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Afghanistan

Explosion rocks Herat city, 2 dead, 4 wounded

2016-07-31

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A relatively heavy kaboom was heard in Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... city earlier today leaving at least 6 people dead or maimed. Provincial police front man Abdul Rauf Ahmadi confirmed two people including a policeman were killed and four others were maimed. Earlier a security official said the incident left one person dead and four others were maimed. The blast took place in the north of the city near a compound of the Afghan army. No group including the Talibs has so far grabbed credit behind the incident.

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Afghanistan

Woman shot to death in Herat

2016-05-09

A woman was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Herat province in west of Afghanistan, local official said Sunday. Provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said the woman who was believed to be her 50s was shot dead in Herat city. He said unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on the women in the 4th police district of the city late on Saturday afternoon. Ahmadi further added that the assailants managed to flee the area and a search operation is underway to detain the perpetrators. The main motive behind the murder of the woman is not clear so far but the local officials have said at least 11 target killings have taken place in Herat in the past 2 months. The Chief Prosecutor of the Appellate Court of Herat Samiuddin Raheen was also shot dead by unknown gunmen near his residence in Herat last week. Meanwhile, the local residents are concerned regarding the growing criminal activities in the city, specifically the target killings and kidnappings. According to a reports, an Iranian national was also kidnapped from the vicinity of Herat on Saturday.

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Afghanistan

Police rescue 17 civilians kidnapped by Taliban in Herat province

2016-04-10

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] At least 17 people kidnapped by Talibs have been rescued by police forces in western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province of Afghanistan. According to the local security officials, the Talibs kidnapped the civilians from Zindjan district of Herat as they were on their way for weekend break. Provincial police front man Abdul Rauf Ahmadi confirmed that the civilians were kidnapped around 2 pm local time but they were rescued during an operation that lasted until 6 pm. Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... reports suggest a member of the police was also among those kidnapped by the myrmidons. According to Ahmadi, two suspected bandidos forces of Evil have also been tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! during the operations for the freedom of the hostages. He said the suspects are custody of the security forces and an investigation is underway. The anti-government armed myrmidon groups including the Taliban forces of Evil have not commented regarding the report so far. Herat is among the relatively volatile provinces in western Afghanistan where anti-government armed myrmidon groups are active in a number of its remote districts who are often carrying out insurgency activities.

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Afghanistan

Clash among the supporters of Taliban chief and Mullah Rasool leaves 24 dead

2015-12-08

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Heavy festivities have been reported among the top Taliban leaders in western Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... province of Afghanistan. According to a security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, festivities erupted among the supporters of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and another Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Rasool. The official further added that festivities started around 5:00 am local time in Shindand district and heavy gun fire still continue between the supporters of two sides. He said the Taliban shadow district governor appointed by Mullah Mansoor was killed during the clash. Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, the pilot and the copilot had both hit the silk. Jack! Cynthia exclaimed. Do you know how to drive one of these things? Jack wiped some of the blood from his knuckles. No, he said. Do you?... provincial police front man Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said at least 24 Talibs were reported killed during the deadly shootout. The festivities between the supporters of top Taliban leaders comes amid reports regarding the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor who was injured in a shootout in Quetta city of Pakistain. There are no reports regarding the casualties as a result of the festivities and the Taliban group yet to comment regarding the incident. Mullah Rasool is a senior Taliban capo belonging to the faction of the Taliban group opposing with the appointment of Mullah Mansoor as Taliban supreme leader.

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Afghanistan

Roadside bomb kills six Afghan policemen

2015-07-19

[DAWN] A roadside kaboom killed six coppers in western Afghanistan on Saturday, as they were patrolling on the first day of the Moslem holiday of Eidul Fitr, officials said. The bomb tore through a police vehicle in Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... , a relatively peaceful province, provincial police front man Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told AFP. "A mine planted by the turbans hit a police vehicle in Guzara district yesterday morning, leaving six coppers dead and three more maimed," Ahmadi said.

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Afghanistan

Taliban kill six de-miners in western Afghanistan

2014-07-11

[Dhaka Tribune] The Taliban shot and killed six people working for a demining company in western Afghanistan, police said yesterday, a day after the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... said the number of civilian casualties in the country jumped by a quarter in the first half of 2014. "The Taliban killed six de-miners from the Halo Trust landmine clearance organization while they were on an operation in Kohsan district of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... . They kidnapped three people," said Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, a front man for the provincial police chief. "The de-miners started their trip very early in the morning and hadn't informed the police," Ahmadi said, adding that a manhunt was under way to rescue the three kidnapped workers. The United Nations has documented 4,853 civilian casualties in Afghanistan, including 1,564 civilian deaths and 3,289 injuries, in the period between Jan. 1 to June 30. In southern Zabul province, four coppers were killed by three of their colleagues overnight. The rogue coppers have since defected to the Taliban with guns and a police vehicle. "The incident took place in Jaldak district of Zabul. An investigation is under way," Zabul deputy governor, Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, told Rooters.

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Afghanistan

Attacks leave 17 civilians dead in Afghanistan

2013-08-18

[Dawn] At least 17 civilians have been killed in multiple attacks in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday, underscoring increasing insecurity for ordinary people as foreign forces complete their withdrawal next year. An bad boy attack on a road construction workers' camp in Karukh district in the western province of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... left nine workers dead overnight. "The Taliban attacked their camp along the Herat-Badghis road while they were asleep last," Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, provincial police front man, told AFP. The workers were employed by a government-owned road construction company, he said. A provincial governor front man confirmed the deaths, blaming "enemies of Afghanistan", a term used to refer to the Taliban. A roadside kaboom also killed five civilians, including women and kiddies, and maimed three others in the southern province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province on Saturday morning. "A van hit a roadside kaboom in the Marjah district of Helmand killing five civilians and wounding three," Omar Zwak, the Helmand governor's front man, told AFP. They were on their way to Lashkar Gah, the scenic provincial capital, for shopping, he said. Also in Helmand, an IED (improvised bomb) killed three women in Musa Qala district on Friday, a police front man said. IEDs are the Taliban's weapon of choice in their battle against the US-backed government and foreign forces, but they often kill and wound civilians. According to recent United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... report, civilian casualties in the Afghan war rose 23 per cent in the first half of this year due to Taliban attacks and increased fighting between hard boyz and government forces. The increase reversed a decline in 2012 and raised questions about how Afghan troops can protect civilians as US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... soldiers withdraw from the 12-year war.

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Afghanistan

Ten Afghans killed in Taliban ambush on Nato convoy

2011-11-25

[Dawn] At least 10 Afghan security guards were killed Thursday when Talibs ambushed a logistics convoy destined for US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... forces in western Afghanistan, a local official said. The guards were securing the convoy when they came under attack in Bakwa district of Farah province, on the main highway connecting the west to the volatile south, said Naqibullah Farahi, a front man for the provincial governor. "Ten security guards have been killed and seven others injured in the Taliban ambush," Farahi said, adding that the Death Eaters also torched nine trucks carrying the supplies for foreign troops. A front man for Afghan police in the west of the country, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, said police were immediately deployed to the area to hunt down the attackers. Taliban frequently attack convoys supplying NATO troops in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistain, as part of their 10-year insurgency against the western-backed Kabul government since US troops toppled their regime in 2001. There are around 140,000 US-led NATO forces in war-torn Afghanistan with foreign combat troops scheduled to withdraw by the end of 2014. Between now and then, a gradual handover is due to take place of provinces and districts currently under the control of foreign troops to their Afghan counterparts. The beturbanned goons, leaders of the bloody insurgency, were not immediately contactable for comment about the incident by telephone. But a statement on their website claimed that 24 security personnel were killed and six fuel tankers set on fire in the incident, while a number of weapons were also seized. The Taliban are known routinely to exaggerate and distort their claims in relation to attacks. Earlier this week, Afghan elders at a loya jirga in Kabul called for a "revision" of efforts to talk peace with the Taliban after September's liquidation of peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... But it said that the door should be kept open to those who wish to turn their backs on violence, whose addresses are known and who have Afghan citizenship. Western Afghanistan, close to the border with Iran, has traditionally been seen as more stable and more liberal than other parts of the country, such as the volatile southeast and east. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... it is still plagued by outbursts of violence in pockets where the Taliban are still influential.

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Afghanistan

Ismail Khan Survives Suicide Boomer

2009-09-28

[Quqnoos] A suicide bomber hit the vehicle of Minister Ismael Khan in western Herat province on Sunday, killing four civilians Afghan Minister of Energy and Water, Mohammad Ismael Khan, has survived the attempt on his life. "At least four civilians around were killed and 17 more, some of them students, were wounded," a police spokesman, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said. The incident took place in the western Heart city this morning as the minister was driving to the airport to leave his hometown for the capital, Kabul, officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack. The four dead included a woman and a child, according to an official. The explosion in Heart occurred outside a school. Minister Ismael Khan landed in Kabul an hour after the incident and expressed his concerns over a worsened security situation in the relatively stable western Afghan province.

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Afghanistan

12 Taliban killed in Afghanistan

2009-06-01

Troops killed 12 Taliban linked to a battle with US troops earlier this month, officials said, while Afghan presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah said he will revise Afghanistan's constitution to install a prime minister and boost the powers of parliament if he wins elections in August. Afghan and US forces late on Saturday raided a group of Taliban said to have gathered to plan an attack in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Farah, Farah Deputy Governor Mohammad Younus Rasoli said. "Afghan soldiers and US Special Forces surrounded them to arrest them. The Taliban fought back but all of the 12, including their commander, were killed," Rasoli said. The Afghan government said 140 civilians, many of them children, were killed in the US airstrikes. The US military acknowledged that 20 to 30 civilians might have died in the fighting along with 60 to 65 Taliban. A spokesman for the Afghan military in western Afghanistan, Basir Khan Ghori, said the targeted group was involved in the battle in Bala Buluk. Government figures for those killed and wounded in the Bala Buluk strikes makes it one of the deadliest incidents for civilians since international troops invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 to remove the Taliban for sheltering Al Qaeda. Rasoli said troops would continue operating to secure the area ahead of the August 20 elections. Meanwhile, in Bala Buluk, the Taliban attacked a police post and killed six policemen, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the western police told AFP. Two others were missing and there were also Taliban casualties but authorities did not have a figure, Ahmadi said. Meanwhile, Abdullah, who was running against President Hamid Karzai in next month's elections, said the political system was ripe for a complete overhaul. His position as clear frontrunner before the August 20 vote was further boosted on Sunday when two key opposition groups pledged to back him. The current system concentrated power in the office of the president, and because parliament was relatively weak, there were few avenues to challenge corrupt or incompetent officials, he told Reuters in an interview. "The highly centralised system is not accountable to the people ... so what we are opting and hoping for is to change the constitution and go for a parliamentary system," Abdullah said. Asked if this meant he would endorse the creation of a prime minister if he won the presidency, Abdullah said, "Yes...a prime ministerial system." "The people are stuck with governors who are being moved from one province to another when they fail and then to the next and finally if there are no more excuses to keep them as governors, they will be promoted as minister-advisers," he added. US authorities have urged Karzai to create a new executive post to help improve day-to-day governance in Afghanistan, but the president "has made no decision on it", his chief spokesman Humayoun Hamidzada said earlier this month. Defections have left the opposition in disarray as the election, once seen as wide-open, approaches. US criticism of Karzai's government also appears to have been muted and Karzai was now clearly ahead. But Abdullah, who was the Afghan foreign minister from 2001 to 2004, and was running on an independent ticket, dismissed rumours that he would also pull out of the race to endorse Karzai.

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Afghanistan

30 Pakistani, Chechen Taliban killed in Afghanistan

2009-05-07

At least 25-30 Pakistani and Chechen Taliban were among those killed in the US-led airstrikes in Farah province on Monday, western Afghanistan Police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said on Wednesday. Teams from the Afghan government, international forces and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would travel to the area to investigate, he added. Meanwhile, western Farah Province Governor Rohul Amin said he feared that 100 civilians had been killed. Provincial Police chief Abdul Ghafar Watandar said the death toll could be even higher. If confirmed, those even higher figures could make the incident the single deadliest for Afghan civilians since the campaign to topple the Taliban started in 2001. President Hamid Karzai sent a joint US-Afghan delegation to investigate the incident, his office said. Provincial Police Chief Watandar said Taliban guerrillas had used civilians as shields, herding them into houses in the villages of Geraani and Ganj Abad, that were then struck by US-led coalition warplanes. The airstrikes killed about 120 civilians and destroyed 17 houses, he said.

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Afghanistan

Suicide bombers kill 12 people in attack on police station in Afghanistan

2009-03-17

Two suicide bombers attacked police stations in southern Afghanistan Monday, killing 10 Afghan policemen and two civilians and underlining the growing threat from a Taliban-led insurgency. The attacks, which also wounded around 30 people, followed a deadly weekend in which nine US and European soldiers were killed along with several civilians and fighters in Afghanistan's spiraling wave of extremist violence. The most deadly was outside the provincial police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the turbulent, opium-producing province of Helmand, with the attacker disguised as a policeman in uniform. "Eleven people, nine of them policemen and two of them civilians, were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Lashkar Gah," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Twenty-eight others, also mostly policemen, were wounded, the statement said. The provincial health department gave a similar toll. A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, said a member of his militia had carried out the attack and killed 47 policemen - a clear exaggeration. About 17,000 US troops are expected to start deploying to the south in the coming months to reinforce troops under pressure in the area, where several districts have fallen under control of insurgents allied with drug lords. The deputy provincial police chief, who is named only Kamalludin, was at the scene when the bomb exploded but survived unharmed. "I had just arrived with a five-vehicle police convoy. A man wearing police uniform walked towards us and exploded. Two of my bodyguards were also killed," he said. A policeman at the scene said the bomber had walked towards the just-parked convoy and detonated his explosives. "There is blood and human flesh all over where I'm standing right now," he added on condition of anonymity. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack in statement that said targeting police showed that the insurgents were afraid of the growing force. The European Union, which is training the police, said it was "appalled." Helmand is one of the most intense battlefields in the international fight against the extremist Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, and their allies in the Al-Qaeda network. Monday's other suicide attack was at the police headquarters in the turbulent Delaram district of southwestern Farah Province, police said. A suicide bomber killed a policeman outside the building with a hand grenade then grabbed the dead man's weapon and ran into the compound, said the police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Abdel-Rauf Ahmadi. Officers fired at the attacker and bombs strapped to his body exploded, he said. Two shopkeepers were wounded. Suicide attacks have been trademarks of the Taliban in the years following the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the repressive Islamist movement from government. The Taliban on Sunday claimed a blast that killed four US soldiers in the eastern province of Nangarhar hours before two British troops were killed in a blast in Helmand. Three other troops - French, German and British - died in various incidents on Saturday. The spike in violence comes amid growing international alarm about how to counter the unrest in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

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