A Battlefield Tourist

This Week in Afghanistan: Dec. 30th – Jan. 5th

Jan 6 at 3:03pm by David Tate

Dec 30th
A Canadian soldier is killed and four others wounded when their T-LAV is hit by a roadside bomb in Zhari District, 13 miles west of Kandahar Airfield. In the same area, Canadian and Afghan troops continue to press on with Operation Winter Storm. So far the operation has produced little success in capturing or killing insurgents. However, troops are finding various weapons caches.

Mansoor Dadullah, who replaced his brother Mullah Dadullah in summer 2007, is sacked by supreme Taliban-leader, Mullah Omar. Mullah Dadullah was killed by NATO forces in May 2007.  Before his dismissal, Mansoor Dadullah led Taliban fighters primarily in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Dadullah was fired because he, “…does not follow the rules of the Islamic emirate and violates it.”, according to a statement supposedly released by Mullah Omar.  There are reports Mullah Mansoor met with British diplomats who tried to persuade him to defect and start his own political party with its own militia.

Government officials in Khowst and Paktia Provinces say “hundreds of refugees” are fleeing Waziristan as sectarian violence breaks out in country region Pakistan’s tribal agency. Afghan officials say as many as 500 families (3,000 people) have recently crossed the border.  The fighting, between Sunni and Shia sects, is taking place in Kurram Agency and is seperate violence than that of the government’s fight with Taliban extremists.

Coalition and Afghan forces retake the village of Yakdhan, in Shahidi Hasas District in Oruzgan Province. The area is considered by coalition forces to be a major command and control point for weapons and material support moving north and south in Oruzgan Province. The fighting began when a joint coalition patrol came under fire from fighting positions surrounding the village. The fighting soon moved into the village bazaar where direct and indirect fire was used by the coalition. No casualty figures are available. Insurgents took control of the area in late-2007, forcing the villagers to the district center of Deh Rawood.  Village elders recently begged the government for intervention as their planting season is about to begin.

Jan. 1
A soldier and an Afghan interpreter are killed in Khowst Province; two other soldiers are wounded when an IED hit their vehicle.

A paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade dies of his wounds at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The soldier was wounded December 12th in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghan and coalition troops kill eight suspected insurgents in Musa Qala district, Helmand Province.

Jan. 2
Afghan troops kill three suspected militants in Musa Qala district of Helmand Province.
In Khowst Province, two Afghan guards working at a military base, are killed by an IED.

An Afghan National Army officer is killed and another wounded in the area of Sarkono in Helmand Province.

The Afghan government says five insurgents died, in two incidents, when IEDs they were planting exploded prematurely.  One incident happened in Nawi District, Ghazni Province.

Afghan Police seize 400 kilograms of heroin and 24 kilos of opium during a routine traffic checkpoint in eastern Nangahar Province.

A suicide-bomber trying to attack a police checkpoint in Khowst is killed before he could set off his hand grenades.

A roadside bomb kills two border police members in Kandahar Province.

Jan. 3rd
In southern Nimroz Province, eight Afghan police and a construction worker from India are killed when a motorcycle parked along a road explodes.  Seven officers, two workers and a civillian are also injured.

Jan. 4th
Afghanistan’s Economy Minister, Mohammad Amin Farhang warns that food shortages this winter could lead to famine if the problem isn’t tackled.

Azerbaijan more than doubles it’s peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, bringing it’s overall contribution to 45 soldiers.  Azerbaijan works with Croatia and others at a Lithuanian run Provincial Reconstruction Team in in the west central province of Ghor.

A Taliban commander is reported captured in Nawi District, Ghazni Province.  Nawi District is the same area in which Afghan security officials netted 10 suspects the previous week.

While noting the obvious downfalls Afghanistan endures, the World Bank acknowledges more girls are in school than ever before, child mortality has been significantly reduced and the government is bringing developmental relief to thousands, “…in every province in the country”.

Poland is asking NATO for its own area of operation, in particular, Paktika Province.  The Polish government believes a consolidation of its deployed units will better meet their strategic goals.  Paktika is located along the southeastern Afghan border with Pakistan.  A decision is expected later this month.  Approval would see Poland’s contingent increase to nearly 1,600 troops.

Jan. 5th
A Dutch unit was ambushed near Khorma in Oruzgan province.  The fighting reportedly involved an IED strike against a Dutch armored vehicle, followed by direct fire from the village itself.  Two civillians were killed.

An Iranian national with fake Afghan identification is arrested at Islam Qala border crossing near Herat.  The man claims to have served for a year in 205 Corps of the Afghan National Army based in Kandahar.