A Battlefield Tourist

This Week in Afghanistan: January 6th-12th

Jan 13 at 10:10pm by David Tate

Jan. 6th

Two Canadian soldiers are killed in a vehicle accident while in support of Operation Teng Azem which is targeting militants in Zhari district, Kandahar Province.

Afghan National Police wrap up a series of operations aimed at bringing complete security to Shaidi Hasas district of Oruzgan Province.  ANP forces have established checkpoints in the villages of Sha Masaad, Sakhar, Pasaw, Dosang, Doanne and Yakdan.  Citizens have started to return.

Canadian troops, along with Afghan security forces, kill three militants and capture one in the Zhari district of Kandahar Province.

Two Indian soldiers are killed in southern Nimroz Province by a suicide bomber.  The paramilitary soldiers are part of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police which is tasked with protecting Indian construction workers operating in Afghanistan.

Jan. 7th

Two American soldiers are killed and another wounded when they are hit by an IED in the Kot District of Nangahar Province.  The soldiers were investigating a suspected IED in a nearby location.  At least one of the dead men is a member of US Special Forces Command.

A suicide bomber kills one policeman and wounds four others in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province.

Jan. 8th

The Afghan government appoints former-Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Salam, as district chief of Musa Qala district, Helmand Province.  Mullah Salam is one of the Taliban commanders to defect prior to the coalition assault to retake the city.

The man arrested in Islam Qala, Herat Province, accused of being an Iranian spy has been identified.  The Afghan government says the man is Rohullah, son of Haji Ramazan, 28, from Samnan, Iran.  Rohullah has allegedly confessed to infiltrating the Afghan National Army’s 205th Corps, based in Kandahar, where he served as a soldier for one year.  He was caught in possesion of a forged Afghan passport and citizen ID card while trying to cross back into Iran last week.

Jan. 9th

One ISAF member is killed and another wounded when their vehicle hits a mine in southern Afghanistan.

Jan. 10th

Poland has reached a tenative agreement with NATO officials, moving one step closer to taking over security for the eastern province of Paktika.  The talks go before US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates next week.  Poland is also pushing to have a General grade officer added to the ISAF’s top command.

Afghan security forces find two seperate weapons caches in Khogyani district, Nangarhar Province.  Three men are arrested when IED-making material was found in two separate compounds.

A joint Afghan/NATO patrol spends the day in a firefight in the Deh Rawood District of Oruzgan Province.  Following the fighting, which included coalition airstrikes, Afghan security forces found a cache of machine gun rounds and 20 rocket propelled grenades inside a school for boys.

Jan. 11th

Members of the Pashtun “Wazir” tribe, located along the Afghan/Pakistani border, announce the formation of a militia to rid their area of al-Qaida and other foreign militants.

Afghan Army units find Iranian made mines buried in a section of the main highway between Kabul and Jalalabad.  The mines are described as, “the latest in technology.”

Jan. 12th

Two Dutch soldiers are killed in a firefight in Oruzgan Province.   Two Afghan soldiers are killed in the same vicinity later that evening.  Fighting broke out as coalition forces were working to help refugees living in the Deh Rawood bazaar to return home.  Dutch reports say the four men were killed by friendly fire.  It is unclear if this incident is the same, or related to, the contact reported January 10th.  A third Dutch soldier was wounded in a separate incident. 

A pre-dawn Taliban attack on a police checkpoint in Maiwand district, Kandahar Province leaves ten policeman dead.

A suicide bomber kills one police officer and wounds two others in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province.  Six civilians are also wounded.

Three Taliban fighters are killed and two captured in a two hour firefight in Kandahar’s Jalai district.

Senior Taliban leader, Saifur Rahman Mansoor, is killed in fighting in Pakistan’s South Waziristan district.  Saifur Rahman commanded the Kargha garrison, near Kabul, during the Taliban regieme and has been leading Taliban fighters in Paktia Province since the U.S.-led invasion and led Taliban forces during the Battle of Tora Bora.

At least 50 people are dead following heavy snowfall in western Afghanistan.  43 people die in Ghoryan district, Herat Province alone.  Dozens, including more than 30 Iranian construction workers are trapped as roads have become impassable.