviet occupiers in 1989 after a 10-year war, which the Taliban says has parallels with its fight against the US-backed Afghan government and its international allies. After a difficult 2008, Washington is expected to send up to 30,000 more US soldiers to Afghanistan, shifting the focus from Iraq in its “war on terror”.

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Karzai urges west to review Afghan war strategy

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday the killing of civilians by foreign troops was a main source of instability in Afghanistan, and urged the West to review its strategy in fighting the Taliban and delivering aid.

Western politicians have recently stepped up their criticism about endemic corruption and poor governance by Karzai’s administration, which has ruled Afghanistan since U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Karzai, facing elections due in September, has hit back denouncing the repeated accidental killing of Afghan civilians in air strikes by U.S. and NATO forces.

“This persecutes us,” Karzai said of the killings. “Our international friends should know that it is a physical and mental obsession,” he told the annual opening of parliament.

source : jang.com.pk