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Petraeus escribió:Sabria alguien decir cual es numero de efectivos españoles desplazados en Afganistan... o si los hay... ?¿
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 4, 2008 – Coalition forces have positively identified five Taliban subcommanders killed during operations over the past month in Afghanistan’s Kapisa province.
Qari Nejat, along with four other enemy fighters, was killed during a coalition forces operation in the province’s Nijrab district Aug. 5. Officials said Nejat was a Taliban commander in the Tag Ab valley region, with ties to senior insurgent figures. He was implicated in the July 21 suicide bombing in the Tag Ab bazaar that injured six Afghan nationals, as well as the July 16 kidnapping of three Afghan National Police officers in Jalokhel. Nejat also was wanted in connection with the torturing and beheading of an Afghan citizen June 30.
Khairullah Nezami and Qari Ezmarai, along with four other Taliban operatives, were killed in the Tag Ab district on Aug. 23. Nezami was a known roadside bomb facilitator and also coordinated the movement of suicide bombers and foreign terrorists within the network. Ezmarai is believed to have helped foreign terrorists move into and around Afghanistan to conduct attacks for the Taliban.
Both militants were local Taliban commanders in the Tag Ab valley region of Kapisa. During the operation, the force also discovered multiple assault rifles and machine guns.
On Aug. 30, Ahmad Shah and Mullah Rohoullah were killed as coalition forces attempted to search a compound in the Nijrab district. As they approached the compound, they were met with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire. Coalition forces responded with precision air strikes, killing both Taliban leaders. Six other militants also were killed in the strikes.
Officials said both leaders were heavily involved in foreign terrorist facilitation and conducting numerous attacks against NATO and coalition forces, including a recent ambush on NATO forces on Aug. 18. They were known to facilitate the movement of weapons and foreign fighters into Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2008 – Though U.S., coalition and Afghan troops are making steady progress against increasingly active insurgent forces in Afghanistan, it’s time to turn up the heat, a senior U.S. military officer said today.
“I believe that more forces are required. And I think that over the next several months we can put them, certainly, to good use,” Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 101 and 101st Airborne Division, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference.
Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have increased 20 to 30 percent from 2007 to now, said Schloesser, who arrived in Afghanistan in April and also heads counterinsurgency operations for NATO’s Regional Command East.
Discussions about increasing the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan are ongoing among senior leaders in Washington, Schloesser acknowledged.
“We’re making some steady progress” in Afghanistan, Schloesser pointed out. However, defeating the estimated 7,000 to 11,000 insurgents there “will take longer the way we are doing it right now, as far as the resources that we have,” he said.
“I’d like to speed it up,” Schloesser said of the anti-insurgent campaign’s pace in Afghanistan. He estimated that a troop increase on the order of “a series of thousands” would be of sufficient size.
“I’m going to ask for more troops. I think it’s pretty commonly known that I already have,” Schloesser said. “And, I’m optimistic that we’ll potentially see them in the coming months.”
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan consists of about 45,000 troops, including around 15,000 U.S. troops. Another 19,000 or so U.S. troops are assigned to Combined Joint Task Force 101, commanded by Schloesser.
Arrayed against U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan is a loosely knit collection of terrorists, Schloesser said, who share a radical Islamic ideology and the belief that President Hamid Karzai’s democratic government is illegitimate.
“Again, this is not a huge, strong movement; it is not a team,” Schloesser said of the polyglot enemy operating in Afghanistan, which includes Taliban extremists, Pakistan-based radicals and al-Qaida-aligned terrorists. “There are ways to break it apart.”
To put added pressure on insurgents in Afghanistan, Schloesser is preparing a two-pronged winter campaign.
“This campaign has got two components. One of them is a strong military offensive and the other is a developmental surge,” Schloesser said. Recent anti-insurgent operations in Khowst province and elsewhere in Afghanistan, he said, have eliminated some key extremist leaders and uncovered numerous enemy supply and weapons caches.
The winter offensive will root out the enemy “where he hides,” the general said.
“We will pursue them wherever they run. We will intercept them, and we’re going to destroy their resources,” Schloesser said. “My intent is to eliminate the support areas within our sector to diminish the enemy’s ability to operate next year.”
The development part of the winter campaign will feature projects designed to keep young Afghans occupied during this winter and through the spring and summer, Schloesser said.
“They’ll be doing things such as clearing ice and snow from roads, doing construction training workshops, road maintenance, distribution of essentials to villages that are basically isolated, such as clothes and food,” the general explained.
The purpose of the development portion of the winter campaign, Schloesser said, is to provide employment for the people most vulnerable to insurgent recruiting pitches. This program, he said, will also provide roads, wells, schools, clinics, micro-hydroelectric plants and more in remote areas of Afghanistan that have lacked modern infrastructure.
This year, nearly $480 million in Commanders Emergency Response Program money has been committed to fund such projects in Afghanistan, Schloesser said, noting that’s double the amount committed last year.
“We’re trying to match the power we have here, both the hard power … as far as the [military] operations that we’re going to do on the ground with our troops, as well as soft power, and that’s the CERP, then, the development funds that I’ve talked about,” Schloesser explained.
Meanwhile, there is “absolutely no way” that the enemy will triumph in Afghanistan, Schloesser declared.
“We’re not losing this war, and we won’t lose [it even if additional troops] don’t show up in the next several months,” Schloesser said.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan forces killed more than two dozen insurgents while disrupting terrorist cells along the southeastern and southwestern borders of Afghanistan during operations over the past days, military officials reported.
Coalition and Afghan forces killed six militants today after being ambushed while conducting a reconnaissance patrol in the Farrah province in southwest Afghanistan, coalition officials said.
The insurgents ambushed the patrol from an isolated compound with intense and accurate small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire, officials said. Coalition forces responded with ground fire and close air support, killing six militants, they said.
Although no Afghan or coalition casualties were reported, two civilians were killed in the attack and two were wounded, coalition officials said. The victims were immediately treated and medically evacuated to a nearby coalition medical facility, they said.
In addition to the weapons carried by the ambushing force, a weapons cache containing a rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun, AK-47 rifles and an assortment of ammunition was discovered at the site.
Also today, coalition forces killed several militants and detained five during an operation to disrupt an explosives network in Paktika province, along the Pakistan border, coalition officials said.
Coalition forces were searching a compound in the Bermel district targeting a militant known to coordinate and direct roadside bomb attacks against coalition Forces. The targeted militant is also known to be associated with Taliban commanders, both locally and abroad, who bring foreign fighters into Afghanistan, officials said. Several civilians, as well as military members, recently have been injured by these roadside bombs, they said.
As Coalition forces searched the compound, they received small-arms fire from militants inside the building. The force returned fire, killing several insurgents, they said.
A similar incident also happened today in Kapisa province, north of Kabul, when coalition forces came under fire while searching a compound in the Tag Ab district targeting a Taliban commander responsible for smuggling in foreign fighters, as well as conducting bomb attacks against coalition forces.
During the operation, militants fired on coalition forces, who responded with small-arms fire, killing several militants and detaining two.
Multiple AK-47s, hand grenades, bomb-making materials and stock piles of ammunition, to include armor- piercing rounds were discovered at the site and destroyed.
Four militants also were detained after coalition forces searched a militant compound in the eastern border province of Khowst.
Today’s fighting comes three days after Afghan and coalition forces killed 20 militants while conducting operations in Naw Bahar in the southwest province of Zabul.
The troops were conducting a combat security patrol when they were attacked by militants with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The troops responded with small-arms, heavy-weapons and close air support, killing 20 militants. No coalition forces or civilian casualties were reported.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2008 – Coalition forces in Afghanistan killed more than 10 insurgents and captured seven others during a series of operations conducted in Khowst province over the past few days, military officials reported.
Yesterday, coalition forces killed more than ten armed militants and detained three others during an operation in Khowst province. The operation targeted a Haqqani militant wanted for conducting and coordinating direct and suicide attacks in Sabari district. This militant was killed during the operation.
As coalition forces approached the targeted compound, groups of militants fled the area, firing on the force as they moved to a nearby treeline. The force pursued the militants and engaged them with small-arms fire. Coalition forces killed at least 10 of the enemy with direct fire from ground forces, helicopters and precision airstrikes. A search of the treeline revealed multiple rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47 rifles and other military equipment.
During the fire fight coalition forces encountered three additional armed militants. The force repeatedly called for the militants to surrender, but one militant refused to comply and was killed. The other two militants were detained. Coalition forces found additional RPGs, AK-47s, ammunition and other equipment. Another militant found in the compound was detained.
In other news, coalition forces detained four suspected militants during multiple operations conducted in Khowst province Sept. 5.
The first operation resulting in the capture of a suspected terrorist leader wanted for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters into the region and directing attacks against innocent civilians and coalition forces. It is also believed he aids financial operations for the Haqqani terrorist network.
The second operation resulted in the capture of two more suspected militants. One of the detainees is wanted in connection with suicide attacks and vehicle-borne improvised explosive assaults in the Khowst area. Intelligence reports indicate the militant is a longtime Haqqani-network member linked to recent attacks that killed and injured innocent civilians.
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Sept 12, IRNA
Pakistan-Fighting
Pakistani security forces Friday killed 20 more militants in fresh clashes that broke out in the tribal region of Bajaur, officials said.
The militants were killed in the operation at Loisam, Sangkhata, Shankai areas of Bajaur Agency, officials said.
The ongoing clashes have continued for six weeks and have killed about 700 militants so far.
The security forces also continued operation against militants in another tribal region of Darra Adamkhel, some 30 kilometers, southeast of Peshawar.
However no loss of life was reported.
Fighting is continuing in the tribal regions and the restive Swat valley in the northwest despite a government's decision to halt operation in respect of the holy month of Ramazan.
The security forces used artillery to hit positions of local Taliban in Bajaur, local tribesmen said.
They said that fresh fighting forced thousands of people to flee homes and move to other towns.
ISLAMABAD, Sept 15 - Firing by Pakistani troops forced U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory in the early hours of Monday, Pakistani security officials said.
The incident took place near Angor Adda, a village in the tribal region of South Waziristan where U.S. commandos had carried out a heli-borne raid earlier this month. At least 20 people, including women and children, were killed, sparking outrage in Pakistan, and prompting a diplomatic protest.
Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement last week that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil and Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all cost.
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