Afghan clashes raise concerns
Afghan clashes raise concerns
By Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 3 2007 17:32 | Last updated: May 3 2007 17:32
Fighting in Afghanistan has erupted outside the Taliban strongholds of the south and east, catching growing numbers of civilians in the crossfire and stoking public anger at the US and Nato.
Clashes in recent weeks at opposite ends of the country signal a widening of the conflict and increasing confusion among western military officials over the enemy they are confronting.
The worst fighting to strike Afghanistan this year erupted in the western province of Herat leaving 136 people dead after two days of clashes which culminated in a 14-hour-long battle on Sunday, the US military said.
The US military initially said all of the dead were militants but a UN investigative team who visited the battle site “found credible reports of 49 civilian deaths” including unconfirmed numbers of women and children, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
A US soldier was also killed in the operation by US special forces and Afghan troops in Herat against what a US military statement described as ground operations and air strikes targeting Taliban positions.
President Hamid Karzai warned US and Nato generals and other senior western officials in a meeting on Wednesday that “the patience of the Afghan people was wearing thin”, with heavy-handed army tactics.
Mr Karzai’s warning came after four days of protests in the eastern city of Jalalabad over what locals claim were the deaths of six civilians in a raid on a compound suspected of housing a suicide bomber. The US military said a woman and a teenager were killed in a firefight that erupted when US forces raided the compound following a tip-off.
The Jalalabad protest coincided with similar demonstrations in western Herat’s Shindand district in which scores of locals chanted “Death to America” in the wake of Sunday’s airstrikes.
Violence in Afghanistan has sharply increased in recent weeks with pitched battles between insurgents and government troops in areas of the country far away from the traditional Taliban strongholds in the south and east.
A western diplomat estimated that some 2,250 insurgents, foreign troops and civilians had been killed in the first four months of this year compared with under 5,000 casualties for the whole of 2006. On Thursday, the UK defence ministry said a British soldier was killed in fighting with militants in southern Afghanistan.
Nato spokesman Nicholas Lunt said that as the Afghan army and Nato troops moved into areas where there had been no government presence they were clashing with anti-government militias.
These clashes could easily be exploited by the Taliban, Joanna Nathan, Kabul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group said. “The Taliban are very clever about using local rivalries and conflict and appealing to the side that feels disenfranchised,” she said.
In one of their boldest moves, Taliban militants seized control of a highway just 70km outside the capital Kabul in Tagab district of central Kapisa province on April 18. Government forces retook the road in 24 hours but the clash marked a new frontier for the Taliban – who were able to stage the heaviest battle in the region of the capital since 2001.
Nato troops have launched a string of offensives around the country with the heaviest fighting continuing in the southern province of Helmand where British troops are based.
More than 2,000 Nato and Afghan troops were deployed over the weekend in the Helmand’s Sangin valley aimed at driving the Taliban from the heart of the opium-producing province.
Military officials said the effort involved some 1,100 British troops, 600 US soldiers and more from the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Canada as well as more than 1,000 Afghan government troops.
By Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 3 2007 17:32 | Last updated: May 3 2007 17:32
Fighting in Afghanistan has erupted outside the Taliban strongholds of the south and east, catching growing numbers of civilians in the crossfire and stoking public anger at the US and Nato.
Clashes in recent weeks at opposite ends of the country signal a widening of the conflict and increasing confusion among western military officials over the enemy they are confronting.
The worst fighting to strike Afghanistan this year erupted in the western province of Herat leaving 136 people dead after two days of clashes which culminated in a 14-hour-long battle on Sunday, the US military said.
The US military initially said all of the dead were militants but a UN investigative team who visited the battle site “found credible reports of 49 civilian deaths” including unconfirmed numbers of women and children, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
A US soldier was also killed in the operation by US special forces and Afghan troops in Herat against what a US military statement described as ground operations and air strikes targeting Taliban positions.
President Hamid Karzai warned US and Nato generals and other senior western officials in a meeting on Wednesday that “the patience of the Afghan people was wearing thin”, with heavy-handed army tactics.
Mr Karzai’s warning came after four days of protests in the eastern city of Jalalabad over what locals claim were the deaths of six civilians in a raid on a compound suspected of housing a suicide bomber. The US military said a woman and a teenager were killed in a firefight that erupted when US forces raided the compound following a tip-off.
The Jalalabad protest coincided with similar demonstrations in western Herat’s Shindand district in which scores of locals chanted “Death to America” in the wake of Sunday’s airstrikes.
Violence in Afghanistan has sharply increased in recent weeks with pitched battles between insurgents and government troops in areas of the country far away from the traditional Taliban strongholds in the south and east.
A western diplomat estimated that some 2,250 insurgents, foreign troops and civilians had been killed in the first four months of this year compared with under 5,000 casualties for the whole of 2006. On Thursday, the UK defence ministry said a British soldier was killed in fighting with militants in southern Afghanistan.
Nato spokesman Nicholas Lunt said that as the Afghan army and Nato troops moved into areas where there had been no government presence they were clashing with anti-government militias.
These clashes could easily be exploited by the Taliban, Joanna Nathan, Kabul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group said. “The Taliban are very clever about using local rivalries and conflict and appealing to the side that feels disenfranchised,” she said.
In one of their boldest moves, Taliban militants seized control of a highway just 70km outside the capital Kabul in Tagab district of central Kapisa province on April 18. Government forces retook the road in 24 hours but the clash marked a new frontier for the Taliban – who were able to stage the heaviest battle in the region of the capital since 2001.
Nato troops have launched a string of offensives around the country with the heaviest fighting continuing in the southern province of Helmand where British troops are based.
More than 2,000 Nato and Afghan troops were deployed over the weekend in the Helmand’s Sangin valley aimed at driving the Taliban from the heart of the opium-producing province.
Military officials said the effort involved some 1,100 British troops, 600 US soldiers and more from the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Canada as well as more than 1,000 Afghan government troops.
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