Afghan women were killed in bungled raid, Nato admits

Having worked since 1971 in many conflicts around the world, I am upset everytime I hear of civilians being killed, particularly women and children.There are conventions and agreements that prohibit this, but who really cares ?  Today the BBC reported that Nato has admitted that its forces were responsible for the deaths of three women during a botched night-time raid in eastern Afghanistan in February.


It had already admitted killing two innocent men in the operation, saying they were shot dead when they came out of their homes carrying firearms.

Nato now says the women were killed by shots fired at the men.

Nato officials had previously suggested the women were killed by unknown assailants hours before the raid.
There was no immediate comment from the Afghan government. Civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces have been a source of increasing friction between it and Nato.

Some reports have suggested Nato soldiers tried to cover up the deaths of the women by removing bullets from the bodies.

'Protecting their families'
Nato initially denied involvement in the deaths of the women in the raid in the Gardez district of Paktia on 12 February, but now admits to having bungled the operation.


Mistrust imperils war on Taliban

"While investigators could not conclusively determine how or when the women died, due to lack of forensic evidence, they concluded that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men," a Nato statement said.
The statement said Nato officials would apologise and pay compensation to the family of those killed.

"We deeply regret the outcome of this operation," said a Nato spokesman.

"The force went to the compound based on reliable information in search of a Taliban insurgent and believed that the two men posed a threat to their personal safety. We now understand that the men killed were only trying to protect their families."

One relative - whose two brothers, wife and sister were killed in the raid - said the family wanted the informant tried and put to death.
"Our demand is that this spy be executed in front of the people to ensure that such bad things don't happen again," he told the Associated Press news agency.

Karzai 'wants changes'

On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for an end to house searches by foreign troops.

Gen McChrystal introduced new rules of engagement for Nato

"When there's an incident, he [McChrystal] comes and apologises," Mr Karzai told tribal leaders in the city, the birthplace of the Taliban.

"There've been changes in behaviour with the arrival of this new general, but we are still not convinced. I want more changes," Mr Karzai added.

Nato admits that its killing of civilians has undermined support for its mission in Afghanistan. But it points out that far more people are killed in attacks by the Taliban and other militants.
United Nations figures show the number of civilians killed by foreign and Afghan forces fell by 25% in 2009 compared with 2008. The UN says the vast majority of the 2,412 civilian deaths in 2009 were caused by militant attacks.

Gen McChrystal has introduced changes to Nato tactics aimed at cutting the risks to civilians. Measures include reducing the number of air strikes and night raids.

Kai Eide's take on the Taliban

Pakistan arrests halt secret UN contacts with Taliban
By Lyse Doucet BBC News, Oslo
I thought I would post this update by Lyse, one of the best in the game.

The UN's former envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide,(pictured above) has strongly criticised Pakistan's recent arrest of high-ranking Taliban leaders.
Mr Eide told the BBC the arrests had completely stopped a channel of secret communications with the UN.
Pakistani officials insist the arrests were not an attempt to spoil talks.
Mr Eide confirmed publicly for the first time that his secret contacts with senior Taliban members had begun a year ago.
This has to be an Afghan process
He said they involved face-to-face talks in Dubai and elsewhere.
"The first contact was probably last spring, then of course you moved into the election process where there was a lull in activity, and then communication picked up when the election process was over, and it continued to pick up until a certain moment a few weeks ago," he said.
Mr Eide said there were now many channels of communication with the Taliban, including those involving senior representatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Speaking at his home outside the Norwegian capital Oslo, Mr Eide would not comment on these other channels.

Mr Eide described contacts with the Taliban as being "in the early stages... talks about talks".
He cautioned that it would take weeks, months or even longer to establish confidence, on both sides, to move forward, and to establish the "red lines" in any process.
A senior Afghan adviser to President Karzai recently told me that their contacts with the Taliban had also accelerated in recent months. He also said the arrests had affected this process.
There has been intense speculation about why Pakistan moved against what are believed to be about a dozen leading members of the Taliban movement in recent weeks.
"The effect of [the arrests], in total, certainly, was negative on our possibilities to continue the political process that we saw as so necessary at that particular juncture," Mr Eide said.
"The Pakistanis did not play the role that they should have played.... They must have known who they were, what kind of role they were playing, and you see the result today."
In an interview this week, Pakistan's military spokesman, Gen Athar Abbas, denied Pakistan had moved against these Taliban to stop any talks.
US officials have recently praised what they called a new co-operation by Pakistan.
'Senior figures'
Mr Eide was giving his first interview since ending his two-year mission this month.
Asked how high up his contacts were, Mr Eide said: "We met senior figures in the Taliban leadership and we also met people who have the authority of the Quetta Shura to engage in that kind of discussion."
The Taliban leadership council, often referred to as the Quetta Shura, takes its name from the Pakistani city of Quetta where senior Taliban are widely believed to have been based. Pakistan denies its existence in Quetta and says Taliban leaders go back and forth across their porous border.
As for the involvement of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, Mr Eide said: "I find it unthinkable that such contact would take place without his knowledge and also without his acceptance."
His revelations seem to confirm a growing view that at least certain members of the Taliban movement are now open to discussing a negotiated end to the war. But Mr Eide said he believed there were still disagreements.
There is also still no consensus among Afghanistan and its foreign allies about if, and how, to engage with a movement many of whose senior members are still linked to al-Qaeda.
The outgoing UN envoy, whose tenure was marked by controversy over a deeply tainted presidential election, said he hoped the upcoming "peace jirga" called by President Karzai in Kabul would help build the kind of agreement necessary to reach a consensus on the way forward.
Mr Eide said he believed it was the only way to end the war, and stressed: "This has to be an Afghan process."


RECENT TALIBAN ARRESTS
04 March 2010: Senior Afghan Taliban leader Agha Jan Mohtasim reportedly arrested in Karachi
23 February: Senior Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Kabir reportedly held in North West Frontier Province
19 February: Two senior Afghan Taliban leaders, Mullah Abdul Salam and Mullah Mir Mohammad reportedly detained in Pakistan
17 February: Pakistan confirms arrest of Afghan Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Karachi

167 killed in avalanche in Afghanistan

These are the brave and hardy souls that keep the tunnel and road open through the Salang Tunnel. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Using bulldozers, pick axes and shovels, rescue teams intensified their search for remaining survivors hit by avalanches on a key mountain pass in Afghanistan as the discovery of one body raised the death toll to 167.

Some 3,000 people have already been rescued from the snowbound, 4000 metre Salang Pass, which is the major route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the capital to the north.

Defense Ministry official Ahmad Zia Aftali said the corpse of a woman whose son was rescued a day earlier was found under the snow in the morning on the pass, 115 kilometres north of the capital. A total of 167 victims have been recovered so far.

Aftali said the Afghan side plans to ask the international coalition for additional equipment, including metal detectors, to aid in the search.

Hundreds of soldiers and police plowed through huge snowdrifts to clear the 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) of road that had been blocked off when a series of avalanches Monday sent tons of snow and ice crashing down onto hundreds of vehicles along a treacherous stretch of highway.


The road leading up to the tunnel through the Salang Pass, in Summer. Photo: Bob McKerrow

Though the road has now been cleared, it remains closed to the public to allow for emergency efforts, Aftali said. The highway that winds through the mountainside remains littered with abandoned or snow-packed cars.

Rescuers are searching farther afield looking for victims since many cars, trucks and buses were pushed far off the road by the force of the avalanches, Aftali said.

He said he is hopeful that rescue efforts can wind down by the end of the day. "I'm optimistic that today we can finish our efforts," he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashary said late Wednesday that the rescue operation was "95 percent over," indicating that officials weren't expecting casualty numbers to rise significantly.

Some of the victims were found frozen to death inside their vehicles, while in other cases, their bodies were strewn along the road, he said. About 125 people were given medical treatment at provincial hospitals, he said.

More than two dozen avalanches poured tons of snow and ice on the 3,800-metre pass, closing off the 2.6 kilometre-long Salang Tunnel, a Soviet-built landmark dating from the 1960s, and the roads on both sides.

The casualty toll makes this perhaps the deadliest disaster to occur along the Salang Pass. Last year, avalanches claimed nearly a dozen lives.

Avalanches kill at least 28 in Afghanistan

The photograph on the cover of my book, looks up towards the Salang Pass where the avalanche occured yesterday. Photo: Bob McKerrow


At least 28 people died and hundreds were trapped through the night in freezing cold and darkness after avalanches closed a mountain highway tunnel in Afghanistan,

Passengers trapped in the Salang pass, the main route across the Hindu Kush mountains, said by telephone that they were freezing to death and being suffocated by car fumes, and had seen cars filled with dead bodies after being stuck throon 9 February 2010.ugh the night.

A force of 600 soldiers plus police units and other emergency workers had managed to evacuate 1500 trapped people, including at least 70 who were injured, the Defence Ministry said in a statement that gave a death toll of 28.

Days of heavy snow triggered avalanches blocking the 2.6 km long Soviet-built tunnel, a historic engineering feat that links Kabul and Afghanistan's north, connecting the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia through the treacherous mountain pass at 3400 metres.

"I saw five dead bodies from a car parked behind us, and so far the government has not done enough to save our lives," Qazi Azhar, an Afghan judge who was caught in the pass, told Reuters by mobile phone.

Another passenger, Ghulam Yahya, said passengers inside the tunnel were suffering from fumes.

"Many others will die if we don't get help on time," he said.

President Hamid Karzai said he was saddened by the deaths and ordered government workers to do all possible to open the pass.

Abdul Mateen Edraak, head of Afghanistan's National Disaster and Preparedness Centre, said fears were greatest for passengers stuck in cars exposed to the extreme cold.

"Some 50 cars which are exposed to extreme weather are a concern for us but others inside tunnel are not bad," he said. "The people are stuck there for more than 24 hours and if there are no other avalanches we will hopefully bring them out by end of the day."

Edraak said there had been 17 avalanches reported so far and more than 200 trucks, buses and cars were trapped inside the tunnel, which made the rescue operation more difficult.

Heavy snowfall and rain also caused floods in the south of the country. Zalmay Ayoubi, spokesman for the governor of southern Kandahar Province, said six people had been killed and 10 were missing as a result of floods.

Ahmadzai inspires Afghanistan win

Hameed Hasan (right)is pumped up after dismissing Niall O'Brien

Afghanistan pulled off their second win in the Intercontinental Cup, defeating defending champions Ireland by seven wickets to propel themselves to the top of the table.

Both teams had talked before the game about the respect they had for each other and in a fluctuating contest, Afghanistan grabbed the initiative to drive home a victory that would have seemed unlikely when Ireland began the final day 39 runs behind with all their second-innings wickets intact.

Paceman Dawlat Ahmadzai proved the difference as he burst through the top order on his way to his maiden five-wicket haul. He struck in the third over of the day to remove a becalmed William Porterfield caught behind for 14 before castling Andrew Cusack in his next over for 4. By the time he bowled Gary Wilson for 27, Ireland were tottering on 57 for three.

Offspinner Mohammad Nabi (4 for 33) then stepped into the action, taking three quick wickets with probing, accurate bowling to reduce Ireland to 101 for seven. Some lust hitting from Trent Johnson and diligent blocking John Mooney, who made 18 from 76 balls, carried the score up to 141 before a final wicket stand of 59 between Johnson and Peter Connell took the score to 202. Johnson ended up unbeaten on 63 to leave Afghanistan with 137 to get.

An early wicket for Johnson gave Ireland a sliver but a half century from Noor Ali and a 36-run partnership from wickkeeper Mohammad Shahzad and captain Nowroz Mengal guided Afghanistan home. It's a remarkable result for Afghanistan who's continued progress in international cricket has been one of the most cheering aspects of the game in recent months.

Afghanistan beat Ireland at cricket

This is an historic day for Afghanistan cricket with their national side defeating Ireland by seven wickets.

Ireland 405 & 202

Afghanistan 474 & 137/3 (31.3 ov)

Afghanistan won by 7 wickets

Afghans take 2nd day honours

I never thought I would see the day when an Afghan cricket team, plays an international against Ireland, and is now leading after the first innings. Well done Afghanistan!

January 22, 2010

A Afghanistan 263 for 3 (Mangal 84, Shahzad 60*, Noori 44*) trail Ireland 405 (Porterfield 78, Shenwari 4-75) by 142 runs
Scorecard



Afghanistan seized the initiative on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup game against Ireland at Dambulla, reaching 263 for 3 at stumps with Shabir Noori, on 44 not out, and Mohammad Shahzad, unbeaten on 60 from only 62 balls, holding firm.

The pair came together with the game finely balanced at 178 for 3, and added 85 in just under 20 overs to wrest the ascendancy back from Ireland after Andre Botha had ended Noori and captain Nowroz Mangal's 105-run partnership. Mangal had looked set for a maiden first-class hundred before he edged Botha through to Niall O'Brien behind the stumps to depart for 84.

Afghanistan had made a good start to their innings earlier, with Karim Sadiq and Noor Ali putting together 72 before Gary Kidd and Peter Connell struck in quick succession to remove both openers and leave Afghanistan wobbling at 74 for 2. Ireland had to wait 33 overs for their next breakthrough, however, with Noori and Mangal obstinate at the crease.

The highlight of the morning was John Mooney's unbeaten 58, which broke his duck after he had failed to score in his first two first-class innings. Ireland had resumed at 324 for 7, and were soon eight wickets down as legspinner Samiullah Shenwari snapped up Trent Johnston to claim his fourth scalp of the innings. Kidd scratched around for 18 balls before edging Hameed Hasan, but Connell was more enterprising, cracking four boundaries in his 18 before having his stumps rattled by Shapoor Zadran. His tenacious 66-run partnership with Mooney, who accumulated runs steadily at the other end, carried Ireland past 400, which had looked like a sterling effort.

The Irish badly need a victory in this game after drawing against Kenya and Scotland, but that is looking increasingly unlikely with Afghanistan making a fist of things today to build a foundation for a massive first innings total.


Ireland 405 & 1/0 (0.1 ov)

Afghanistan 474

Ireland won the toss and elected to bat

Day 3
ICC Intercontinental Cup
First-class match | 2009/10 season
Played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium (neutral venue)
21,22,23,24 January 2010 (4-day match)

Ireland 1st innings R M B 4s 6s SR
WTS Porterfield* c Samiullah Shenwari b Hameed Hasan 78 175 134 7 2 58.20
45.4 caught Samiullah Shenwari 170/2

GC Wilson c Hameed Hasan b Mohammad Nabi 53 114 89 9 0 59.55
28.2 caught Hameed Hasan 120/1

AR Cusack c †Mohammad Shahzad b Samiullah Shenwari 39 96 92 6 0 42.39
54.2 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 203/3

NJ O'Brien† c †Mohammad Shahzad b Karim Sadiq 66 156 119 9 0 55.46
90.1 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 316/6

AC Botha st †Mohammad Shahzad b Samiullah Shenwari 0 7 7 0 0 0.00
56.3 stumped †Mohammad Shahzad 203/4

KJ O'Brien lbw b Samiullah Shenwari 16 53 35 2 0 45.71
66.4 231/5

AR White c Karim Sadiq b Hameed Hasan 43 90 89 6 0 48.31
93.4 caught Karim Sadiq 323/7

JF Mooney not out 58 105 90 9 0 64.44

DT Johnston lbw b Samiullah Shenwari 2 23 20 0 0 10.00
100.4 328/8

GE Kidd c †Mohammad Shahzad b Hameed Hasan 4 17 18 0 0 22.22
105.2 caught †Mohammad Shahzad 339/9

P Connell b Shapoor Zadran 18 51 28 4 0 64.28
117.6 bowled 405/10

Extras (lb 13, w 2, nb 13) 28

Total (all out; 118 overs; 404 mins) 405 (3.43 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-120 (Wilson, 28.2 ov), 2-170 (Porterfield, 45.4 ov), 3-203 (Cusack, 54.2 ov), 4-203 (Botha, 56.3 ov), 5-231 (KJ O'Brien, 66.4 ov), 6-316 (NJ O'Brien, 90.1 ov), 7-323 (White, 93.4 ov), 8-328 (Johnston, 100.4 ov), 9-339 (Kidd, 105.2 ov), 10-405 (Connell, 117.6 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
Dawlat Ahmadzai 11 2 32 0 2.90

Shapoor Zadran 10 1 33 1 3.30
117.6 to Connell, bowled 405/10


Hameed Hasan 24 4 91 3 3.79 (13nb)
45.4 to Porterfield, caught Samiullah Shenwari 170/2


93.4 to White, caught Karim Sadiq 323/7


105.2 to Kidd, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 339/9


Noor Ali 2 0 21 0 10.50 (1w)

Mohammad Nabi 27 3 102 1 3.77
28.2 to Wilson, caught Hameed Hasan 120/1


Samiullah Shenwari 27 5 75 4 2.77
54.2 to Cusack, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 203/3


56.3 to Botha, stumped †Mohammad Shahzad 203/4


66.4 to KJ O'Brien, 231/5


100.4 to Johnston, 328/8


Karim Sadiq 15 5 31 1 2.06 (1w)
90.1 to NJ O'Brien, caught †Mohammad Shahzad 316/6


Nowroz Mangal 2 0 7 0 3.50


Afghanistan 1st innings R M B 4s 6s SR
Karim Sadiq b Kidd 19 75 46 4 0 41.30
18.2 bowled 72/1

Noor Ali c †NJ O'Brien b Connell 53 89 71 9 0 74.64
21.3 caught †NJ O'Brien 74/2

Shabir Noori c KJ O'Brien b White 85 331 234 10 0 36.32
101.1 caught KJ O'Brien 342/5

Nowroz Mangal* c †NJ O'Brien b Botha 84 118 114 16 0 73.68
54.1 caught †NJ O'Brien 178/3

Mohammad Shahzad† c †NJ O'Brien b Botha 88 167 121 15 0 72.72
93.1 caught †NJ O'Brien 325/4

Asghar Stanikzai b Johnston 39 122 96 5 0 40.62
124.4 bowled 414/6

Mohammad Nabi c Mooney b White 64 68 127 4 2 50.39
143.1 caught Mooney 461/8

Samiullah Shenwari lbw b Botha 19 46 35 2 0 54.28
136.4 453/7

Dawlat Ahmadzai not out 7 61 48 0 0 14.58

Hameed Hasan c †NJ O'Brien b White 7 17 16 0 1 43.75
147.6 caught †NJ O'Brien 468/9

Shapoor Zadran lbw b White 2 21 15 0 0 13.33
153.2 474/10

Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 3) 7

Total (all out; 153.2 overs; 574 mins) 474 (3.09 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-72 (Karim Sadiq, 18.2 ov), 2-74 (Noor Ali, 21.3 ov), 3-178 (Nowroz Mangal, 54.1 ov), 4-325 (Mohammad Shahzad, 93.1 ov), 5-342 (Shabir Noori, 101.1 ov), 6-414 (Asghar Stanikzai, 124.4 ov), 7-453 (Samiullah Shenwari, 136.4 ov), 8-461 (Mohammad Nabi, 143.1 ov), 9-468 (Hameed Hasan, 147.6 ov), 10-474 (Shapoor Zadran, 153.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ
P Connell 21 9 52 1 2.47
21.3 to Noor Ali, caught †NJ O'Brien 74/2


DT Johnston 26 5 88 1 3.38 (2nb)
124.4 to Asghar Stanikzai, bowled 414/6


AR Cusack 11 1 56 0 5.09

GE Kidd 24 8 68 1 2.83
18.2 to Karim Sadiq, bowled 72/1


JF Mooney 7 1 38 0 5.42 (1nb)

AR White 31.2 8 99 4 3.15
101.1 to Shabir Noori, caught KJ O'Brien 342/5


143.1 to Mohammad Nabi, caught Mooney 461/8


147.6 to Hameed Hasan, caught †NJ O'Brien 468/9


153.2 to Shapoor Zadran, 474/10


AC Botha 21 6 44 3 2.09
54.1 to Nowroz Mangal, caught †NJ O'Brien 178/3


93.1 to Mohammad Shahzad, caught †NJ O'Brien 325/4


136.4 to Samiullah Shenwari, 453/7


KJ O'Brien 12 3 25 0 2.08


Ireland 2nd innings R M B 4s 6s SR
WTS Porterfield* not out 0 0 1 0 0 0.00

GC Wilson not out 0 0 0 0 0 -

Extras (w 1) 1

Total (0 wickets; 0.1 overs) 1 (6.00 runs per over)
To bat AR Cusack, P Connell, AR White, DT Johnston, AC Botha, GE Kidd, JF Mooney, KJ O'Brien, NJ O'Brien†

Bowling O M R W Econ
Shapoor Zadran 0.1 0 1 0 6.00 (1w)

Match details
Toss Ireland, who chose to bat
Points Afghanistan 6*, Ireland 0*

First-class debuts Karim Sadiq and Shabir Noori (Afghanistan)

Umpires R Martinesz and TH Wijewardene
Match referee Ishtiaq Ahmed (Pakistan)
Reserve umpire SSK Gallage

Close of play
21 Jan day 1 - Ireland 1st innings 324/7 (JF Mooney 5*, DT Johnston 0*, 98 ov)
22 Jan day 2 - Afghanistan 1st innings 263/3 (Shabir Noori 44*, Mohammad Shahzad 60*, 74 ov)