US hopes shift in its Afghan role by 2013

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT: The United States hopes to shift its military role in Afghanistan from combat to training during the second half of 2013, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday.

But he said the US administration wanted to see all the NATO allies in Afghanistan — including France — “respect” a strategy adopted at a summit in Lisbon in November 2010, which calls for handing over security duties to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

“Hopefully by the mid-to-latter part of 2013, we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a train and advise and assist role, which is basically fulfilling what Lisbon was all about,” Panetta told reporters aboard his plane en route to Brussels.

“We all went in here together and we’ll all go out together, but we have to do it on the basis of a strong alliance and a strong commitment that was made in Lisbon,” said Panetta, who was due to meet NATO defense ministers in his visit to Belgium.

The NATO-led coalition this year needed to cement battlefield gains against the Taliban insurgency and to build on progress in strengthening the Afghan army and police, he said.

He said 2013 would be a “crucial” year for the final transfer of remaining areas to Afghan security forces.

“2014 becomes a year of consolidating the transition,” he said.

Panetta’s comments reaffirmed signals from President Barack Obama’s administration that after a decade of war, America’s military mission in Afghanistan will soon evolve into a supporting role with Afghan forces taking the lead in the fight against the Taliban.

It was unclear how the planned shift from combat to a mainly advisory role would affect planned troop levels for US forces.

With nearly 90,000 US troops now in Afghanistan, Panetta said that “no decision has been made with regards to the level of forces we’ll have in 2013.”

By the end of September, the number of US troops is due to drop to 68,000, following the scheduled withdrawal of a “surge force” that deployed in 2010.

The Pentagon chief sought to play down the effect of last month’s surprise announcement from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to withdraw French combat forces in 2013, a year earlier than planned under the NATO strategy.

“With regards to France, I understand why they made their decision,” Panetta said.

Despite the French withdrawal plans, he said he was “pleased” that France had indicated it would retain a longer-term military presence with troops training and advising Afghan forces.

“My hope is at that at this ministerial (in Brussels), we can discuss their decision and hopefully find a way to make sure we bring them back into the Lisbon strategy,” he said.

A senior US defense official told reporters it was possible that there was no serious gap between the French stance and NATO‘s timeline, depending on the precise details of what Paris planned.

“I think the discussions will reveal whether there’s a serious difference or not,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“What we need to discuss with the French is exactly what role they envisage playing in 2013 and 2014, whether there’s a serious difference in terms of the milestones that they envisage,” the official said. (AFP)

Afghan govt, Taliban to hold talks in S Arabia: envoy

RIYADH: Afghan government officials and representatives of the country’s former Taliban rulers are to hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh-based Afghan diplomat said on Monday.

“An Afghan government delegation and a Taliban delegation will hold talks in Saudi Arabia,” the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, but he could not give a timing. He said the talks in Saudi would be separate from the US-brokered meetings held in Qatar and be the first such talks to take place there.

Taliban negotiators have begun preliminary discussions with the United States in Qatar on plans for peace talks aimed at ending the decade-long war in Afghanistan. A member of the Taliban’s leadership council, the Pakistan-based Quetta Shura, said Sunday “the idea that the Taliban should have a point of contact in Saudi is pushed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments.”

Pakistan was feeling “sidelined” from the US-brokered talks, he said. The Afghan diplomat, however, said there were no plans for a third party to attend the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. “So far, there is no third party that will be present at the talks,” he said. A senior Afghan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged on Sunday that the Saudi talks would take place but also did not say when.

13 killed in Afghan violence

KABUL: At least 13 people, including five Afghan border police, a Nato soldier and two would-be suicide bombers were killed across Afghanistan Saturday, officials said.

The border guards died when their vehicle was ambushed in Gulran district of Hirat province in western Afghanistan, General Sulaiman, the commander of rapid reaction forces in the area, told AFP. “The vehicle first hit a roadside bomb and then the militants opened fire using grenade launchers and small arms,” he said. The Nato soldier died in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force said, without providing any further details. Also on Saturday, a roadside bomb hit a civilian truck in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of volatile Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, killing three civilians and wounding three others.

“They were labours going to their work in the morning when their truck hit the roadside bomb that killed three and wounded three others,” the provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.

In south-eastern Afghanistan, Afghan and Nato security forces shot dead four attackers attempting to target Barmal district chief office in Paktika province on Saturday, Mukhlis Afghan the provincial spokesman said.

Four French troops killed by Afghan soldier

PARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday suspended French military training operations in Afghanistan and said he was mulling an early withdrawal after a renegade Afghan soldier shot dead four French troops.

“The French army stands alongside its allies but we cannot accept that a single one of our soldiers be wounded or killed by our allies, it’s unacceptable,” Sarkozy said, dispatching Defence Minister Gerard Longuet to Afghanistan.

Longuet and army chief of staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud will establish the circumstances of Friday’s shooting in which an Afghan soldier opened fire on French troops, killing four and wounding eight, before he was arrested.

“Between now and then all training and joint combat operations by the French army are suspended,” Sarkozy said. “If security conditions are not clearly established, then the question of an early return of the French army will be asked.”

Training Afghan forces and accompanying them into battle against rebels is the core of the French mission within the Nato-led coalition in Afghanistan, the force having already scaled down its own operations.

France has about 3,600 soldiers serving in the country, mainly in the provinces of Kabul and Kapisa, the scene of Friday’s shooting. Their deployment is deeply unpopular in France, and Sarkozy is facing a tough re-election battle in less than three months.

French troops have fanned out around their base in the eastern province and are not allowing any Afghan soldiers to approach, a security source told AFP. Longuet said that eight soldiers were wounded in the attack, including one seriously, revising down an initial wounded toll of 16.

“We will have to make a difficult decision in the coming days. But I must assume my responsibilities before the French people and before our soldiers,” Sarkozy said. The French force currently in Afghanistan will be reduced to 3,000 by late 2012, with 200 due to leave in March. Nato is due to hand security over to Afghan forces before withdrawing all its combat troops by the end of 2014.

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday expressed his condolences after the shooting, but insisted the attack was isolated. “This is a sad day for our troops in Afghanistan and the French people,” Rasmussen told reporters during a visit to fellow Nato member Latvia.

“Such tragic incidents are terrible and grab headlines but they are isolated,” he said, noting that 130,000 Nato-led international forces are still serving alongside more than 300,000 Afghans. The latest deaths brought to 82 the number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan since French forces deployed there at the end of 2001.

Six US troops killed in Afghan chopper crash

KANDAHAR: Six US troops were killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday, indicating the incident was not believed to be the result of enemy fire.

The helicopter, a CH-53 Sea Stallion, went down in the volatile Helmand province, according to one US official who said: “Initial indications are that this was not hostile fire.” The dead were members of the US military, another US official told AFP.

In a brief statement, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said the cause of the crash was under investigation. “However, initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash,” it said.

The helicopter came down in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province at around 10:00 pm (0530 GMT) on Thursday “due to technical failure”, the provincial Afghan army corps commander Sayed Mulook told AFP. Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban militia, which is leading a 10-year insurgency against the Afghan government and tens of thousands of NATO troops, claimed the insurgents had shot down the helicopter.

Mulook rejected the claim. The Sea Stallion is a heavy transport aircraft capable of carrying about 40 people. The US officials did not say whether anyone else was on board, other than the six victims. An ISAF spokesman told AFP in Kabul that the crash occurred late Thursday.

Afghan containers blockade issue to be resolved in 10 days

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday assured Afghanistan that it would resolve within 7-10 days the issue of 700 Afghan containers held up under the policy to block Nato supply routes. Both countries have also resolved to jack up the current trade volume of $2.5 billion to $5 billion by 2015.

Finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and his Afghan counterpart Hazrat Omar Zakhiwal said this at a press briefing after the end of a two-day joint economic commission (JEC) meeting.

Sources in the FBR told The News that Pakistan’s security agencies identified about 285 containers used by Nato forces in Afghanistan and took them into custody under the current policy of not letting NATO containers enter Afghanistan. However, Afghan authorities are insisting that the said containers do not belong to Nato forces but are commercial containers belonging to the Afghan business community.

According to these sources, the Frontier Constabulary has taken into custody 285 containers from the US, but the Kabul administration claims that these containers belong to Afghan businessmen and have nothing to do with Nato forces.

Hafeez Sheikh said Pakistan has offered Afghanistan machinery and equipment to develop hydropower, road, construction and mining sectors in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan would help Afghanistan build a hydel power project on the River Kabul. Similarly, OGDCL, SSGC and SNGPL will provide assistance in oil and gas exploration and transmission.

The minister said issues pertaining to transit trade between the two countries under the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement would be resolved as early as possible. He said insurance guarantees would be further discussed to resolve the issue. He said both countries had agreed to establish a joint chamber of commerce and industry to identify areas for promoting bilateral trade and investment. Both sides have also agreed to establish display centres at Kabul and Karachi for the promotion of bilateral trade.

The Afghan minister said that the potential of enhancing trade between the two countries had unfortunately remained unutilised and the political will in this regard had not translated into tangible results.

The Afghan minister said there were many hurdles for Afghan transit goods from Pakistan and stressed their removal. He said investors from all over the world were coming to Afghanistan but Pakistani investors were reluctant due to misperceptions. He said Afghanistan would welcome Pakistani investment in road, construction and mineral sectors and Afganistan could be a bridge connecting South and Central Asian.

Hafeez Sheikh said that the meeting also reviewed progress on 29 projects being developed in Afghanistan under Pakistan’s $300 million assistance. He said both countries agreed to expedite the completion of the Torkham-Jalalabad highway within one year since 70 percent construction work has already been completed.

He said Pakistan has also asked Afghanistan to provide an encroachment free route to initiate the process for establishing the Chamman-Spinboldak-Kandhar railway line. He said setting up of the Liaquat Ali Khan Engineering faculty, Nishtar Kidney Centre, 2000 scholarships for Afghan students, CASA 1000 and TAPI pipeline were also discussed.

Afghan containers blockade issue to be resolved in 10 days

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday assured Afghanistan that it would resolve within 7-10 days the issue of 700 Afghan containers held up under the policy to block Nato supply routes. Both countries have also resolved to jack up the current trade volume of $2.5 billion to $5 billion by 2015.

Finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and his Afghan counterpart Hazrat Omar Zakhiwal said this at a press briefing after the end of a two-day joint economic commission (JEC) meeting.

Sources in the FBR told The News that Pakistan’s security agencies identified about 285 containers used by Nato forces in Afghanistan and took them into custody under the current policy of not letting NATO containers enter Afghanistan. However, Afghan authorities are insisting that the said containers do not belong to Nato forces but are commercial containers belonging to the Afghan business community.

According to these sources, the Frontier Constabulary has taken into custody 285 containers from the US, but the Kabul administration claims that these containers belong to Afghan businessmen and have nothing to do with Nato forces.

Hafeez Sheikh said Pakistan has offered Afghanistan machinery and equipment to develop hydropower, road, construction and mining sectors in Afghanistan. He said Pakistan would help Afghanistan build a hydel power project on the River Kabul. Similarly, OGDCL, SSGC and SNGPL will provide assistance in oil and gas exploration and transmission.

The minister said issues pertaining to transit trade between the two countries under the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement would be resolved as early as possible. He said insurance guarantees would be further discussed to resolve the issue. He said both countries had agreed to establish a joint chamber of commerce and industry to identify areas for promoting bilateral trade and investment. Both sides have also agreed to establish display centres at Kabul and Karachi for the promotion of bilateral trade.

The Afghan minister said that the potential of enhancing trade between the two countries had unfortunately remained unutilised and the political will in this regard had not translated into tangible results.

The Afghan minister said there were many hurdles for Afghan transit goods from Pakistan and stressed their removal. He said investors from all over the world were coming to Afghanistan but Pakistani investors were reluctant due to misperceptions. He said Afghanistan would welcome Pakistani investment in road, construction and mineral sectors and Afganistan could be a bridge connecting South and Central Asian.

Hafeez Sheikh said that the meeting also reviewed progress on 29 projects being developed in Afghanistan under Pakistan’s $300 million assistance. He said both countries agreed to expedite the completion of the Torkham-Jalalabad highway within one year since 70 percent construction work has already been completed.

He said Pakistan has also asked Afghanistan to provide an encroachment free route to initiate the process for establishing the Chamman-Spinboldak-Kandhar railway line. He said setting up of the Liaquat Ali Khan Engineering faculty, Nishtar Kidney Centre, 2000 scholarships for Afghan students, CASA 1000 and TAPI pipeline were also discussed.