Tag: Resolute Support

2,531 Afghan Security Forces Killed from January 1 to May 8

The figures were provided to the US military by the Afghan government and were consistent with those from the last year, says a US congressional watchdog.

A member of Afghanistan's special forces unit jumps from a wall during patrol in Pandola village near the site of a US bombing in the Achin district of Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan, April 14, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Parwiz/Files

A member of Afghanistan’s special forces unit jumps from a wall during patrol in Pandola village near the site of a US bombing in the Achin district of Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan, April 14, 2017. Credit: Reuters/Parwiz/Files

Kabul: A total of 2,531 Afghan security forces were killed and 4,238 wounded in the first four months of the year, according to figures released in a report by the special inspector general for Afghanistan, a US congressional watchdog.

The figures, from January 1 to May 8, were provided to US military authorities by the Afghan government and were consistent with figures from the same period last year, the report said.

In an earlier report released in February, SIGAR said at least 6,785 Afghan soldiers and police had been killed in the first ten months of 2016.

The figures, showing around 20 soldiers and police being killed every day, underline the challenge for Resolute Support, the NATO-led training and advisory mission trying to build up Afghan security forces. The US is expected to send around 4,000 troops to boost the mission but has yet to announce its long-awaited new strategy for the region.

US commanders and officials have warned repeatedly that Afghan forces have been suffering unsustainably high casualties against the Taliban, partly because of tactics that include a heavy reliance on vulnerable static checkpoints.

Just last week, around 30 Afghan soldiers were killed in the southern province of Kandahar when their checkpoint was overrun by Taliban fighters.

US officers say that troops defending checkpoints suffer as much as 10 times the level of casualties as they do when conducting offensive operations. But they have struggled to persuade Afghan commanders to cut their use, partly because local politicians say the checkpoints are needed as a visible sign of government presence in isolated areas.

The SIGAR report also quoted US commanders who assess the fighting between government and insurgent forces as a “stalemate”, with government forces in control of 59.7% of the country’s 407 districts, the same as last quarter.

It said insurgents control 11 districts and influence another 34, equivalent to 11.1% of the total with another 29.2% contested, although it was unclear if they were actively contested or simply left alone by both sides.

The main centres of insurgent strength were in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul as well as Kunduz in the north.

Around three million people, or about a tenth of the population, were living in areas controlled or influenced by insurgents, with some 21 million living in areas under government control or influence.

(Reuters)

Taliban Claims Responsibility for Kabul Truck Bomb Blast

The Afghan authorities have not yet issued a statement regarding casualties, though the Taliban claim to have killed dozens.

Afghan policemen keep watch near the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan August 1, 2016. Omar Sobhani, Reuters/Files

Afghan policemen keep watch near the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan August 1, 2016. Credit: Omar Sobhani, Reuters/Files

Kabul: The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a military and logistics services compound, mainly used by foreigners, in Kabul early on Monday after a powerful explosion was heard all around the city.

As day broke, gunfire and occasional explosions rang out over the industrial zone where security forces had taken up positions near the site of the Northgate Hotel, a secure residential compound for foreign military and civilian organisations.

Security officials said four heavily armed attackers were at the site, suggesting a coordinated operation between suicide bombers and gunmen.

There was no immediate word on casualties from Afghan authorities, although the Taliban claimed there were ‘dozens of dead and wounded’. The Islamist group often exaggerates the extent of attacks it launches against Afghan government and foreign security targets.

After the attack, Afghan security forces closed off streets around the site, which is east of Kabul‘s main international airport and on the way to the sprawling Bagram air base north of the city.

Columns of vehicles carrying troops and police were in the area and heavy automatic gunfire could be heard, along with rocket propelled grenades fired by Afghan security forces.

Telephone calls to the hotel went unanswered. The facility is in a walled compound of a type typically used by foreign security and civilian organisations in Kabul.

There were also widespread reports of power outages in Kabul after the blast, with electricity cut off in several areas of the city.

A spokeswoman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said they were assessing the situation but gave no details.

A statement from the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said its fighters had entered the compound.

The attack comes around a week after ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a demonstration by members of the mainly Shi’ite Hazara minority, killing at least 80 people.

It followed an attack on a convoy of Nepalese security contractors who worked for the Canadian embassy in June as well as other attacks on foreigners in Kabul, including a suicide attack on Camp Baron, a camp used by foreign contractors in January.

The Taliban, which often says it wants to avoid civilian casualties, said the compound was not near homes and that ordinary people were not harmed.

(Reuters)