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Joint assault on Taliban-held town |
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Written by Source: Agencies
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Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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December 8,2007 -- Afghan and Nato troops have launched a major offensive on a town in southern Afghanistan.
Musa Qala in Helmand province has been under the Taliban's control for 10 months.
The country's defence ministry said troops had surrounded the area and were using heavy fire and air strikes to regain control of the town.
A Nato soldier, two children and a dozen "terrorists" were killed in battles to reclaim the area from the Taliban, the defence ministry said.
Ground troops were approaching Musa Qala, which is in the middle of the country's poppy-growing belt, from three directions, the ministry said.
Between 200 and 300 civilians had fled the fighting in the area, it said.
The two children were killed when a vehicle they were travelling in was caught up in a gun battle, said General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, adding five civilians were also wounded in the incident.
The Nao soldier was reportedly killed by a landmine.
Musa Qala had become a base for "foreign terrorists," Azimi said.
"Hundreds of terrorists had massed there."
However, A Taliban spokesman downplayed its importance as a base.
Qari Mohammad Yousef Ahmadi told Al Jazeera: "Musa Qala is not the only district for our Mujahideen to be there, we have bases in other districts that are still in our control".
Heavy fighting
The Taliban took control of Musa Qala in February and the town and the region around it have seen heavy fighting this year.
"Afghans want peace and security, the Afghan people are neither terrorists or support terrorism"Haji Fazel Mohammad, a Panjwaii elder
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 )
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A remote district haunted by murder & mayhem |
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Written by R.A.W.A.
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Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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December 8,2007 --"There is no school, no health facility in the entire village," complains Ramazan from Nangarkhel village
KABUL: Residents of Wazikhwa district of the Pakthika province live in constant fear of being struck by Taliban insurgents. "Visiting this area is not without risk," says Khair Mohammad, an elderly person, standing by a deserted shop.
Moments earlier, six Taliban having daggers, entered the area on motorbikes, he adds. It is a deserted bazaar of Wazikhwa district in Gwashthi area near Nangarkhel village - attacked some four months back with heavy artillery by Polish soldiers with ISAF.
Villagers recall seven people - mostly women and children - were killed and three others injured in that attack. Khair Mohammad is not weary of Taliban alone. He alleges security forces are an equal threat to civilians. He insists both sides care too hoots for residents while shooting it out.
A dweller of Gwashthi, who does not want to be named, says the locals call this area a 'death trap' and even small convoy of security forces could not dare enter it. "An engineer, who recently came here to oversee a reconstruction project, fled away due to the precarious security situation. Later his assistant ventured into the neighbourhood. He was slaughtered by Taliban."
Nearly 6,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan over the past 17 months. Some 1,500 of them have been civilians.Reuters, Jun 18, 2007
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 )
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Badakhshan forests, meadows grabbed by strongmen |
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Written by R.A.W.A.
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Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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December 8,2007 -- Over 40 percent of a forest trees have been felled and meadows grabbed illegally by powerful people in the northern Badakhshan province
FAIZABAD - Over 40 percent of a forest trees have been felled and meadows grabbed illegally by powerful people in the northern Badakhshan province, officials confirmed on Thursday.
Agriculture Director Muhammad Alam Alami, in a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, the damage to the forested area in the province resulted from decades of war. Badakhshan contained vast grazing land and a useful habitat for wild life.
With the forest cover in the province shrinking, wild animals and birds including eagles are migrating to neighbouring countries Pakistan, China and Tajikistan. Alami recalled more than 60,000 hectares of forests and meadows in Badakhshan attracted cattle from Baghlan, Takhar, Kunduz and southern provinces in the past.
The jungles needed to be revived and the unlawfully occupied pastures vacated by strongmen to prevent precious wild life from imminent distinction and help poor people reliant on income from animal products, the director stressed.
On Wednesday, a three-day workshop - organised by the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA) and sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded in Faizabad.
UNEP Law Department head in Afghanistan Abdul Qadir Karyab said 50 government officials were trained in law and environmental protection. The participants were educated on how to promote awareness among locals about the importance of forests and pastures.
Meanwhile, deputy police chief said they were ready to take action against the land grabbers, if approached by the Agriculture Department.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 December 2007 )
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