October 15
Khost, Early AM: Taliban guerrillas raided a police post here, killing 3 policemen.
Herat, AM: Roadside bomb attack on a Western security vehicle missed the target but killed 2 civilians instead.
Kandahar: A Taliban fighter on a motorcycle shot dead Mohammad Yunus Hosseini, a provincial delegate, outside his office.
Saturday, October 14
Laghman Province, 8 AM: The Taliban tried to assassinate another Afghan governor, this time with a mine bomb attack on the governor of Laghman Province as he arrived at work. The attack killed an engineer who was riding with him. The engineer was initially wounded but then died later. After the mine detonated, the Taliban fired on the governor. 2 more people were wounded in the attack.
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Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, 3:10 PM: The Taliban ambushed a Canadian force working on a road-building project here. The Canadians were attacked by a heavy volley of RPG's and small arms from at least 4 different directions at once. 2 Canadian soldiers were killed and 2 more were wounded in the initial ambush. Sergeant Darcy Scott Tedford and Private Blake Neil Williamson were killed in the ambush.
An RPG exploded over the heads of some troops who were in an armored vehicle with the hatch open, causing 2 of the casualties. The 2 other casualties were standing outside the armored vehicle when the RPG exploded. The ambush set off a 2 1/2 hour firefight between the Canadians and the Taliban, with the Canadians calling in attack helicopters and artillery.
The Taliban said they destroyed three Canadian military vehicles. The Canadian troops were working on a road-building project. This is the same road-building project that was attacked a week ago, also causing Canadian deaths.
It is going from the nonexistent Zhari District (west of Kandahar for about 25-30 miles and north of the Arghandbad River) south of the river down towards the heart of the Panjwayi District that they are referring to as Pashmul, which is another area that is not shown on typical maps.
The Pashmul pocket is generally in the heart of the Panjwayi District south of the Arghandab about 25-30 miles west of Kandahar. This road has proven costly; within the last 16 days, 6 Canadians have been killed while working on, guarding or patrolling the site of the new road. The dirt road is as wide as 100 yards in places. A good article on the road, with photos, is here on the National Public Radio site.
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Zebak District, Badakhshan Province, Night: A large group of gunmen swarmed a large high school here, tied up the 2 guards, and set the school on fire. 800 boys and girls used to study at this coed school. The identity of the attackers is mysterious because the Taliban are not known to have a significant presence in this largely Tajik Province. The government statement appeared to blame the Taliban for the attack.
However, there is definitely a Pashtun minority here and there have been occasional roadside bomb attacks here since summer. The attackers remain unknown, however. More research needs to be done to determine who is carrying out these attacks in the North.
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Jori, Zhari District, Kandahar Province: Suicide car bomb attack on an Afghan army patrol killed the bomber and wounded 6 troops. The Taliban claimed the responsibility of the attack. The Zhari District does not exist on normal maps, but it is north of the Arghandab River about 25-30 miles west of Kandahar in the Taliban-infested Panjwayi District. No called called Jori could be located on any map.
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Between Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, and Kandahar Province: The Taliban abducted an Italian photojournalist, Gabriele Torsello, and accused him of spying, an Afghan news agency reported.
A call to his cell phone was answered by the Taliban who explained the abduction and the reason for it. An Afghan who was with the journalist and was released said that the Taliban had stopped their car as they were driving from Laskhar Gah in Helmand to Kandahar Province.
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Uruzgan Province: Roadside bomb and small arms attack on another US-Afghan patrol killed 1 Afghan soldier and wounded 3 more. The attack began as a roadside bomb attack, and was then followed with a small arms attack.
Sarkh District, Logar Province: Rocket attack on a school here damaged the school. The Taliban were suspected in the attack.
Friday, October 13
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Kunduz Province, Late: Guerrillas attacked an ISAF patrol here with RPG's, wounding 2 ISAF soldiers. The nationalities of the wounded were not given, but most of the troops here are Germans. There are very few attacks in Kunduz, so this is unusual. However, there has long been a Pashtun population here. For instance, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-i-Islami, is a Pashtun from Kunduz.
The Pashtuns were moved there by the Afghan government after the conquest of the north in the late 1800's in a divide and rule tactic where many Pashtuns from around Jalalabad were moved north to separate them from their ethnic brethren who were seen as a threat to the government.
Many of them became a land-owning ruling class in the north in a semi-feudal economic system. This semi-feudal system was dealt heavy blows by a land reform that was initiated by the Communist regime that came to power in the late 1970's, in one of the great things that the erratic Communists did.
After the defeat of the Taliban in 2001, there were many reprisals against Pashtuns in the northern provinces, as they were seen as supporting the hated Taliban. Pashtuns were beaten and killed and their property was stolen. Many fled to the south.
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Outside Kandahar: Suicide car bomb attack on a US convoy near the turnoff to the NATO base at the Kandahar airport killed 8 civilians and 1 US soldier, while wounding several other people, including 8 civilians and 1 US soldier. Initially, 2 soldiers were wounded in the blast, but one, Spc. Jason A. Lucas, later died in the hospital.
Later, in a suspected secondary suicide attack, an Afghan man who approached the site of the attack and was acting erratically was shot dead by wary troops. Suicide bombings have killed about 200 people this year, the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since 2001.
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Zazai Aryub district, Paktia Province: Roadside bomb attack on an Afghan army convoy here damaged a military vehicle and killed 6 Afghan soldiers. There is no place called the Zazai Aryub District. There is the Zizi District, which on most maps is formerly known as the Ali Khel District. It borders on the part of Pakistan next to Tora Bora and the White Mountains where Osama bin Laden made his last stand in late 2001.
Kabul: ISAF forces raided a Taliban hideout here, arresting 9 Taliban and killing 1 more.
Zabul Province: The Taliban attacked a police patrol here, but the attack was repelled and 3 Taliban were killed.
Thursday, October 12
Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province: NATO and Afghan troops fought with the Taliban here, and up to 20 Taliban were killed. Around 60 Taliban attacked a joint NATO-Afghan patrol. The troops fired back and called in airstrikes. There were no Coalition casualties.
Kandahar: 2 men on motorcycles lobbed 2 grenades at the Indian Embassy here but caused no damage. One of the grenades hit inside the consulate, but still somehow caused no damage, while the other landed outside the police post guarding the consulate building.
Tani District, Khost Province: Car bomb attack on a US patrol here wounded three civilians, but no US troops were injured. The Tani District is southwest of Khost and borders on North Waziristan.
Khost Province: A suicide bomber ran up to an Afghan army vehicle here and blew himself up, killing himself. 2 soldiers and 14 civilians were wounded in the attack.
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Afghanistan: Recent surveys by the US Geological Survey have revealed that oil and gas reserves here are 10 times larger than previously thought. The previous estimate, by the Russians, indicated that Afghanistan had 120 billion cubic meters of gas and over 15 million tons of oil.
The new survey indicated that Herat, Helmand, Paktika and some northern province have most of the oil and gas. Unfortunately, Herat, Paktika and Helmand are currently overrun by the Taliban.
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Afghanistan: 16 Afghans and 1 Iranian arrived in Afghanistan after they were released from up to 4 years of detention at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Most of them were reportedly innocent and had been turned over to the US on fake charges by other Afghans due to interpersonal disputes, a very common tactic in Afghanistan. These are the people that Bush is determined to torture.
Wednesday, October 11
Camp Holland, Uruzgan Province, AM: A Dutch soldier committed suicide here with his service pistol (the link is in Dutch). His body was found on the base in the morning. Camp Holland is located in Deh Rawood, next to the US FOB Ripley, but the Dutch troops do not appear to be seeing a lot of fighting there.
According to an email from the webmaster of the Uruzgan Weblog, a fantastic resource on Afghanistan issues, the Dutch are following an inkblot strategy, whereby they intend to secure the main cities first, such as Deh Rawood and Tirin Kot, and then move out in the rest of the area. The part of Deh Rawood District around Cahar Cineh next to the Kajaki District of Helmand Province is particularly unstable.
Tirin Kot is stable, but the entire surrounding area of the district is Taliban-controlled. The Taliban have staged recent takeovers of Khas Uruzgan and Chora, district capitals and have recently been seen again in the Shahidi Hassas District.
At the very least, I would say that the Dutch have their work cut out for them. One thing needs to be made clear - the Pashtuns need some reasons to support the Afghan state other than "we will kill you if you do not". The Afghan police in Uruzgan are ludicrously understaffed, and those who are on the payroll often do not show up for work.
I would say that to make their military strategy work, the Dutch will need to spend a lot of money on reconstruction, and do it in a saner way than the US did, when much of the money was wasted on corporate graft, waste and outright theft.
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Uruzgan Province: Fighting continued here between US and Afghan forces and the Taliban and Coalition forces said they killed 25 Taliban. The fighting 3 1/2 miles from the base began when the Taliban detonated a roadside bomb on the Coalition patrol and then ambushed the patrol from 3 sides. 1 civilian was killed in the fighting and several more were wounded.
Several Afghan soldiers were wounded. There were no NATO casualties. The patrol consisted of US and Afghan troops and 25 Dutch Special Forces. A Dutch filmmaker, Victor Franke, who is embedded with the Dutch here grabbed a machine gun from a soldier and began shooting during the battle, sparking a controversy back home about civilians using weapons.
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Banditemur, Helmand Province: A US soldier, Chief Warrant Officer Scott Dyer, a Special Forces commander, died here after falling from a UH-60 helicopter while it was landing. Another report said that the helicopter came under attack as it was landing, causing Dyer's death.
The only town with a name remotely resembling Banditemur in Helmand is a town called Banader Khurd (map here) which is located far down on the Helmand River in the far south of Helmand, 13 miles east of Khanishin in the red-hot Garmser District.
This ultra-conservative district in the heart of the Margo Desert is totally controlled by drug traffickers and the Taliban. Ancient life here centers around opium cultivation along a barren strip of the Helmand River.
Not far from the river, there is barren desert. The role of clerics is very important here and levels of development are extremely low. The position of women is about zero and most kids are not in school, as they start working at very young ages.
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Lwara Dasta, Gayan District, Paktika Province: US Navy F/A-18 Hornets attacked Taliban fighters engaged with US forces near here. Lwara Dasta is the name of a US firebase 46 miles north of Wana in Taliban-overrun South Waziristan on the Afghan-Pakistani border.
The base appears to be located where Paktia and Paktika Provinces and Pakistani Waziristan all come together. The base is located northeast of Khenj Kot (map here) on the border.
US troops enjoying a Thanksgiving meal at the US firebase in Shkin, on the Pakistani border in Paktika Province. This was formerly the most hostile area in all Afghanistan, with more US troops killed here than anywhere else in Afghanistan.
The front gate of the US firebase at Shkin in Paktika Province. This area is still quite dangerous. The Shkin firebase is about 30 miles south of the Lwara Dasta firebase.*****
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Shuhika, Kakrez District, Kandahar Province: US Navy F/A-18s and US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II's attacked Taliban forces battling ISAF troops near here. This town is apparently called Shukhan (map here), not Shuhika. This town is located 25 miles northwest of Kandahar.
A US FA-18 taking off from an aircraft carrier. This is one of the most impressive planes in the US arsenal and it is one of the best, if not the best, fighter jets in the whole world.*****
Mandagel Sufla, Kandahar Province: F/A-18s attacked Taliban forces fighting NATO troops near here. This town is reportedly somewhere in Kandahar Province but could not be located on any map.
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Sado Kala, Dih Yak District, Ghazni Province: US Air Force A-10s attacked Taliban fighters engaged with US forces near here. Sado Kala (map here) was previously bombed on October 4, a week prior. This part of Dih Yak is probably heavily Pashtun and is apparently the scene of a lot of guerrilla activity lately.
US A-10 Thunderbolts in action over Afghanistan. This plane packs an incredible amount of firepower. It was originally designed as a tank-killer, but lately in Iraq and Afghanistan it is being used as a fighter jet and bomber. Truly an excellent warplane.****
Bar Kanday, Kunar Province: US Air Force A-10's attacked Taliban guerrillas fighting ISAF troops near here. Bar Kanday (map here) is being repeatedly attacked in recent days. It is located 13 miles west of Asadabad in the Pech River Valley, a very dangerous area swarming with Al Qaeda, Taliban, Hezb-I-Islami and other little-known groups. It was previously attacked on October 2, 9 days before.
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Mangratay, Khost Province: British RAF GR-7 Harriers attacked Taliban guerrillas battling US forces near here.
A fantastic photo of a British GA-7 Harrier fighter jet in action, firing rounds over Afghanistan. I don't know much about this plane, but it sure looks impressive and scary. I assume it was intended as a British analogue of the US FA-15 -16 -18 series.Monday, October 9
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Pech District, Kunar Province, Late: Reuters reported that 2 US soldiers and 1 Afghan soldier were killed and 3 more US troops were wounded in fighting here, but this report is apparently in error. There may have been some fighting here on this day with casualties, but there were no US Tia's. It's too bad Reuters carried this erroneous report.
It appears that Reuters is reporting on the 2 US soldiers killed in the Pech District on the previous Monday and got it confused with the subsequent Monday.
A Chinook helicopter landing in Asadabad, west of the Pech District in this dramatic photo. This province is wild, dangerous and very fundamentalist. Note the stark, barren hill in the background.
A gorgeous photo of a lush green valley near Asadabad. Note that even though the hills appear barren, the valleys are very lush and rich. This area gets a lot more precipitation than most of the rest of Afghanistan. The barren nature of the hills may be due in part to deforestation, which has been extensive in Kunar in the last 2 decades.*****
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