A Battlefield Tourist

This Week in Afghanistan: January 13th-19th

Jan 21 at 12:12am by David Tate

Jan. 13th

ISAF aircraft target a senior Taliban commander in Kapisa Province.  The attack happened in Tag Ab Valley, aimed at a key HiG insurgent facilitator operating in Kapisa, Parwan and Kabul Provinces.

Four Canadian soldiers are wounded when their vehicle hits a mine in Panjwai district, Kandahar Province.

Jan. 14th

Six people are killed and six more wounded when terrorists attack the five-star Serena hotel with grenades, small arms and a suicide vest.  The Norwegian Foreign Minister was inside the hotel when it was attacked.  The hotel is located in central Kabul and is arguably the most popular hotel in the city.

Three Taliban are killed and a policeman wounded in a firefight in Nesh district, Oruzgan Province.

Jan. 15th

The U.S. Defense Department announces the deployment orders for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines for service in Afghanistan.  The 24th MEU will be assigned to Afghanistan’s southern command while 2/7 will be used for training Afghan Security Forces.

A Canadian soldier is killed and another wounded when their vehicle is hit by an IED in Arghandab district, Kandahar Province.

 Jan. 17th

Seven Canadians are wounded in two seperate explosions in Panjwai district, Kandahar Province. 

Jan. 18th

Five Taliban fighters, including a self-claimed leader, are arrested in Qalat district, Zabul Province.

American and Afghan troops battle Taliban forces for more than 21 hours in Watapoor district, Kunar Province, leaving more than two dozen insurgents killed or wounded, American intelligence estimates.  The fighting started when coalition troops ambushed a large Taliban force massing to attack a rural U.S. base.  Foreign fighters are among the dead.

Jan. 19th

An Afghan convoy carrying supplies to an ISAF base in Helmand Province is ambushed.  Two drivers and two guards are killed.

Five civilians are killed and three wounded when their taxi hits a mine in Panjwai district, Kandahar Province.

A winter humanitarian crisis is underway in Afghanistan as heavy snows and frigid weather has killed more than 200.  The United Nations says 1,000,000 Afghans in four western/central provinces alone are at risk.  In light of the difficult humanitarian conditions, Iran suspends the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.

American General David McKiernan is named the new commander of ISAF forces in Afghanistan.