Taliban Chief: Most Of Afghanistan Is Now Under Taliban Control

An Afghan policeman stands at the site of a Taliban suicide attack. The militant hinted that there could be talks with the Afghanistan government about entering a power-sharing agreement

Taliban Chief Vows To 'Unite All Afghans' And Take Over The Whole Country When Nato Troops Pull Out -- Daily Mail

* Taliban chief said most of Afghanistan was now under their control
* Hinted at talks with Afghan government over power-sharing agreement
* Nato mission due to end in 2014 and troops will pull out by end of year

A Taliban chief has told a British newspaper that the fundamentalist group is preparing to run Afghanistan when Nato forces leave.

The militant, using the pseudonym Qari Nasrullah, said most of the country is now under Taliban control.

The Nato mission is due to end in 2014, with U.S. and British troops pulling out by the end of the year.

Read more ....

My Comment: I suspect that these Taliban boasts have a grain of truth to it. Bottom line .... there is nothing positive coming out of Afghanistan right now. The drug trade continues to boom .... corruption is widespread .... and the international community is throwing in the towel and looking for the exits.

Read More

How Australia's 'Super-Spies' Tracked Down The Former Afghan Sergeant Who Murdered Three Australian Soldiers

How Super-Spies Tracked Down Rogue Afghan Sergeant Hekmatullah -- The Australian

ELITE Australian spies employed by the government's most obscure intelligence agency provided the breakthrough that led to the capture of fugitive Afghan soldier Sergeant Hekmatullah.

The rogue soldier and suspected Taliban sleeper will be charged with three counts of murder and will possibly face the death penalty for the shooting of Lance Corporal Stjepan 'Rick' Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate during an insider attack at Patrol Base Wahab in Afghanistan in August last year.

So secret was his capture in February by Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) that the families of the dead Australian soldiers were only notified yesterday.

Read more ....

More News On The Capture Of A Former Afghan Sergeant Who Murdered Three Australian Soldiers

Former Afghan sergeant, who killed three Australian soldiers in Uruzgan, to be charged with murder -- ABC News (Australia)
Captured: Afghan accused of killing Australian soldiers -- Sydney Morning Herald
Afghan suspected of killing Australian soldiers captured and will face trial -- The Guardian
Pakistan hands over suspected green-on-blue killer for trial -- Long War Journal
Afghan soldier accused of killing 3 Australian comrades at patrol base deported from Pakistan -- Washington Post/AP
Afghan arrest over rogue attack on Australian troops -- FOX News/AFP
Soldier killings suspect faces death penalty -- Sydney Morning Herald

Read More

The Afghan Army Is Being Slaughtered

FILE 2008: Afghan National Army soldiers attend a class in Kabul. Recently, these troops appear less able to fight and save the lives of their critically wounded. (Reuters)

Afghan Troop Deaths Hit Record Amid US Exit -- FOX News

Afghan troops are in the midst of their deadliest fighting season since the war here began 12 years ago.

That is because, as U.S.-led forces withdraw, the Afghans are fighting a different war.

The Taliban are growing more aggressive. Coalition forces, taking with them their superior training and equipment, are leaving Afghan troops less able to fight and less able to save the lives of their critically wounded.

The Afghan forces—including the army, national police and village self-defense police—have been losing well over 100 men a week to insurgent attacks, with close to 300 injured, through much of the summer, according to numbers provided by coalition officials.

Read more ....

My Comment: 100 killed and 300 wounded per week .... these numbers are not sustainable over the long term. 

Read More

Taliban Ambush Kills 18 Aghan Policemen

Afghanistan Militants Kill 18 Police In Badakhshan -- BBC

At least 18 Afghan police officers have been killed and 13 wounded in a Taliban ambush in northern Badakhshan province, the interior ministry says.

The police were in Wardooj district and on their way back to the provincial capital after an anti-insurgent operation when they came under attack.

Although the mountainous north-east is relatively peaceful, Wardooj district has become increasingly volatile.

The Taliban said that they had carried out the attack.

In a statement they said that they had taken weapons and vehicles in the attack, and had handed over some of the bodies to tribal elders.

The statement also said 47 insurgents had been killed in police operations in the same region this week.

The interior ministry has ordered an investigation into the death of the police officers.

Read more ....

More News On The Recent Taliban Ambush That Killed 18 Aghan Policemen

Taliban ambush policemen in northern Afghan province -- Long War Journal
18 Afghan police killed in ambush in remote northeast -- FOX News/AFP
Afghan government says 18 policemen killed in ambush earlier in week -- Washington Post/AP
Ambush claiming 18 lives in Afghanistan prompts inquiry -- CNN
Afghan Interior Ministry Confirms 18 Killed In Badakhshan Ambush -- Radio Free Europe

Read More

Afghan Taliban Attack U.S. Consulate In Herat

Taliban Militants Attack US Consulate in Afghanistan -- Voice of America

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Taliban militants have attacked the U.S. consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat. NATO officials said international and Afghan security forces repelled the assault and the compound was secure.

It was early Friday morning when Afghan militants drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the walls around the U.S. consulate in Heart, on the border with Iran.

A portion of the front walls shattered, militants then entered the compound and started shooting.

Read more ....

More News On Today's Attack Against The U.S. Consulate In Herat, Afghanistan

Herat attack: Afghanistan Taliban target US consulate -- BBC
Taliban Attacks U.S. Consulate in Afghanistan -- Wall Street Journal
Deadly attack shatters 'peace' of Afghanistan city Herat -- The Australian/AP
U.S. consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, attacked, 3 dead -- CNN
At least three killed as insurgents attack U.S. consulate in Afghan west -- Reuters
Afghan militants attack US consulate in Afghanistan, kill 2 Afghans -- FOX News
Raid on U.S. Mission Points to Afghan Security Woes -- New York Times
Attack on US consulate in Afghanistan may cast a shadow over Syria debate -- Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor

Read More

The Afghan Army Is Losing The War Against The Taliban In A Key District

Image from The New York Times

Afghan Army Struggles In District Under Siege -- New York Times

SANGIN, Afghanistan — Some days, the Afghan soldiers worry that the mud walls around their headquarters in this embattled district are barely enough to keep the Taliban out. Perhaps more problematic is that the crumbling facade appears to be keeping the soldiers in.

Nolay Base takes direct fire almost every day from the Taliban. With more forces lost here than almost any other district in the country, the Afghan soldiers seldom leave the installation, and mostly refuse to conduct missions — too dangerous, they say. And when soldiers head out to go on brief home leaves, a growing number of them desert rather than return, their commanders say.

“It’s difficult to find local people who are against the Taliban,” said the executive officer of the brigade here, Col. Abdulhai Neshat. “This place is like a prison.”

Read more ....

My Comment: As the Afghan army continues the fight against the Taliban .... NATO bases are being dismantled and international forces are preparing to leave. As to what is my take on this evolving situation .... I am personally in favor of this withdrawal .... the Afghan conflict is no longer our war.

Read More

The Afghan Army Is Being Decimated By The Taliban

A U.S. soldier takes a break during a mission to clear Route 1 of improvised explosives in Wardak province, Afghanistan, Aug. 13, 2013. The soldier, assigned to the 87th Sapper Company, conducted the clearing mission to maintain freedom of movement for military and commercial traffic. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chenee' Brooks

Afghan Forces Suffering Too Many Casualties, Says Top Nato Commander -- The Guardian

Police and army may need west's support for years, says General Joseph Dunford, as weekly death toll tops 100

Afghanistan's police and army are losing too many men in battle, and may need up to five more years of western support before they can fight independently, the top US and Nato commander in the country has told the Guardian.

General Joseph Dunford also said in an interview that it was too early to judge whether Nato had been right to end combat operations in Afghanistan this spring. Western forces have officially offered only training and support to the Afghan army and police during the brutal fighting season of the summer months.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is the same thing that happened to the Afghan Army when Soviet military forces left the country in the 1980s.

Read More

Taliban Attack U.S. Base In Afghanistan

Afghan, NATO Troops Repel Taliban Attack On U.S. Base Near Pakistan Border -- CNN

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- NATO and Afghan forces fought back Taliban attackers who launched an assault Monday on a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.

The insurgents detonated explosives and then began firing guns in an area where NATO supply trucks were parked in Nangarhar province, said Ahmed Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the province's governor.

The initial attack was repulsed and Afghan and NATO troops engaged the militants in a firefight for about two hours, during which all the attackers were killed, Abdulzai said.

No civilians or military personnel were killed, he said, and only a few NATO supply trucks caught fire during the violence.

Firefighters are trying to put out the flames, he said.

Read more ....

More News On Yesterday's Taliban Attack Against A US Base In Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban target U.S. army base as attacks mount -- Reuters
U.S. Base Attacked; 3 Suspected Afghan Militants Die -- Time/AP
Taliban attacks US base amid signs of worsening security in Afghanistan -- The Telegraph
Suicide bombers hit U.S. Afghan base near Pakistan -- CBS/AP
US base in Afghanistan attacked by Taliban -- Al Jazeera
3 Militants Killed In Foiled Taliban Attack On US Base In Afghanistan -- RTT
Taliban militants attack U.S. base in Afghanistan; 3 dead -- Washington Times
Taliban Militants Killed in Attack on US Base -- Voice of America
Militants attack U.S. base on Afghan supply route -- L.A. Times

Read More

Hope In Afghanistan?

U.S. Soldiers Find Surprise on Returning to Afghan Valley: Peace -- New York Times

NANGALAM, Afghanistan — The Americans arrived under cover of night, the static electricity from their helicopter blades casting halos of blue in the pitch black.

It was their first return to the Pech Valley — a rugged swath of eastern Afghanistan so violent they nicknamed it the Valley of Death — since the American military abruptly ended an offensive against the Taliban here in 2011 after taking heavy casualties.

But the Americans, from the First Battalion of the 327th Infantry, had not come back to fight. Instead, their visit this summer was a chance to witness something unthinkable two years ago: the Afghan forces they had left in charge of the valley then, and who nobody believed could hold the ground even for weeks, have not just stood — they have had an effect.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is a surprising report. I am still skeptical on Afghanistan's long term prospects .... but this success story is a positive sign.

Read More

Do Not Trust Afghan Government Military Claims Against The Taliban

U. S. Marine Corps Capt. Ernesto Howard reads a map during a patrol in Charibaya in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Aug. 8, 2013. Coalition forces patrolled to meet with Afghans in the area and investigate the terrain. Howard is the assistant officer in charge of the Supporting Arms Liaison Team, 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tammy K. Hineline

The Afghan Army Claims It Just Kicked the Taliban’s Ass—It’s Probably a Lie -- War Is Boring

Don’t trust numbers coming out of Kabul

Afghan helicopters rotored into Logar province south of Kabul in the early morning hours of July 23 as part of the biggest Afghan-only military offensive in 30 years. Operating without coalition help, Mi-17 cargo copters dropped off soldiers and supplies as Mi-35 gunships flew top cover.

Pounding through Logar’s Azra district with the helicopters in support, the soldiers flushed out and corralled hundreds of Taliban fighters—and in two weeks of furious fighting killed some 200 of the insurgents, liberating a strategic area from militant control at the loss of just a dozen Afghan troops.

Read more ....

My Comment: The Afghan government is not alone in making outlandish claims. I have doubts on U.S. military claims that the Afghan military is progressing smoothly .... if anything .... I am seeing more reports of this.

Read More