|
Post by ocelot on Jun 26, 2007 22:46:52 GMT -5
Taliban tries to recruit boy suicide bomber
By JASON STRAZIUSO
FORWARD OPERATING BASE THUNDER, Afghanistan (AP) — The story of a 6-year-old Afghan boy who says he thwarted an effort by Taliban militants to trick him into being a suicide bomber provoked tears and anger at a meeting of tribal leaders.
The account from Juma Gul, a dirt-caked child who collects scrap metal for money, left American soldiers dumbfounded that a youngster could be sent on such a mission. Afghan troops crowded around the boy to call him a hero.
Though the Taliban dismissed the story as propaganda, at a time when U.S. and NATO forces are under increasing criticism over civilian casualties, both Afghan tribal elders and U.S. military officers said they were convinced by his dramatic account.
Juma said that sometime last month Taliban fighters forced him to wear a vest they said would spray out flowers when he touched a button. He said they told him that when he saw American soldiers, “throw your body at them.”
The militants cornered Juma in a Taliban-controlled district in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. Their target was an impoverished youngster being raised by an older sister — but also one who proved too street-smart for their plan.
“When they first put the vest on my body I didn’t know what to think, but then I felt the bomb,” Juma told The Associated Press as he ate lamb and rice after being introduced to the elders at this joint U.S.-Afghan base in Ghazni. “After I figured out it was a bomb, I went to the Afghan soldiers for help.”
While Juma’s story could not be independently verified, local government leaders backed his account and the U.S. and NATO military missions said they believed his story.
Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator for Juma’s village of Athul, brought the boy and an older brother, Dad Gul, to a weekend meeting between Afghan elders and U.S. Army Col. Martin P. Schweitzer.
Schweitzer called the Taliban’s attempt “a cowardly act.”
As Deciwal told Juma’s story, 20 Afghan elders repeatedly clicked their tongues in sadness and disapproval. When the boy and his brother were brought in, several of the turban-wearing men welled up, wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.
“If anybody has a heart, then how can you control yourself (before) these kids?” Deciwal said in broken English.
Wallets quickly opened, and the boys were handed $60 in American and Afghan currency — a good chunk of money in a country where teachers and police earn $70 a month.
Afghan officials described the boys as extremely poor, and Juma said he is being raised by his sister because his father works in a bakery in Pakistan and his mother lives and does domestic work in another village.
“I think the boy is intelligent,” Deciwal said. “When he comes from the enemy he found a checkpoint of the ANA (Afghan National Army), and he asked the ANA: ‘Hey, can you help me? Somebody gave me this jacket and I don’t know what’s inside but maybe something bad.”’
Lt. Col. George Graff, a father of five who attended the meeting, also teared up.
“Relating to them as a father and trying to fathom somebody using one of my children for that kind of a purpose, jeez, it just tore me up,” said Graff, a National Guard soldier from St. George, Utah. “The depths that these people will go to get what they want, which is power for themselves — it’s just disgusting.”
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, denied the militant group uses child fighters, saying it has hundreds of adults ready for suicide missions.
“We don’t need to use a child,” Ahmadi told the AP by satellite phone. “It’s against Islamic law, it’s against humanitarian law. This is just propaganda against the Taliban.”
However, a gory Taliban video that surfaced in April showed militants instructing a boy of about 12 as he beheaded an alleged traitor with a large knife. U.N. officials condemned the act as a war crime.
Fidgety but smiling during all the attention, Juma told the AP that he had been scared when he was surrounded by Taliban fighters. He cupped his hands together to show the size of the bomb, then ran his hands along his waist to show where it was on his body.
A fan of soccer, Juma said his favorite subject in school is Pashto, his native language, but he also showed off a little English, shyly counting “1, 2, 3” before breaking out in an oversize smile.
Raised in a country where birthdays are not always carefully tracked, Juma said he is 4. But he looks older and Afghan officials said he is about 6. His brother appears to be a year or so older.
Their village lies in Ghazni province’s Andar district, a Taliban stronghold targeted this month in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation. The region remains dangerous and Afghan elders worry for Juma’s safety.
Maj. John Thomas, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said he was “a bit skeptical” about Juma’s story at first, “but everything I’ve heard makes me more and more comfortable.”
Thomas said the case would force soldiers to think twice before assuming children are safe.
“This is one incident. We hope it doesn’t repeat itself. But it gives us reason to pause, to be extra careful,” he said. “We want to publicize this as much as we can to the Afghan people so that they can protect their children from these killers.”
Col. Sayed Waqef Shah, a religious and cultural affairs officer for the Afghan army, wiped away tears after seeing Juma. “Whenever I see this kind of action from the Taliban, if I am able to arrest them, I’ll kill them on the spot,” he said.
Haji Niaz Mohammad, one of the elders at the gathering, said he hoped “God makes the Afghan government strong” so it can defeat the Taliban.
“They are the enemy of Muslims and the enemy of the children,” he said, shaking his fists in anger.
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Jun 26, 2007 22:47:50 GMT -5
Here's a picture of the hero:
|
|
|
Post by achebeautiful on Jun 27, 2007 11:08:39 GMT -5
Leona writes:
"I really believe in the mission in Afhganistan and I'm always happy to see a positive story coming from it (through most of them are from the Canadian Press). To me, this is a very important battle because through befriending and helpig the Afghan people we start to build a road away from terrorism. As much as I don't like the situation in Iraq the US needs to keep its commitment because there's every possibility that if they abandon Iraq could turn to what Afghanistan was like on 9/11.
I am very thankful for every soldier that risks his life for the better of the world and they need to get the credit they deserve. We are not respecting our troops right now."
Perfectly stated, Leona!
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Jul 5, 2007 10:10:10 GMT -5
'He's our hero,' says fallen soldier's family Soldiers killed when vehicle hit by roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan Last Updated: Thursday, July 5, 2007 | 8:10 AM MT CBC News
"He knew what was up," Gary Bason said from Abbotsford, B.C., the hometown of Master Cpl. Colin Bason, a reservist with the Royal Westminster Regiment.
"You couldn't talk him out of it. The army was his life and Canada was No. 1."
Bason, 28, and five other Canadian soldiers were killed Wednesday when their large armoured vehicle struck a massive roadside bomb on a well-used road in southern Afghanistan. An Afghan interpreter was also killed in the blast.
The explosion, caused by an improvised explosive device, occurred in the Panjwaii district, about 20 kilometres southwest of the city of Kandahar, Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant said Wednesday.
Last February, Bason and seven other volunteers shipped out for Afghanistan from their regimental hall in New Westminster.
"I know he's gone, but it's what he wanted to do," his father said. "I tip my hat to him, as long as it wasn't wasted."
Close call in June, father says
The soldier's girlfriend, Katrina Blain, said she spoke to the father of her seven-month-old daughter, Vienna, just a few days ago.
"Myself and his daughter are going to miss him terribly, as well as his parents and all his family," Blain said.
"I don't know what we're going to do without him, but he's our hero."
His father said Bason had seen the danger up close in Afghanistan, including a close call last month when three other soldiers died when their M-Gator struck an improvised explosion device, or IED.
"He got out of that vehicle, and they got in it and went down the road," he said. "What can you do?"
Three other soldiers killed in the blast were identified late Wednesday. They are:
Capt. Matthew Johnathan Dawe of Kingston, Ont. Cpl. Cole Bartsch of Whitecourt, Alta. Pte. Lane Watkins of Clearwater, Man. Dawe, Bartsch and Watkins were all from the Edmonton-based 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
The soldiers' families asked for privacy Wednesday and have said they would make statements in the coming days.
Dawe, 27, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy the youngest of four brothers who have all served in the military, leaves behind a wife and a two-year-old son.
'He was doing what he wanted to do' Watkins, 20, was a twin. He grew up in the small town of Clearwater and attended high school in nearby Pilot Mound.
Wade Watson, principal at Pilot Mound Collegiate, recalled that Watkins always wanted a military career.
"That was one of the things, I think, that kept him going through school was he knew what he wanted when he got out," he said.
"He was a very nice kid, and he knew what he wanted to do, and he was doing what he wanted to do."
Lynn Galbraith, Watkins's English teacher, described him as a "strapping" boy, quiet and a hard worker in her class.
She said she was stunned to hear her former student had been killed; she had only recently written him a letter, wishing him a safe return. He had been scheduled to return home at the end of July, she said.
"It was staggering," Galbraith said. "You read about it in the newspaper, but when it hits home, it just sort of rocks you. Especially, again, how young he was."
The names of the other two Canadian soldiers have not been released at the request of the families.
Flags flew at half-mast Thursday at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton as the tight-knit military community began grieving the loss of three more comrades.
"It's sad, but it's a common reality here," said Norma Cartwright, whose husband has been based at CFB Edmonton for more than 20 years.
"That's their job, so you just hopefully get on and say sorry to the families and hopefully we can fix what's over there and get out as fast as we can."
Deaths 'weigh very heavily on the government': PM Speaking to reporters in Halifax on Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid tribute to the soldiers' courage and offered his condolences to the soldiers' families and comrades.
"We consider it a terrible loss whenever we lose someone, but obviously losing six is a terrible tragedy," the prime minister said.
"I'm aware of the pain that causes. I'm also aware of the pride they feel for their loved ones who have served this country and are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
"But obviously, casualties weigh very heavily on the government."
Vehicle designed to protect against mines The blast happened at about 11 a.m. local time as soldiers were returning to their forward operating base after conducting a joint operation with the Afghan National Army, Grant said. The team had just completed a "cordon and search operation" of an Afghan village based on intelligence reports that Taliban fighters were in the area.
The soldiers were travelling in a RG-31 Nyala, considered one of the safest vehicles the Canadian military uses. It is designed to resist a blast equivalent to two anti-tank mines detonating simultaneously.
About 11 other vehicles were travelling in a convoy with soldiers when the explosion occurred.
With the latest casualties, 66 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since the mission started in 2002.
Wednesday's losses mark one of the deadliest days for the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. In April, six Canadian soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb west of the city of Kandahar. Four other soldiers inside the LAV III survived the blast.
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Aug 24, 2007 8:59:28 GMT -5
Slain soldiers believed in mission: officers Afghan interpreter also killed; Radio-Canada journalist suffers serious leg injury Last Updated: Thursday, August 23, 2007 | 12:27 PM ET CBC News
Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier, a member of the 2nd Battallion, Royal 22nd Regiment, commonly known as the Van Doos, and Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, a member of the 5th Field Ambulance, were killed in a blast about 50 kilometres west of Kandahar city. The explosion, following a fierce battle with insurgents in the area, also killed an Afghan interpreter.
Their deaths bring the total number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2002 to 69.
At a news conference at the men's Valcartier, Que., base., Lt.-Col. Hercule Gosselin, the commander of the 2nd Battallion, said in French that he knew Mercier throughout his 19 years of service, adding that the moment he heard of the soldier's death "was an absolute chasm in my life."
"This was an officer that was an unbelievable personality," he said of the father of three. "He was just an amazing guy, so committed to his country, to his regiment, to his peers, to the men and women to whom he had to look after."
He said that while he did not deliver news of the soldier's death personally, he was told that Mercier's family "took that horrific news with dignity and courage."
Duchesne, a father of three from Montreal, was a medical technician with 14 years military service.
Capt. Patrice Carriere, who paused from emotion several times during his comments, described Duchesne as dedicated and motivated.
"I'm told that he was an excellent military person, totally devoted to offer health services to his comrades in arms and where the need arose," Carriere said. "Master Cpl. Duchesne was proud to be on this mission in Afghanistan, he believed in what he was doing."
Carriere delivered the grim news to Duchesne's widow. He said it was a very difficult experience, "but she took the news as well as I could have hoped for … she was quite stoic."
Master Seaman Yanick Fournier, a medic who worked with Duchesne, said his colleague was endearing, loyal and respected.
"I was deeply, deeply saddened. For the members of the health services and the ambulance corps, we had just lost a very dear individual, a good person, somebody who had lots of experience … it's really, really sad," Fournier said. "[He] was an example to be followed."
The blast also wounded a third soldier and Ottawa-based Radio-Canada cameraman Charles Dubois. Dubois suffered a serious leg injury and underwent surgery at a military hospital. His injury was not life-threatening.
His colleague, Radio-Canada Ottawa bureau chief Patrice Roy, was not hurt, but was suffering from shock.
Highway of Heroes proposed
In another development, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said he would consider a call to rename Canada's busiest highway in honour of the country's soldiers.
An online petition with more than 12,000 signatures was started calling on the province's Transportation Ministry to change the name of a section of Highway 401 to the "Highway of Heroes."
The renaming would affect a 170-kilometre stretch of the higway from CFB Trenton, where the bodies of repatriated soldiers arrive, to Toronto.
The highway's overpasses have become the scene of impromptu gatherings in recent months, as people wave flags while motorcades pass by bearing the remains of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said there were no barriers to renaming the highway.
"There's no reason not to do it. All we need to do now is get into the process of how quickly we can do it," she said.
Cansfield said she would meet with McGuinty on Friday to discuss how soon the highway could be renamed.
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Sept 5, 2007 8:29:36 GMT -5
Most Canadians back 'poppy for medicine' program: poll Last Updated: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 5:03 PM ET CBC News Eight in 10 Canadians support "poppy for medicine" projects in Afghanistan — programs that involve growing poppies for the manufacturing of opium used to make legal medications, an Ipsos Reid poll suggests.
The poll was conducted on behalf of the Senlis Council, a British think tank.
The plan aims to use the opium produced by Afghan farmers for the production of legal medicines, such as morphine and codeine tablets, which are in short supply, according to the Senlis Group.
Currently, Afghan farmers are cultivating poppies to generate much-needed income. However, they're selling them to produce raw opium, which is being sold to make illegal narcotics such as heroin. A recent UN survey found that opium cultivation in Kandahar is up by 26 per cent from 2006.
Under the plan, the legal cultivation and conversion of poppies would occur within Afghan villages and the entire production process, from seed to medicine tablet, would be controlled by the village in collaboration with the UN and international overseers.
All economic profits from medicine sales would remain in the village, allowing for economic diversification, the Senlis Council says.
According to the Ipsos Reid poll, which surveyed 1000 adults between Aug. 14 and Aug. 16, 2007, 70 per cent of Canadians feel Prime Minister Harper would support a pilot poppy project in Afghanistan for the next planting season.
"You can see that Canadians really want a positive relationship with the Afghan farmers — they want them to have an economic opportunity to earn a legal earning," Norine MacDonald, president and founder of Senlis Council, told CBC News.
Fostering good relations
MacDonald feels that the poppies for medicine project could be a vehicle for a positive relationship between Canada and the Afghans.
"Prime Minister Harper has got to make a choice between supporting President [George W.] Bush's aggressive counter-narcotics policy in Afghanistan or these positive policies, which would allow the Canadian military to be operating in an environment where the Afghan farmers felt that we were on their side," MacDonald said.
The U.S. wants the Afghan poppy fields to be eradicated, something 53 per cent of Canadians strongly or somewhat oppose, the poll suggests.
"The prime minister's got to do everything he can to make sure that we've got local support and we're in that positive relationship with the Afghan farmers," MacDonald said.
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Oct 18, 2007 21:02:53 GMT -5
51% of Afghans feeling good about country's direction: poll Last Updated: Thursday, October 18, 2007 | 6:05 PM ET CBC News A new poll of nearly 1,600 Afghans shows the majority feel safer than they did five years ago, and approve of the direction their country is taking, thanks to the presence of international security forces from countries such as Canada.
Results from the Environics Research poll, conducted in partnership with the CBC, show 60 per cent of Afghans surveyed believe the presence of foreign troops has been good for their country.
As well, 51 per cent said they feel their country is headed in the right direction, compared to 28 per cent who responded that it's headed in the wrong direction. The remaining interviewees saw no change or didn't know.
Most Afghans said they believe their lives are better than they were five years ago, citing increased security, as well as better roads and schools because of reconstruction efforts. Those who feel they are worse off say they don't feel safe in the face of continuing violence.
"There's no consensus. It's not everyone [who] has a positive view," said Keith Neuman of Environics. "But more often than not, people feel that things are better than they were."
The Ottawa-based research company oversaw the Sept. 17-24 survey of 1,578 Afghans, whom pollsters from the Afghan Centre for Social and Opinion Research interviewed in their homes throughout the country's 34 provinces.
The results have a margin of error of 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20, except in Kandahar, where the smaller sample size leads to a 5.9 per cent margin of error.
Support for troops to stay Among the poll's other results:
~Forty-three per cent of all Afghans surveyed say that foreign troops should stay as long as it takes to get the job done. Only about 15 per cent of all Afghans surveyed want foreign troops to leave their country immediately, and the rest want time limits.
~In the troubled southern province of Kandahar, where the former Taliban government has its roots and where the vast majority of Canadian troops are based, only 31 per cent of respondents want to see foreign troops stick around until stability is restored. In comparison, 32 per cent of those asked would like to see the troops gone within a year, and many had no opinion at all. ~ A full 60 per cent of those surveyed in Kandahar have a somewhat or very positive attitude toward Canada's soldiers. Those with a negative opinion cite civilian casualties and the fact that they see the soldiers as infidels.
Janice Stein is director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, another of the poll's sponsors. She sees grounds for optimism in the results.
"I think Afghans are asking for continued assistance," she said. "They are asking for a continued foreign presence in the short term. They are asking for help in order to avoid a return of the Taliban to Afghanistan. These are the fundamental messages that come out of this poll."
U.S. cited as chief source of troops When asked who is responsible for fighting the Taliban, an overwhelming majority named the United States. Even in the south of the country, where Canadian forces have lost most of the 71 soldiers who have died in the country so far, 90 per cent of Afghans polled believe it is the United States that is trying to protect them.
On the bright side, when it comes to reconstruction, Afghans named Canada as one of the top countries trying to help rebuild Kandahar.
"Here are the Canadians in Afghanistan, seen as the people building civil society, helping reconstruction, helping to train, helping to build a democracy so that some day we can leave," says Michael Adams of Environics.
"It's interesting — even our military are seen in that role there, rather than in the role of fighting the Taliban."
Some NATO countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, have been debating whether to pull their troops out of Afghanistan. But despite political opposition within Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made his position clear: He wants Canadian troops to stay in the country until at least 2011.
High marks for Karzai On another front, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government received approval ratings other world leaders can only dream of.
More than 70 per cent of Afghans surveyed said they think Karzai is doing a good job. In his home province of Kandahar, the positive reviews jump to 77 per cent.
That's significant because Karzai is often seen from the outside as a weak leader who, among other criticisms, hasn't managed to clean up corruption in his own governmental ranks.
"I think what people forget is there is a lot of challenges in this country," Arif Lalani, Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, pointed out in an interview. "But there's a lot of progress [too], and the Afghans that I see, see the change and he's the face of the Afghan government. So it wouldn't surprise me that they still have faith in him."
|
|
|
Post by ocelot on Aug 9, 2008 0:41:48 GMT -5
Canadian troops seize drugs, weapons in Afghanistan
Zhari District, Afghanistan -- Canadian military officials said Friday a joint operation with Afghan and coalition forces have disrupted enemy activities in an area of Kandahar province seen as a hub of insurgent activities.
A large quantity of weapons, bomb-making materials and narcotics were seized in the ongoing operation in Maywand district west of Kandahar city, they said.
The outcome of the joint operation involving Afghan, British, Canadian and U.S. troops would benefit other unstable areas such as Zhari district, where the Canadians have repeatedly confronted the Taliban.
"Maywand is, to our knowledge, an insurgent logistical node where things like bombs get made and moved to other districts," Capt. Chris Quinlan told reporters at Kandahar Airfield, the main base used by Canadian and other NATO troops.
"So we certainly anticipate that seizing bomb-making supplies in Maywand will have an effect of what will show up in Zahri in the future."
Officials said no insurgents were captured during the operation.
Quinlan said the operation provided an opportunity to bridge ties with local elders in an area where the population still needed to be convinced about the authority of the Afghan government.
The main goal is "convincing the people of Afghanistan there is a legitimate and viable option in supporting the government," he said.
Maj. Fraser Auld said insurgents in the Band-E-Timor area of Maywand were taken by surprise.
"And based on finds and some of the site exploitation going on, any insurgents in the area that did manage to get out had to do so in a hurry because they left exploitable material behind," Auld said.
He was referring to "a large find of IED components, homemade explosives -- a large quantity of that was found and destroyed in place." IED is the acronym for improvised explosive device, which has proved to be deadly against coalition troops.
Auld said the operation also seized narcotics and weapons.
"We know this area of Maywand district is a feeder for other areas" in Kandahar and the neighbouring province of Helmand, he said.
"We knew that if we could get in there for a prolonged period, we would be able to cause disruption that would ripple through and assist in other areas aside from just localized effect in Band-E-Timor."
Most of Canada's 2,500 troops are based in Kandahar province. They are responsible for security in volatile districts such as Zhari and Panjwaii.
|
|
|
Post by achebeautiful on Aug 10, 2008 6:47:13 GMT -5
Afghanistan is such a difficult situation. The more I learn about it, the more I realize how wise Bush was to take the fighting to Iraq. I'm not sure we will ever be able to stabilize Afghanistan.
And yet, I strongly believe that it is a necessary fight.
I don't think that the soldiers who are fighting there are getting enough support. Nor are they getting enough recognition for their efforts, with Iraq always being the subject of debate and controversy.
|
|