Georgetown Security Law Brief

Insurgents attack near UN mission in Kabul

05/24/13:  The New York Times reports insurgents attacked in the midst of one of the capital’s diplomatic quarters on Friday, setting off a bomb and sending United Nations and international agency workers into bomb shelters.  The exact target was unclear, but there were conflicting reports that it was the International Organization of Migration; a hospital used by the national intelligence service; and a nearby hotel, the Park Palace. The buildings were all adjoining or close to the main compound of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, in the Shar-e-Naw area of the capital, and many guesthouses used by foreign staff are in the area. The attackers set off a large explosion followed by numerous smaller explosions, and were still in a gun battle with police an hour later. The first explosion was so powerful that it was heard at least two miles away. There were no initial reports of fatalities, but two wounded police officers were seen being evacuated from the scene. Authorities ordered lockdowns of embassies and international facilities throughout the city, and at the United Nations headquarters, across the street from the apparent site of the attack, workers were ordered to take refuge in blast shelters.

Torture victim’s body found near US base, Afghans say

05/21/13:  The New York Times reports the footless corpse of an Afghan man missing since November was found on Tuesday near the former American Special Forces base to which he was last seen being taken, according to Afghan officials and victims’ representatives. Afghan investigators said that after his disappearance, the man, Sayid Mohammad, was seen in a video being tortured by an Afghan-American named Zakaria Kandahari, whom the officials identified as the chief interpreter for an American Army Special Forces A Team stationed at the base. The American military denies that Mr. Kandahari is an American citizen, and said he was no longer working for the A Team when the video was made. Mr. Mohammad’s body was found about 200 yards outside the perimeter of the base, in Nerkh District in Wardak Province.Mohammad Hanif Hanafi, the district governor, said it was found by laborers digging a water ditch when they unearthed what appeared to be a military-style black body bag. Relatives of Mr. Mohammad said his corpse was largely complete, except both feet had been cut off. Afghan officials say the partial remains and clothing of another missing person had been found earlier near the base, which is now occupied by Afghan Special Forces after the American unit left in March. Afghan officials are seeking Mr. Kandahari’s arrest on murder, torture and abuse of prisoner charges, and accuse the American military of shielding him from capture.

Bombing kills key figure in northern Afghan province

05/20/13:  The New York Times reports a suicide bomber disguised as a police officer killed 14 people on Monday, including the head of a provincial council in northern Afghanistan, officials said. The head of the council, Rasul Mohseni, commonly known as Rasul Khan, was widely regarded as the most powerful man in Baghlan Province and was a veteran commander who had led northerners in revolt against the Taliban regime. He was killed along with four of his bodyguards and three police officers, as well as six civilians, according to Zubair Akbari, the province’s director of public health. Nine other people were wounded. Mr. Mohseni, who was viewed as more powerful than either Baghlan’s governor or its police chief, had been accused of quietly rearming militia fighters in the north in case the Taliban again proved to be a threat. His brother Mustafa Mohseni is an Afghan general, and another brother, Azim Mohseni, is an influential member of Parliament. They were all prominent members of the Jamiat-i-Islami party, formerly led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was assassinated in 2011 by a Taliban suicide bomber pretending to be a peace emissary.

Karzai seeks Indian military aid amid Pakistan row

05/19/13:  The Miami Herald reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, India's archrival, an aide said. The comments follow a weekend report by the Times of India that said Afghanistan's ambassador to India had said the country needs India's help with "equipment and weapons to fight." The Press Trust of India later quoted a spokesman for India's foreign ministry as saying the country is ready to meet any such request. "Yes, we will ask for assistance for the strengthening of our security forces," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said in a briefing Saturday ahead of the trip. He did not comment on the Indian reports. Karzai's visit could irk Pakistan, especially if any arms deal materializes. Pakistan considers Afghanistan its own backyard and suspects rival India of seeking greater influence there as a strategy to hem in the country from both sides. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were divided into two countries when they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 that has included Indian military training of Afghan security forces. Faizi indicated Saturday that Karzai would seek to expand that cooperation.

Attack on US military vehicles kills at least 16 in Kabul

05/16/13:  The New York Times reports a Toyota Corolla packed with explosives rammed a pair of American military vehicles in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday, setting off a blast that killed at least 16 people, including 6 American military advisers, and shook the relative calm that has prevailed for months in the city, Afghan officials said. The explosion was powerful enough to rattle windows across the city. It left bodies strewn along the street and one of the American vehicles – an armored Chevrolet Suburban that weighed nearly five tons – lying in ruins more than 30 feet from the blast site. A witness called it a “dreadful scene.” Hezb-i-Islami, a relatively small insurgent faction that often competes with the Taliban for influence, took credit for the attack, which also wounded more than three dozen Afghans. Haroon Zarghon, the group’s spokesman, reached by telephone in Pakistan, said the bombing was carried out by a 24-year-old who grew up south of Kabul. It was the first significant attack in months on a Western target in Kabul, despite repeated efforts by insurgents to launch a major strike in the city..

Karzai says US can keep Afghan bases after 2014

05/09/13:  The New York Times reports Afghanistan is ready to let the United States and its allies keep military bases here after the end of the NATO combat mission next year, President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday, offering a concrete public signal that foreign troops would remain welcome in the coming years. The US and Afghanistan are negotiating a security agreement that would allow American forces to stay here beyond the end of 2014, and Mr. Karzai said the Obama administration has asked for nine bases spread across the country. “We agree to give them these bases,” Mr. Karzai told students during a speech at Kabul University. “We consider our relations with the United States beyond 2014 to be positive for Afghanistan.” The American reaction, though, was far less positive than what one would expect. Officials characterized Mr. Karzai’s comments as premature, at best, and said they appeared to reflect the Afghan government’s desire for a larger force than the United States is likely willing to commit. The Obama administration has yet to decide how large a force it would like to keep in Afghanistan, but administration officials have signaled that it is unlikely to total more than 10,000 service members. They said it was more important now to hash out a range of issues, such as whether American troops would continue to have legal immunity in Afghanistan after 2014, than to talk about the specifics of where troops would be based. The American officials also stressed that no matter the final number of troops, the United States envisions using Afghan bases — not its own — to house its forces.

Pakistan election: Sharif 'would end' war on terror role

05/09/13:  The BBC reports the man tipped to be Pakistan's next prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has said he would end the country's involvement in the US-led war on terror if elected. Mr Sharif told the BBC that the move was necessary for there to be peace in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world. Pakistan has been part of the US-led fight against Islamist militancy in the region since the 9/11 attacks. Voters in Pakistan are due to go to the polls on 11 May following an election run-up marred by violence. It is the first time in the country's history that an elected government will hand over power to another elected government. The remarks by Mr Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), may cause concern among Western leaders, the BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Islamabad. They fear it could lead to militants having greater freedom to operate in Pakistan, as foreign troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014. One of the key questions for the West is how Pakistan's next prime minister will tackle militants on home soil, our correspondent says. Asked whether he would take Pakistan out of the war on terror, Mr Sharif said: "Yes, we have to." But he declined to say whether he would stop military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The business magnate, who served as Pakistan's prime minister twice in the 1990s, said he wanted to work with other countries to find a lasting peace in the region. Meanwhile, there was further violence on Wednesday ahead of the elections. At least three people were killed and about 25 injured - including six policemen - in a suicide bombing outside a police station in the Bannu region of north-western Pakistan on Wednesday.

 

Clash on Pakistan border stirs Afghan emotions

05/02/13:  The New York Times reports Afghan forces claimed they overran a Pakistani-held border crossing in a remote area on Thursday -- an event that provoked a spontaneous outpouring of nationalist sentiment here, sending thousands of students into the streets in demonstrations, and sparking lively debate on social network sites. More than a thousand students turned out for the funeral of an Afghan border policeman who was the only confirmed victim of the clash, Qasim Khan. A spokesman for the Afghan Border Police unit in eastern Nangarhar Province said that force’s troops took back five Afghan police posts that had been occupied by Pakistani forces in the Goshta District in fighting that began Wednesday night and finished early Thursday morning. They also burned a border crossing post in the area which Pakistan had allegedly built without Afghan approval. The crossing was one of several that President Hamid Karzai had publicly complained about last month. The border police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with his agency’s policy, said there were unconfirmed reports that nine Pakistani militiamen were killed in the clash. However, Pakistani government officials said only two of their security personnel were wounded in a cross-fire and there were no reports of border facilities changing hands. And an Afghan member of parliament from Goshta district, Friadon Momand, said his information was that the border crossing had not been destroyed and was still operating. Whatever actually happened, the incident aroused an unusual degree of reaction especially among young Afghans, which contrasts sharply with their apathy over actions by their army and police in clashes with Afghan insurgents.

DOJ asks court to shut down suit over Afghan war memoir

05/01/13: The Blog of Legal Times reports the Justice Department has renewed its effort to shut down a lawsuit in Washington over the scope of information a former US defense intelligence officer can publish in a memoir about service in the war in Afghanistan.  DOJ lawyers said in court papers filed April 26 that the government has determined that some of the details in the book, Operation Dark Heart, written by Anthony Shaffer, are classified and cannot be publicly disclosed.  “[T]here is no First Amendment right to publish classified information,” DOJ lawyer Scott Risner wrote.  Shaffer’s book, DOJ said, reveals “intelligence activities, sources and methods, as well as information about military plans and the foreign activities of the United States that … could reasonably be expected to cause serious identifiable damage to our national security.”

Afghan leader confirms cash deliveries by CIA

04/30/13:  The New York Times reports President Hamid Karzai acknowledged Monday that the Central Intelligence Agency has been dropping off bags of cash at his office for a decade, saying the money was used for “various purposes” and expressing gratitude to the United States for making the payments. Mr. Karzai described the sums delivered by the CIA as a “small amount,” though he offered few other details. But former and current advisers of the Afghan leader have said the CIA cash deliveries have totaled tens of millions of dollars over the past decade and have been used to pay off warlords, lawmakers and others whose support the Afghan leader depends upon. The payments are not universally supported in the United States government. American diplomats and soldiers expressed dismay on Monday about the CIA’s cash deliveries, which some said fueled corruption. They spoke privately because the CIA effort is classified. Afghan officials who described the payments before Monday’s comments from Mr. Karzai said the cash from the CIA was basically used as a slush fund, similarly to the way the Iranian money was. Some went to pay supporters; some went to cover other expenses that officials would prefer to keep off the books, like secret diplomatic trips, officials have said.

Study finds sharp rise in attacks by Taliban

04/20/13:  The New York Times reports one of the closest-kept secrets in Afghanistan these days is data about how active the insurgents have become in their spring offensive this year. No one doubts that the Taliban have stepped up their attacks, but what is less clear is whether they are trying — or able — to mount an all-out attempt to test the Afghan security forces as they begin to take over completely from withdrawing foreign forces. By early summer, Afghan forces plan to be in charge throughout the country, with American and other allies in a supporting role. The American military, which last year publicized data on enemy attacks with meticulous bar graphs, now has nothing to say. “We’re just not giving out statistics anymore,” said a spokesman, Col. Thomas W. Collins, suggesting that the Afghan Ministry of Defense might do so. At the ministry, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, asked if he could divulge the number of enemy attacks that had occurred this spring, had only one word to say: “No.”

After airstrike, Afghan points to CIA and secret militias

04/19/13:  The New York Times reports the spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that the CIA was responsible for calling in an airstrike on April 7 that left 17 Afghan civilians dead, 12 of them children, and that the secret Afghan militias that the agency controls behaved as if they were “responsible to no one.” “It was a CIA operation using a security structure that was in full service of the CIA and run by the CIA,” said the spokesman, Aimal Faizi, who said his remarks reflected the views of the Afghan president. Mr. Faizi also criticized the agency and American Special Operations troops for running numerous similar militias elsewhere in Afghanistan, with similar problems. The criticism from Mr. Faizi and other Afghan officials pulled aside a curtain on a clandestine operation that went badly awry in the rugged mountains of eastern Kunar Province, killing an American CIA employee and seriously wounding three other Americans working for the agency. The American who died had been in charge of a group of undercover paramilitaries known as the 0-4 Unit, a so-called Counterterrorist Pursuit Team, according to Afghan investigators. Afghan reaction to the episode challenges the core assumptions in negotiations with the Afghan government about the nature of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan after 2014. The military wants a mission with two main goals: training Afghan forces and conducting counterterrorism raids against groups like Al Qaeda. Special Operations forces and irregular forces like the militias run by the CIA are a crucial part of the effort, American officials say. But Mr. Karzai has been deeply suspicious about the activity of irregular forces in his country, and in March he banned American Special Operations forces from operating in Wardak Province. Now, the CIA is the focus of his ire. A spokesman for the CIA would not comment about the case.

Musharraf placed in custody after brief freedom

04/19/13:  The New York Times reports a judge placed Pakistan’s former military leader, Pervez Musharraf, under arrest on Friday, as the country’s judiciary pursued its drive to hold him accountable for his actions during his nine years in power. Less than a day after Mr. Musharraf fled a courtroom in dramatic circumstances to his fortified villa on the edge of the city, the police escorted him back into central Islamabad where a magistrate placed him under arrest. Hours later, after being briefly released, he was brought to the city police headquarters where he was being held pending his next court appearance. The travails of the 69-year-old former army chief furthered the humiliation of a figure who enjoyed absolute power in Pakistan for much of his rule, from 1999 and 2008. But it also raised new questions about why he returned to the country in the first place.

Facing arrest, Musharraf flees courtroom in Pakistan

04/18/13:  The New York Times reports the former military ruler of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, fled a courtroom in the capital on Thursday, making a dramatic escape after a judge revoked his bail over a case dating to his nine years in power. Television footage showed Mr. Musharraf being jostled as his security detail pushed through the court precinct following the hearing, then quickly driving away in a convoy of SUVs as angry lawyers chased behind. The escape was the latest twist in Mr. Musharraf’s quixotic bid to return to Pakistani politics. It was the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief faced potential imprisonment, which analysts said could open a new rift between the courts and the military. After fleeing Thursday, Mr. Musharraf drove to his luxury farmhouse on the outskirts of the capital, where he has been living since returning from exile last month, and which is protected by retired commandos and soldiers still in the armed forces. At the hearing, the court refused to extend Mr. Musharraf’s bail in relation to his controversial decision to sack and imprison the country’s top judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007. Amid the confusion it was not immediately clear whether the court had issued an arrest warrant for the former military ruler, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

UN: Afghan opium production increases

04/15/13: The Miami Herald reports a UN report released Monday said opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been increasing for a third year in a row and is heading for a record high.  The boom in poppy cultivation is at its most pronounced in the Taliban’s heartland in the south, the report showed, especially in regions where troops of the US-led coalition have been withdrawn or are in the process of departing.  Increased production has been driven by unusually high opium prices, but also indicates that Afghans are turning to illicit markets and crops as the real economy shrinks ahead of the expected withdrawal of foreign combat troops at the end of 2014.  Afghanistan is by far the world’s largest producer of opium, last year producing 75 percent of the global crop.

Nato air strike in Ghazni 'kills Afghanistan police'

04/04/13:  The BBC reports a Nato air strike in Afghanistan has killed four policemen and a civilian, officials say. The air strike took place in the eastern Ghazni province, where Nato planes had been called in for support. A spokesman for the provincial governor told the BBC the policemen were in civilian clothes and may have been mistaken for Taliban fighters. Nato is investigating the incident. The death of civilians in air strikes has become a highly sensitive issue. The latest incident happened after a Taliban attack on a local police post before dawn. Nato planes were called in to help the local police, the AFP news agency quoted local officials as saying. "They (Afghan Local Police ) were in civilian clothes - there were four of them, and they were towing a vehicle when the air strike hit them," said Fazul Sabawoon, a spokesman for Ghazni's governor. "They could have been mistaken for Taliban." Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been highly critical of Nato strikes causing civilian casualties in the past. He banned Afghan security forces from calling in such strikes after an air strike killed 10 civilians in February. However it remains unclear whether the ban has been enforced.

Afghanistan courthouse attack kills dozens

04/04/13:  The BBC reports a suicide bomb and gun attack on a courthouse in western Afghanistan has left more than 50 people dead and 90 injured, most of them civilians. Militants disguised as soldiers tried unsuccessfully to free suspected Taliban members in the capital of Farah province, Afghan officials said. After a fierce initial gun battle, shooting continued as militants took cover in nearby buildings. The Taliban said they were behind the attack in Farah, which borders Iran. This was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since December 2011 when at least 70 people were killed in a blast at Kabul's Shia shrine. A bomb and gun attack on the Farah governor's compound last May left six policemen, a civilian and four attackers dead.

Pakistan elections pose threat to US drone program

04/04/13:  The Washington Times reports the major candidates to become Pakistan’s next prime minister oppose American drone strikes on Islamic extremists in their country, which bodes ill for the US policy after Pakistan’s historic parliamentary elections in May. According to estimates by the London-based nonprofit Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the US has conducted 366 drone strikes since 2004. About 314 of those drone strikes have been carried out in the Obama Administration. Pakistanis outraged by civilian casualties routinely protest against the strikes, and opposition to drone operations has become a prerequisite for Pakistani politicians, who accuse the U.S. of trampling on their country’s sovereignty. The government in Islamabad has criticized the strikes even as it has quietly condoned them.

Pakistan attack: Deadly raid on Peshawar power plant

04/02/13:  The BBC reports at least seven people have been killed in an attack by dozens of militants on an electricity plant on the outskirts of the Pakistani city of Peshawar. A policeman and a plant employee were killed on the spot and nine people were taken hostage, police said. Five bodies were later recovered from a nearby field but the whereabouts of the four remaining hostages are unknown. No group has said it carried out the raid, but the Taliban frequently launch attacks in the region. The attack temporarily disrupted power to parts of the city - the supply has now been restored. The assault by militants armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades took place in the early hours of Tuesday in the southern Badh Bher suburb of Peshawar, an area frequently targeted by militants, correspondents say. The dead include police officers and employees of the power plant.

Top UK commander in Afghanistan warns against leaving too early

04/01/13: BBC News reports the UK’s top commander in Afghanistan said Monday that cutting British forces too quickly could endanger progress at a critical time.  Lieutenant General Nick Carter, deputy chief of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said passing control of security to Afghan forces was going well, but he warned any move to thin out UK forces too soon would be “unforgivable.”  NATO combat operations against the Taliban will finish by the end of 2014; as part of a gradual withdrawal, the number of British troops in Afghanistan will be almost halved from 9,000 to 5,200 by the end of 2013.  Carter’s warning comes as forces for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who have been carrying out their first engagement without Western help, called for support from ISAF during a battle against drug smugglers.

Focus on Taliban talks with Karzai in Qatar

03/31/13: Reuters reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks with Qatari leaders Sunday, on a visit Kabul says will seek to explore the possibility of talks with Taliban insurgents on ending Afghanistan’s war.  Karzai’s trip to the Gulf Arab state, a US ally which has mediated in conflicts in Arab or Muslim countries, follows years of stalled discussions among the United States, Pakistan, and the Taliban about a possible Afghan settlement.  Afghanistan’s embassy in Doha confirmed Karzai’s arrival on Saturday for a two-day visit.  Qatari state media said Karzai held talks with the emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, attended by the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani.  Kabul has been pushing hard to get the Taliban to the negotiating table before foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

US commandos hand over troubled area to Afghans

03/30/13:  The Miami Herald reports US special operations forces handed over their base in a strategic district of eastern Afghanistan to local Afghan special forces on Saturday, senior US commanders said. The withdrawal satisfies a demand by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that US forces leave the area after allegations that the Americans' Afghan counterparts committed human rights abuses there on US orders. The transfer of authority ends a particularly rocky episode in the strained relations between the US and Karzai. He had insisted that US forces leave Nirkh district in Wardak province over the alleged torture, kidnapping and summary execution of militant suspects there - charges US officials firmly denied. The incident shows the larger struggle of Karzai's government to assert its authority over security matters, even as its green security forces try to assume control of much of the country from coalition forces on a rushed timeline, ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most of coalition forces by December 2014.

Taliban extending reach across Pakistan

03/29/13:  The New York Times reports hundreds of miles from their homeland in the mountainous northwest, Pakistani Taliban fighters have started to flex their muscles more forcefully in parts of Karachi, and they are openly taking ground. Taliban gunmen have mounted guerrilla assaults on police stations, killing scores of officers. They have stepped up extortion rackets that target rich businessmen and traders, and shot dead public health workers engaged in polio vaccination efforts. In some neighborhoods, Taliban clerics have started to mediate disputes through a parallel judicial system. The grab for influence and power in Karachi shows that the Taliban have been able to extend their reach across Pakistan, even here in the country’s most populous city, with about 20 million inhabitants. No longer can they be written off as endemic only to the country’s frontier regions. In joining Karachi’s street wars, the Taliban are upending a long-established network of competing criminal, ethnic and political armed groups in this combustible city. The difference is that the Taliban’s agenda is more expansive — it seeks to overthrow the Pakistani state — and their operations are run by remote control from the tribal belt along the Afghan border. Already, the militants have reshaped the city’s political balance by squeezing one of the most prominent political machines, the Pashtun-dominated Awami National Party, off its home turf. They have scared Awami operatives out of town and destroyed offices, gravely undercutting the party’s chances in national elections scheduled for May.

Afghanistan: 52 Taliban members killed in one day

03/28/13:  CNN reports a blitz of attacks across Afghanistan led to the deaths of 52 armed Taliban members in the past day, the Ministry of Interior said Wednesday. The operations were carried out by Afghanistan's national police, army, National Directorate of Security and NATO-led coalition forces, the ministry said. An additional 45 Taliban members were wounded and 21 others arrested. Authorities also confiscated ammunition and improvised explosive devices in the sweep, which spanned 10 provinces, the interior ministry said. On Tuesday, the Afghan government said 23 armed members of the Taliban were killed in the previous day. In southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said at least one of its members died Tuesday after suffering injuries in an insurgent attack this week.

 

US cedes prison to Afghanistan

03/26/13:  The New York Times reports within hours of the American military’s formally transferring all but a “small number” of the Afghan prisoners at the Bagram Prison to the Afghan government, President Hamid Karzai held a friendly news conference with Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday that stood in stark contrast to his recent acrimonious tone toward the United States. The apparent rapprochement, which the Americans worked hard to achieve, was a product in part of policy turnarounds on detention and on the deployment of Special Operations forces in a crucial province. Bagram Prison was the most flagrant symbol of Mr. Karzai’s lack of control. Americans detained several thousand Afghans there, and Mr. Karzai had no power to release them. His effort to wrest the prison from the Americans began in earnest more than year ago, and nearly succeeded at least twice, most recently two weeks ago, a day before Mr. Hagel’s first visit. Each time, American military commanders backed out because of worries that the Afghans might release Taliban prisoners, who would return to the battlefield and endanger American soldiers. This time, despite those concerns, the transfer went forward. The Bagram commander, Gen. Ghulam Farouk Barakzai, said Monday that the Americans had given the Afghans control of a total of 4,000 prisoners in the last year since the transfer began but that a small number still remained in American custody. He would not say how many were being held by the Americans, or for how long.

 

Kerry makes unannounced stop in Afghanistan, meets Karzai

03/25/13: CNN reports US Secretary of State John Kerry made a previously unannounced stop in Afghanistan Monday for a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Kerry landed in Kabul on Monday afternoon and was expected to meet with Karzai at the presidential palace later in the day.  Kerry’s visit comes the same day the United States handed over control of a US-run prison near Bagram Air Base to Afghan authorities.  The detention facility was a sticking point between U.S. and Afghan officials.  The visit also comes amid other tensions between Karzai and the NATO-led coalition forces that escalated after a bomb blast in Kabul this month that killed nine people. Karzai afterward claimed the United States was trying to foment continued violence inside Afghanistan, a claim quickly denounced by NATO and US officials.

US hands over Bagram prison in Afghanistan

03/25/13: The Washington Times reports the United States has ceded control of its last prison in Afghanistan, the informally dubbed Bagram facility, bringing an end to two years of strained relations and disputes over which country controls prisoners.  The facility, which was initially located on the NATO-controlled Bagram air base, about twenty-five miles outside Kabul, was rebuilt a few miles away and renamed as the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan.  US authorities agreed to the transfer a year ago. But the sticking point was the fate of the facility’s most dangerous detainees.  US military forces stayed on to guard about fifty of the prison’s most dangerous inmates.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US officials talked over the weekend and struck a final agreement on the prisoners’ transfers.

Pakistani Taliban vows to kill former President Musharraf

03/24/13: CNN reports the Pakistani Taliban vowed Sunday to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf if he returns to the country as planned.  A spokesman said in a video message that the group will send out a “death squad” to kill him, and Pakistani authorities also seek his arrest on corruption charges.  Since resigning in 2008, Musharraf has spent five years in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai.  He plans to fly on a commercial airline into Karachi on Sunday, then attend a rally that will include Pakistani expatriates from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.  He plans to lead his political party into Pakistan’s general elections slated for May.  In 1999, Musharraf, the-then chief of Pakistan’s army, became President in a bloodless military coup.  He remained in power until resigning in 2008.

Villagers take on Taliban in their heartland

03/21/13:  The New York Times reports an uprising against the Taliban that began last month in this southern Afghan village has now spread through dozens of others, according to residents and Afghan and American officials, in the most significant popular turning against the Islamist insurgents in recent years. Since early February, when villagers joined with police forces to begin ousting Taliban fighters from this region of rich vineyards and orchards southwest of Kandahar City, hundreds of residents have rallied to support the government. Nearly 100 village elders vowed at a public meeting Monday to keep the Taliban out as the new fighting season sets in, and Afghan flags are flying from rooftops in the villages, residents said. Isolated uprisings against the Taliban have been reported in several different parts of Afghanistan over the past 18 months. But the revolt in Panjwai is considered significant because it is the first in southern Afghanistan, in the spiritual heartland of the Taliban movement, where the group’s influence had endured despite repeated operations by American and NATO forces. It has been good news in an often-pessimistic season, as the Taliban have appeared to make inroads in some other places around the country where American troops are pulling out.

US, Afghanistan reach deal on Wardak troop pullout

03/21/13:  The Washington Times reports the US military and the Afghan government reached a deal Wednesday on a gradual pullout of American special forces and their Afghan counterparts from a contentious eastern province, officials said. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the troops for egregious human rights abuses in Wardak province, allegations that US military officials steadfastly have denied. However, NATO forces said in a statement that commander Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. agreed with Mr. Karzai to remove American troops first from Wardak’s Nerkh district and then later from other parts of the province. Gen. Zahir Azimi, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed in a news conference in Kabul on Wednesday that there had been a deal. A US military official explained that a small, mostly US Army special operations team would withdraw from Nerkh, as would the Aghan Local Police force that works alongside the Americans. The deal marked a political win for Mr. Karzai, who long has complained that the U.S. special operations troops and their Afghan allies were outside his control. It will also speed the handover of security in the troubled province faster than US officials and some members of Mr. Karzai's government had recommended or planned.

Report: deal likely to keep US forces in Wardak Province

03/17/13: Reuters reports a senior Afghan official said Saturday that Kabul and the US are working on a compromise deal to allow American special forces to stay in a strategically key province near the capital in return for full Afghan control of a controversial jail.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai's decision to expel special forces from Wardak province has angered US defense officials who worry their exit could allow insurgents to strengthen their presence in the area and use it as a base to attack Kabul, only fifteen miles away.  US special forces tasked with fighting the Taliban were scheduled to leave the restive province a week ago, but apparently they are still operating there.  Reports indicate there might be a deal on Wardak Province when Afghanistan is given full control of Bagram prison.

Afghan forces thwart Haqqani Network attack in Kabul

03/17/13: The Long War Journal reports Afghan forces scored a major coup on March 12, breaking up a suspected Haqqani Network cell that was hours away from detonating a 7,800-kilogram truck bomb against a military installation in Kabul.  Elite commandos conducted a night raid on March 12 against a suspected Haqqani safe house in the al-Walkhil village in Kabul's Sixteenth District, and killed five suspected militants and captured two others.  Among the weapons and ammunition seized was a large flatbed truck filled with 7,800 kilograms of explosives consisting of potassium chloride, ammonium nitrate, and an unknown substance -- a bomb powerful enough to have wrought destruction within a radius of almost a mile, according to spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri.

UN Official says US drones breach Pakistan’s sovereignty

03/16/13:  The New York Times reports the United States has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and disrupted life in the country’s tribal areas with drone strikes in its counterterrorism operations near the border with Afghanistan, a United Nations human rights investigator said Friday. The investigator, Ben Emmerson, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, visited Pakistan this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings. The drone campaign “involves the use of force on the territory of another state without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty,” Mr. Emmerson said in statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. The United Nations Human Rights Council asked Mr. Emmerson to start an investigation of the drone attacks after requests by countries that include Pakistan, Russia and China. Mr. Emmerson said in January that he would investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. He is expected to present his final report to the United Nations General Assembly in October. Washington had little to say about Mr. Emmerson’s statement. “We’ve seen his press release,” said a State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland. “I’m obviously not going to speak about classified information here. We have a strong ongoing counterterrorism dialogue with Pakistan, and that will continue.”

UN says US drones violate Pakistan's sovereignty

03/15/13:  The Miami Herald reports the head of a UN team investigating casualties from US drone strikes in Pakistan declared after a secret research trip to the country that the attacks violate Pakistan's sovereignty. Ben Emmerson, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the Pakistani government made clear to him that it does not consent to the strikes - a position that has been disputed by US officials. President Barack Obama has stepped up covert CIA drone strikes targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border since he took office in 2009. According to a UNstatement that Emmerson emailed to The Associated Press on Friday, the Pakistani government told him it has confirmed at least 400 civilian deaths by US drones on its territory. The statement was initially released on Thursday, following the investigator's three-day visit to Pakistan, which ended Wednesday. The visit was kept secret until Emmerson left.

Huge bomb defused in Afghan capital Kabul

03/15/13:  The BBC reports a massive truck bomb containing nearly eight tonnes of explosives has been defused in the Afghan capital Kabul, intelligence officials say. They say the explosives in the bomb could have caused significant casualties and damages. Five al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network fighters were killed in a gun battle after the bomb was found earlier this week, officials say. The Afghan capital has been regularly targeted by insurgents in recent years. Last week a suicide bomber attacked the defence ministry in the city and in separate attacks in January the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the police headquarters were targeted. In a news conference on Friday, officials said they believed this was the biggest bomb of its kind to be found in Afghanistan.

Afghan student says he was beaten by CIA-trained force

03/11/13: The New York Times reports a 29-year-old student has accused a CIA-backed Afghan strike force of arresting him, detaining him without charge, and viciously beating him.  The student, Abdul Qayum, said pickup trucks arrived at Kandahar University around 10:30 AM on Saturday.  The student’s daylong detention was cited by Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a news conference in Kabul on Sunday as part of his justification for a ban announced later in the day on foreign forces from entering any Afghan school or university.  He said other students had also been detained at the behest of American-controlled Afghan forces.  The complaint was part of barrage of public criticism that Karzai leveled at his purported allies during the first visit to Afghanistan by the new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Hagel optimistic on reaching Afghanistan commando agreement

03/10/13: The Associated Press reports Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said he believes US officials will be able to work things out with Afghan leaders who have ordered special operations forces out of Wardak province, even as commandos face a Monday deadline to leave.  Hagel’s comments came on his first trip to Afghanistan as Defense Secretary.  Hagel is expected to meet Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who ordered NATO forces to leave the province just outside Kabul because of allegations that Afghans working with the commandos were involved in abusive behavior and torture.  US and NATO officials insist they have seen no evidence that American forces were involved in the abuse of Afghan civilians.  “I feel confident that we’ll be able to work this out,” Secretary Hagel said at Jalalabad Airfield.

Karzai alleges collusion between US, Taliban

03/10/13: The Washington Times reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday accused the Taliban and the United States of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave, an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as “categorically false.”  Karzai said two suicide bombings that killed nineteen people Saturday show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to help show that international forces will still be needed to keep the peace after their current combat mission ends in 2014.  “The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents.”

US cancels transfer of Bagram prison to Afghans

03/09/13:  New York Times reports a ceremony in which the American military had planned to hand over full control of the Bagram Prison to Afghanistan was canceled Saturday, throwing into doubt an agreement between the two countries on custody of the remaining Afghan prisoners still being held by American forces. The cancellation was likely to be an embarrassment to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and comes at an awkward time, when the new secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, is on his first visit to the country. There was no official word on why the transfer was canceled, but American officials were known to be upset with Mr. Karzai over remarks he made in a speech on Wednesday in which he criticized the Americans’ slowness on the detention issue and promised to release many of the prisoners as soon as the transfer was complete. The two countries agreed a year ago to transfer all prisoners detained on the battlefield from American to Afghan custody, and Mr. Karzai has made it a cornerstone of his efforts to demonstrate that his government is regaining full sovereignty. But disputes emerged over how the Afghans would handle the prisoners, many of them dangerous insurgents detained during raids by Special Operations units.

Blast hits Afghan capital shortly after Hagel arrives

03/09/13:  The New York Times reports a suicide bomber wearing a vest bomb struck outside the Afghan defense ministry on Saturday, killing at least 10 people in a blast just hours after Chuck Hagel, the new United States defense secretary, arrived here in Kabul. And a short time later, another suicide bomber detonated his explosive in eastern Afghanistan before reaching his target, but killed eight children and a policeman, according to Afghan military and hospital officials. Although Mr. Hagel was not near the site of either blast, the episodes with their combined death toll of 18 in a single day appeared timed to coincide with his visit. The attacks in the heavily secured capital and in a more remote area of the country highlighted how Afghanistan remained vulnerable to attacks by the insurgency despite nearly 12 years of international efforts to stabilize it. In Kabul, the defense ministry said that in addition to the 10 people killed at the ministry, who included two Afghan soldiers, 14 others were wounded.

US disavows two drone strikes over Pakistan

03/05/13:  The New York Times reports when news of the two latest drone strikes emerged from Pakistan’s tribal belt in early February, it seemed to be business as usual by the CIA. Local and international media reports, citing unnamed Pakistani officials, carried typical details: swarms of American drones had swooped into remote areas, killing up to nine people, including two senior commanders of Al Qaeda. In Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with the American Embassy. Yet there was one problem, according to three American officials with knowledge of the program: The United States did not carry out those attacks. “They were not ours,” said one of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the drone program’s secrecy. “We haven’t had any kinetic activity since January.” What exactly took place in those remote tribal villages, far from outside scrutiny, is unclear. But the Americans’ best guess is that one or possibly both of the strikes were carried out by the Pakistani military and falsely attributed to the CIA to avoid criticism from the Pakistani public.

NATO expects decision on size of post 2014-Afghan force "very soon"

03/04/13: Reuters reports NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday that the Alliance expects a decision by the middle of this year on the size of a training force to be kept in Afghanistan once most foreign troops leave in 2014.  The US Department of Defense has said a NATO-led training force of between 8,000 and 12,000 was under consideration.  Questions remain over how well Afghan security forces will be able to tackle Islamist Taliban insurgents in the face of intensifying violence and how the West can justify financial support for a force the United Nations has accused of torture.  “I would expect [the size of the force] to be finalized very soon because we also need to start planning,” Rasmussen said after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

Talk of inquiry, but not much is sure after Afghan ban on US troops

02/26/13:  The New York Times reports a day after President Hamid Karzai ordered elite American forces out of a strategic province near the capital, very little was clear other than his increasing assertiveness in dictating the Western military role in Afghanistan. Interviews with numerous Afghan and American officials on Monday were striking mostly for their similarity: everyone seemed confused, scrambling to confirm details of the events that led the Afghan government to issue the ban and demand Western cooperation in investigating accusations. Officials and residents from the province, Maidan Wardak, had filed repeated complaints with Mr. Karzai’s government that Afghans working with American forces had been involved in the abuse, disappearance and deaths of villagers. But officials from neither country could be sure which American forces would be covered by the ban, which is set to take place in two weeks in one of the most critical battleground provinces against the Taliban. None could offer any clarity about who was suspected of the alleged killings and abuses. Nor could any Afghan or American official say what military units the attackers might have worked with — or if they were tied to a military force.

NATO says no evidence of misconduct by special forces in Afghanistan

02/25/13: The Miami Herald reports a NATO spokesman said Monday it has so far found no evidence to support Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s allegations of misconduct by American special forces in a strategic eastern province.  German General Gunter Katz said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will work with the government to find a solution to the concerns of Afghans, but had no comment on the allegations that Afghans connected with US special forces were involved in abuses that include torture, killings, and illegal detentions.  On Sunday, Karzai ordered all US special forces to leave Wardak Province within two weeks and requested that their operations there cease immediately.  The restive province, which neighboring Kabul province and is viewed as a gateway to the capital, has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts in recent years.

Karzai expels US special forces from Afghan province

02/24/13: BBC News reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered US special forces to leave Wardak province within two weeks over allegations of disappearances and torture by Afghans who work for the special forces.  The strategically significant, central province of Wardak has been the recent focus of counterinsurgency operations.  A US spokesman said it took all allegations of misconduct seriously, but could not comment specifically on this latest development.  In a hastily convened news conference, Karzai’s spokesman said special forces would have to leave Wardak within two weeks.  Wardak is seen as a gateway for the Taliban to target Kabul.

NATO in talks on scale of Afghan role after 2014 deadline

02/22/13:  The New York Times reports NATO defense ministers meeting here on Friday said they made progress toward planning a military assistance mission in Afghanistan after the alliance’s combat role expires at the end of 2014, with some partner nations already offering to participate. A draft proposal discussed here for possible NATO operations in Afghanistan after 2014 envisions a force of up to 9,500 American troops and up to 6,000 more from other coalition nations, according to alliance officials, who stressed that no final decisions have been made. Other NATO officials said the combined American and allied force would be smaller, falling in a range of 8,000 to 12,000 troops. In official comments, NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the session included serious discussion on “preparing a new and different NATO-led mission after 2014 to train, advise and assist Afghan Security Forces.”

Quetta anti-Shia bombing: Pakistan police detain '170'

02/19/13:  The BBC reports Pakistani police say they have arrested 170 suspects after a bomb attack on Saturday which targeted a Shia Muslim area in the western city of Quetta. Security sources said police killed four people, including a bomb-maker accused of anti-Shia attacks. Saturday's bomb ripped through a busy market district, killing almost 90 people and injuring some 169 more. Relatives of the dead are refusing to bury the bodies in protest at what they say is a lack of official action. The authorities have previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the killing of members of the Shia minority.  Now both the security forces and the political leadership appear to be cracking down. But some wonder if there will be sustained action against hard-line Sunni militant groups which were supported by Pakistan's intelligence agencies in the past, our correspondent reports.

 

UN report shows fewer killings of Afghan civilians, suggesting shift in war

02/19/13:  The New York Times reports for the first time in six years the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan declined, according to the annual United Nations report on civilian casualties. The decline was primarily the result of the slowing pace of the war; more fighting by Afghan forces, who use less lethal weapons; and an assiduous effort by the Western-led forces to reduce the impact on civilians, the report indicated. Nevertheless, threats remained rife: roadside bombings increased slightly, as did targeted killings and episodes of intimidation, the report said.  The report found that the number killed in 2012 dropped to 2,754 from 3,021 the previous year. The number of injured rose, however, to 4,805 from 4,507.  The report suggests subtle but measurable ways that the war is beginning to change as Afghans take over from Western forces and as the Taliban and other insurgents avoid head-on confrontations and rely increasingly on improvised explosive devices and targeted killings.  The Taliban and other insurgents increasingly focused their attacks on police headquarters in district centers, on checkpoints run by the Afghan National Police or Afghan Local Police, and on government convoys. While those resulted in casualties, they often included relatively few civilians.

Karzai bans Afghan forces from seeking airstrikes

02/19/13: The Washington Times reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday officially banned the nation’s security forces from requesting international airstrikes during operations in residential areas.  The presidential order came two days after Mr. Karzai said he would issue the decree amid anger over a NATO airstrike requested by the national intelligence service that local officials said killed at least 10 civilians and four insurgents.  The death of civilians during military operations, particularly in airstrikes, has been among a major source of acrimony between Mr. Karzai's government and foreign forces.  The presidential order was directed at the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry, and the National Directorate of Security.

Afghan forces arrest Pakistan Taliban commander

02/19/13:  The BBC reports prominent Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad has been arrested in eastern Afghanistan.  Maulvi Faqir Mohammad was detained in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistani border, officials say.  In March 2012, he was demoted from being deputy commander of the Pakistani Taliban, but had since reportedly been reconciled with the movement.  It is thought the dispute centred on whether the Pakistani Taliban should open negotiations with the government.  Correspondents say that his arrest could point to closer co-operation between the two countries in security operations.