Suicide bomber kills 9 rival insurgents in Afghanistan Sacramento Bee A suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint run by rival insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province Wednesday, killing nine of them, an Afghan official said. Mohammad Saleem Rohdi, chief of the Gareshk district, said six other militants from a ... |
Link:
Suicide bomber kills 9 rival insurgents in Afghanistan - Sacramento Bee
President Trump has given the Pentagon new authorityto decide the troop levels in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said Tuesday. The move could lead to a deployment of thousands more troops as commanders decide the way forward in the 15-year-old war.
The U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymityto talkcandidly, said the move is similar to the April decision that gave the Pentagon more authority to set troop levels in Iraq and Syria. The change, the Pentagon said, was so units could deploy at their proper strengthto better maintain unit cohesion.
With the new authority, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis could authorize deployment of additional troops to Afghanistan, something commanders on the ground have been requesting for months. Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and his direct superior, U.S. Central Command head Gen. Joseph Votel, have both made cases for sending a few thousand more troops. If sent, the forces would help the fledgling Afghan military regain portions of the country that have fallento the Taliban since U.S. forces ended their combat mission therein 2014.
The decision from the White House comes the same day Mattis told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee that we are not winning in Afghanistan. Mattis said the Taliban was surging throughout the country and that he planned to present lawmakers with a strategy for the United States longest-running war by mid-July.
Incensed, the chairman of the committee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said Congress couldnt pass a budget without a strategy.
We cant keep going like this, McCain said.We know what the strategy was for the last eight years: Dont lose. That hasnt worked.
When asked what winning looks like, Mattis replied that it would mean a long-term U.S. presence and Afghan security forces that were capable enough to controlviolence at local levels.
Its going to be an era of frequent skirmishing and its going to require a change in our approach from the last several years if were to get it to that position, Mattis said.
In the short term, Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., said additionalU.S. troops sent tothe country would provide morefire and air support to the Afghans.Airstrikes and artillery, they reasoned, would give the Afghan forces breathing room to build a more effective force.
In the first eight months of 2016, Afghan forces suffered 15,000 casualties, including more than 5,000 killed. Recruiting efforts have barely been able to keep the Afghan security forces from maintaining their current ranks, let alone growing to a size large and capable enough to project security in the country.
The Taliban had a good year last year, Mattis said.
With an air force that is in its infancy and corruption rampant in the ranks, some experts thinkit could take years for the Afghan forces to mature enough to lessenthe U.S. role in the country.
There are about 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and about5,000 additional NATO forces in the country. The U.S. contingent is split between conducting counterterrorism operations alongside Afghan commandos and providing assistance to the Afghan military.
More than 2,000 U.S. troopshave died there since the war began in 2001. Thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed, as well. More than 3,000 Afghan civilians were killed in 2016, making itthe deadliest year for civilians in the country since the U.N. mission there began tracking casualty numbers in 2009.
On Saturday, three U.S. soldiers were killed in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistans restive east where U.S. Special Operations forces are battling the Islamic States Afghan affiliate.
Read more:
Trump gives Pentagon authority to set troop levels in Afghanistan - Washington Post
Related Coverage
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) The discussion over the war in Afghanistan renewed after a North Carolina soldier, along with two others, were killed over the weekend in the Nangarhar Province.
Congressman Walter B. Jones of North Carolinas 3rd Congressional District is spearheading a bill to bring the debate back to the House floor. It is amove he says is long overdue.
Here we are, sworn by the Constitution to have the responsibility of debating to send our young men and women to die in war, and we dont do it, said Jones during a conversation about the bill.We have not had a debate on Afghanistan since 2001. Its 16 years later. Weve spent almost a trillion dollars. Two-thousand Americans have been killed, 20,000 wounded.
Jones sponsored Bill 1666, which works to bring the discussion to the floor. The support crosses party lines with both Democrats and Republicans co-sponsoring the bill. All agree resources are being wasted and lives are being lost without any real progress.
I dont think we have anything to show for it but wounded soldiers and Marines and dead soldiers and Marines, said Jones. We have no end to it.
At the end of April, Jones asked on record to move the bill forward but thats the latest action recorded on the measure.
Bill 1666 starts with an address from a military leader meant to illustrate the hopelessness of the situation in Afghanistan. Jones says its something he thinks decision makers should hear.
Simply put, the United States can not solve the Afghan problems, no matter how brave and determined our troops are, reads Jones.
Nearly 2,400 United States troops have been killed in the region to date during the War in Afghanistan. Of those men and women, 83 arefrom North Carolina.
WNCT-TV 9 On Your Side provides commenting to allow for constructive discussion on the stories we cover. In order to comment here, you acknowledge you have read and agreed to our Terms of Service. Commenters who violate these terms, including use of vulgar language or racial slurs, will be banned. Please be respectful of the opinions of others. If you see an inappropriate comment, please flag it for our moderators to review.
Read more from the original source:
NC Congressman Walter B. Jones wants debate on Afghanistan War - WNCT
They were sons and husbands, fathers and brothers. They were soldiers hailed as heroes and amazing young men, each a volunteer who chose an Army job that would place them on the front lines.
The bodies of Sgt. Eric M. Houck, Sgt. William M. Bays and Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge were returned to the United States late Monday after an Afghan soldier turned his gun on them in an apparent insider attack Saturday in eastern Afghanistans restive Nangarhar province, where they were assisting in the battle against Islamic State terrorists.
The sacred homecoming ceremony, known as a dignified transfer, in which the American flag-draped coffins carrying fallen servicemembers remains are returned to their families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was very emotional and very real, Houcks wife Samantha said Tuesday morning.
There arent a lot of words my baby is on home soil, but this, this isnt the way it was supposed to be, she said through tears. It is not the way I wanted it.
American and Afghan officials said an Afghan commando killed the three 101st Airborne Division soldiers while they were conducting an operation in the Peka Valley, where U.S. and Afghan forces have been battling ISIS for months. The Taliban has claimed one of their insurgents infiltrated the Afghan military in order to kill foreign servicemembers, though the Pentagon has not confirmed those details, citing an investigation into the incident.
Their deaths come as the United States weighs its future in Afghanistan, where after nearly 16 years of war the longest in American history top Pentagon officials characterize it as a stalemate with the Taliban
We are not winning in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday morning when he was pressured by the committees chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., about the wars future.
The sacrifice of these heroes is a painful reminder that America is still an nation at war, McCain said. That is true in Afghanistan where after 15 years of war we face a stalemate and urgently need a change in strategy and an increase in resources if we are to turn the situation around.
Mattis said the new plan, which could include a recommendation to deploy up to 5,000 more troops, would be unveiled by mid-July. He said the United States was already taking actions to ensure the situation did not further deteriorate and he recognized the need for urgency in developing a new plan.
Since the United States began combat operations in Afghanistan in 2001, more than 2,300 Americans have been killed. Another 17,000-plus have been wounded in action.
This year, including the three killed Saturday, six American troops have been killed in Afghanistan all in Nangarhar province in the fight against ISIS.
Houck, Bays and Baldridge deployed with about 1,400 other soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in the fall. Each one was due to return home by August.
Bays, 29, and Baldridge, 22, were infantrymen. They were squad leaders with the 3rd Brigades Company D, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. Houck, 25, was a forward observer, an artilleryman charged with guiding artillery and mortar fire from the front lines. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment.
Samantha Houck said the couple met when they were just children in the Baltimore suburb of Nottingham, Maryland. They spent afternoons together beginning in their early teenage years roaming their neighborhood. Sometimes they would play sports with friends. Sometimes they would just talk just the two of them.
I always knew, even then, he was the one, Houck said. I always knew.
He meant everything to me. He is the best person. Theres not a word to describe what he meant to me. Everything. He meant everything.
Houck joined the Army in 2013 and quickly rose in rank to sergeant. Serving in the Army and deploying were goals of his, his wife said.
I wanted him to follow his dreams, Houck said. I supported him in anything he would do. Anything.
She wants their children, 5-year-old Erick Jr. and 3-year-old Violet, to remember their father as loving and doting.
He did everything he could for them. Everything it took for them, Houck said. They were his world. Every time we talked [while he was deployed] he let them know how much he loved them.
Like Houck, Bays leaves behind a wife and children. Bays of Barstow in California joined the Army in 2009, according to a Fort Campbell statement. He had served a previous deployment to Afghanistan.
Bays wife Jasmin called the soldier the love of my life and our girls daddy in a public Facebook post.
True love, you only find once in life, and I am lucky because I found William, the most loving, kind, amazing man and best daddy you can wish for your kids, she wrote. The one you cant imagine to live without. My better half, my soulmate. My best friend. The one whom my soul loves.
The couple had three daughters, according to Jasmin Bays Facebook profile.
Baldridge of Youngsville, North Carolina, joined the Army in February 2013 and was serving his first deployment, according to the Fort Campbell statement.
In a post on her Facebook page, Baldridges mother, Tina Palmer, wrote Baldridge was an amazing man who was smart, compassionate and probably the funniest person I know.
He was such a good person. Everyone who knew him, loved him, Palmer wrote. He was everything a mom hopes and prays their child will be.
Baldridge graduated from Franklinton High School in 2012 and quickly entered the service.
He made an early commitment to the military during his high school career and maintained focus and selfless dedication after graduation, Russell Holloman, the schools principal said in a statement. Our community has truly lost a hero.
Baldridge was promoted to sergeant posthumously.
All three fallen soldiers were posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart. Bays and Baldridge were also awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and Houck was awarded the Combat Action Badge.
Friends and family members have set up GoFundMe pages to support the families of Baldridge and Houck.
I want to thank everyone who has supported us through all this, Samantha Houck said Tuesday. I want to send my condolences to the other affected families. And I want people to know that my husband was truly one of a kind. He was one in a million.
2017 the Stars and Stripes.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The rest is here:
Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Return To US In 'Very Emotional' Ceremony - Task & Purpose
WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): Alleging that ISI has been using Pakistani soil to plan terror attacks in Afghanistan, the newly formed World Muhajir Congress (WMC) in a letter to President Ashraf Ghani has extended its full support in his fight against terrorism.
It is now a well-established fact that Pakistani soil is being used for terrorist attacks not only in Afghanistan but also in other countries, the World Muhajir Congress said in a letter to Ghani.
Reports from all major news organizations and think tanks suggest that Haqqani network, factions of Taliban, ISIS and Al Qaeda are all operating from save havens in Pakistan under the protection of Pakistani Army and its notorious intelligence agency, ISI, it alleged.
Representing the Muhajir cause at international level, the Congress in its letter dated June 11 strongly condemns the recent suicide attacks in Kabul which have killed and injured hundreds of innocent Afghan civilians.
We can feel the pain of our Afghan brothers as thousands of Muhajirs have also lost their lives in the war against terrorism. We stand against ruthless terrorism being inflicted on our Afghan brothers and sisters in the name of religion by killers operating from Pakistani soil, it said.
It is evident that Pakistani military establishment and ISI do not see Afghanistan as a respectable neighboring country. Instead, they see it in the context of regional security and use their sponsored terrorist outfits as proxies to increase their strategic depth against India. World Muhajir Congress strongly condemns such policies, the letter said.
Noting that the Afghan government has been bravely fighting the menace of Taliban for more than two decades, the letter said with the emergence of murderous outfit ISIS, the region is now faced with another serious security threat.
The footprint of ISIS in recent times has extended from the Middle East and Afghanistan to the port city of Pakistan, Karachi, where secular and liberal Muhajirs are in majority who support liberal MQM political party, it said.
The letter alleged that under the blatant and unashamed patronage of Pakistan Army and ISI, religious and sectarian terrorist outfits are making Karachi as their operational hub.
This is an alarming trend and World Muhajir Congress will continue to highlight this serious issue at every appropriate international forum. Muhajir Nation and their sole political representative party have been the major obstacle in ISIs plans to handover port city of Karachi to religious terrorist outfits and this is the reason for Armys continued crackdown in Karachi against Muhajirs and their elected political party, wrote the World Muhajir Congress.
Read more:
ISI supports terrorism in Afghanistan: Muhajir Congress - Pajhwok Afghan News (subscription) (blog)