ONE NEWS

Sunday, February 14, 2010 KABUL: The allied forces have claimed gaining control of a number of areas of Taliban stronghold Marjah as the major offensive against Afghan Taliban enters second day. In a day of intense but sporadic fighting Saturday, American, Afghan and British troops seized crucial positions across Marjah. As the troops began to fan out on house-to-house searches, fighting with Taliban insurgents grew in frequency across a wide area. The pattern suggested that the hardest fighting lies in the days to come. One American and one British Marine were reported killed by small-arms fire, but none in the Afghan army, whose soldiers make up the majority of those in the fight. Three U.S. soldiers were killed and seven wounded when they were attacked by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle during a foot patrol in neighboring Kandahar province. A second British soldier was killed by a homemade bomb in southern Afghanistan in a blast unrelated to the Marjah operation. NATO o...

Thursday, December 31, 2009 KABUL: At least 8 American civilian workers were killed on Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack on a US military base, officials said. Pentagon spokeswoman Lt Col Almarah Belk said the eight died when an attacker detonated a vest packed with explosives on Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province -- a key Taliban stronghold. "Eight Americans have been killed in an attack on RC-East," a US embassy official said, referring to the military region of eastern Afghanistan. "No US and no ISAF military personnel were killed or injured" in the incident, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) added. Suicide attacks are a hallmark of the Taliban, who are waging a major insurgency to topple the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The number of foreign civilians under government contracts in Afghanistan is increasing, with the strategy to defeat the Taliban placing more emphasis on developme...

Saturday, December 26, 2009 KABUL: An American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb while serving with NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Saturday.NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died on Friday, but gave no details of where the incident took place.The death of the American, who was not named, was the only known Christmas Day fatality among the 113,000 international troops deployed to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan."An ISAF service member from the United States died following an IED strike in southern Afghanistan Friday," the ISAF statement said.

WASHINGTON: The commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan General Mcchrystal has feared that the entire region including Afghanistan, Pakistan and adjoining areas could be sent in danger if Taliban succeeded to obtain stability, Geo news reported Monday.“Taliban will have to be eradicated at any cost”, adding, “Taliban may pose threat to the stability of the entire region if they become stable in Afghanistan again.” “Al-Qaeda wants imposition of its ideology over all across the world. We want better partnership with Afghan government”, he said, “But the world must come forward to further assistance to Afghanistan in its war against terrorism.”Afghan government should raise salaries of Afghan troops, general proposed.

Sunday, December 13, 2009 MANAMA: Pakistan needs to put pressure on the leadership of the Afghan Taliban operating inside its borders for long-term progress to be made in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus said on Sunday. "(To make) the really significant progress in Afghanistan that will be necessary over time... it would be very helpful if additional pressure could be put (by Pakistan) on the leadership of the elements that are causing problems in Afghanistan," the head of the US Central Command told reporters on the sidelines of the sixth Manama Dialogue security conference. He said, however, that Pakistani forces have carried out some "quite impressive" operations against Pakistani Taliban forces, fueled by the realisation that extremist groups operating in the country pose a threat. "There was a recognition by all the Pakistani leaders (earlier this year)... that the main threat to the very writ of Pakistani governance was the internal extremist threat,...

Tuesday, December 08, 2009 LONDON: The British death toll in Afghanistan this year reached 100 on Monday as another soldier was killed in the violence-scarred country, but London insisted the increasingly unpopular fight is not in vain. The soldier, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, was killed by small arms fire in Nad-e Ali in the troubled southern Helmand Province, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. His death brings to 237 the total number of British troops who have died in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001. At least 205 were killed as a result of hostile action.Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement that every loss was a "real and personal tragedy", adding that British troops had to complete their mission. "We will never forget those who have died fighting for our country and we must also honour their memory. That means staying the course, doing what is right for Britain, and seeing this mission through," he said.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009 SEOUL: The South Korean government Tuesday decided to send 350 troops backed by helicopters and 140 reconstruction workers to Afghanistan to help rebuild the war-torn country, the defence ministry said. The South Korean contingent will be based in Parwan province just north of Kabul for 30 months from July 1 next year, the defence ministry said in a statement. A provincial reconstruction team of 100 civilians and 40 police will be guarded by 350 troops backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles and an unmanned reconnaissance drone, it said. Officials have said the South Korean troops will not do any fighting except to protect the aid team.A cabinet meeting Tuesday approved the deployment and the ministry plans to send a motion this week to parliament for approval.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009 WASHINGTON: The members of a 1,500-strong contingent of US Marines will begin arriving in southern Afghanistan next week as part of the first elements of President Barack Obama’s troop build-up of 30,000 troops, officers said.The United States hopes the 7,000 additional troops promised by NATO allies will arrive in Afghanistan by the first half of 2010.The new commitments are expected to swell the ranks of foreign troops in Afghanistan next year to 150,000, some two thirds of them US forces.Apart from the 1,500 Marines heading to southern Helmand province this month, another 6,200 Marines from Camp Lejeune were due to deploy in the ‘early spring’ next year and 800 Marines based in California would head to Afghanistan at the same time, the Pentagon said.The US Army also was mobilizing troops, with 3,400 from the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum in New York state ordered to head out in the spring to focus on training Afghan security forces.About 4,100 suppo...

LONDON: A Taliban detainee in Pakistan claims to have information about Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts in January or February of this year.His claims cannot be verified but a leading American expert says his account should be investigated. The detainee claims to have met Osama Bin Laden numerous times before 9/11. He told British Broadcast that earlier this year he met a trusted contact that had seen Bin Laden 15 to 20 days earlier across the border in Afghanistan. "In 2009, in January or February I met this friend of mine. He said he had come from meeting Sheikh Osama, and he could arrange for me to meet him," he said. According to the detainee, his contact is a Mehsud tribesman, responsible for getting al-Qaeda operatives based abroad to meetings with Bin Laden. "He helps al-Qaeda people coming from other countries to get to the sheikh, so he can advise them on whatever they are planning for Europe or other places. "The sheikh doesn't stay in any one place...

Updated at: 0054 PST, Friday, December 04, 2009 WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said he'd send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. But the actual number could be higher.Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he asked the president for flexibility on the number in case military commanders in the field request additional medics or troops trained to detect improvised explosive devices.Gates told a Senate committee Thursday that he got approval for the 30,000 troop deployment to be expanded by as much as 3,000 if necessary.Obama had granted authority to the defense chief to send up to 3,000 medics, intelligence analysts, bomb disposal specialists and other support troops if necessary to safeguard American combat forces, Gates told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Thursday, December 03, 2009 KABUL: Afghanistan's president says he is willing to talk with the Taliban chief in a bid to bring peace to the country.President Hamid Karzai said in an interview Thursday with a foreign news agency that he would do “whatever it takes” to bring peace, including meeting with Taliban leader Mullah Omar.But Karzai says he wants guarantees that the U.S. and its international partners are backing any peace bid. He says previous efforts at talks with the Taliban were undermined when ex-members of the hard-line movement were “harassed” by international forces even though they had quit the insurgency.Karzai says not all Taliban are terrorists but members of al-Qaida and other terror groups are not welcome in the country.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Wednesday US President Barack Obama's new Afghan war plans, in particular his emphasis on the need for both a military and civilian effort."The Secretary-General strongly feels that institution-building is a long-term but necessary process that will ultimately ensure the sustainability of the international community's joint efforts in Afghanistan," a statement said."He notes with appreciation the proposed approach to balance military and civilian efforts and the emphasis on strengthening the capacity of Afghan institutions and Afghan security forces in particular."The United Nations last month announced the evacuation of more than half its foreign staff from Afghanistan after Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul hostel in a dawn attack that killed five UN workers.In Wednesday's statement, Ban reiterated the world body's commitment to Afghanistan."The United Nations...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 KANDAHAR: The Taliban vowed Wednesday to step up resistance and fight against the extra 30,000 American troops US President Barack Obama has ordered to Afghanistan, a spokesman said. "Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan," spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahamdi said by telephone from an unknown location. "Their hope to control Afghanistan by military means will not become reality. The extra 30,000 troops that will come to Afghanistan will provoke stronger resistance and fighting," he added. "They will withdraw shamefully. They cannot achieve their hopes and goals," the spokesman said.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 BRUSSELS: The head of NATO said he expects allies to provide at least 5,000 troops for Afghanistan and possibly a few thousand more after President Barack Obama announced a big increase in U.S. forces for the country."There are 43 countries on the ground under NATO command and I am confident that other allies and partners will also make a substantial increase in their contributions," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement after Obama's announcement."I expect at least 5,000 more forces from other countries in our alliance and possibly a few thousand more," the NATO secretary-general said in the televised statement, released on Wednesday.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 KABUL: The extra 30,000 troops that U.S. President Barack Obama ordered for Afghanistan will "make a huge difference" in the country, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChyrstal, said on Wednesday."I think we can do an awful lot with those forces," McChrystal told reporters, referring not only to the U.S. troops but the additional troops being pledged by U.S. allies and Afghan forces."I think it's going to make a huge difference. I think we'll be in great shape," McChrystal said.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan on Tuesday night, but balanced the buildup with a pledge to impatient Americans to begin withdrawing US forces from July, 2011.Obama unveiled his plans in a long-anticipated, high-profile speech broadcast from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in what could become a defining moment of his presidency and a political gamble that may weigh heavily on his chances for a second White House term.The president said his new policy was designed to ‘bring this war to a successful conclusion.’ The troop buildup will begin almost immediately —the first Marines will be in place by Christmas —and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone.‘We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven,’ Obama said in articulating US military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years. ‘We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanist...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 PARIS: France and Germany refused US requests to immediately promise more troops for Afghanistan, frustrating President Barack Obama's hopes that allies would match his troop surge. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, terming Obama’s new Afghan policy encouraging, stressed on the world community to support it. However, he said that France would wait until January 28 International Conference on Afghanistan in London for taking any decision, affirmative or negative, on sending more troops to Afghanistan.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would also wait until after the London Afghanistan Conference and the decision to send more German troops to Afghanistan could not be taken before that. She said that Afghanistan security issue could not be solved by military means only.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WEST POINT: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that US success in Afghanistan was "inextricably linked" to Washington's partnership with Pakistan. "We will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan," Obama told cadets at the US military academy at West Point.In a prime-time speech at the U.S. Military Academy, the president said his new policy was designed to "bring this war to a successful conclusion." The troop buildup will begin almost immediately — the first Marines will be in place by Christmas — and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone."We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven," Obama said in articulating U.S. military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years. "We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government."The presiden...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: Tuesday night President Barack Obama will announce his strategy for fighting and finishing the war in Afghanistan.Up before dawn, President Obama held an hourlong videoconference with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, outlining his revised battle plan."What the President will tonight announce is an acceleration of that strategy to take on Al Qaeda and its extremist allies, an acceleration of our training of Afghan national security forces," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained on the Today Show.President Obama has already issued the orders. The first of nearly 34,000 troops will deploy to Afghanistan starting next month.The president spoke directly to General Stanley McChrystal, then yesterday laid out his plan to leaders of Britain, France and Russia.Among the leading dissenters is Vice President Joe Biden, skeptical like many Americans of expanding the war.Even supporters of the Obama path say time is short."The...

Friday, November 20, 2009 KABUL: Two coalition troops have been killed in bomb blast and clashes in Afghanistan belonging to UK and Denmark. The British Ministry of Defence has announced that a soldier from the Royal Military Police has been killed in southern Afghanistan. The ministry said on Wednesday that the soldier was killed during operations in the Babaji area in Helmand province. Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said, "It is with deep sadness I must inform you that a soldier from The Royal Military Police was shot and killed." The death brings the number of the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 235 since the US-led invasion in 2001. Ninety-eight British service personnel have lost their lives in 2009 alone, making it the bloodiest year for the UK troops since the Falklands War in 1982. On the other hand a Danish soldier seriously wounded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan in late October died on Wednesday, the Danish arme...