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Australia will increase by 30 its troop numbers in Afghanistan, taking to 300 the number of defence personnel in training and advisory roles.

Defence Minister Marise Payne announced the "modest increase" during a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Monday.

"Given the centrality of Afghanistan in the global fight against terrorism, an enhanced Australian contribution to the resolute support mission is both timely and appropriate," she said.

Some members of the Australian contingent are mentoring at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy in Kabul.

NATO, in a request to Canberra, did not nominate a specific number, Senator Payne said.

Australian Defence force chief Mark Binskin said all coalition countries were asked to re-examine their contributions.

The Trump administration is still weighing up whether to increase US troop numbers in Afghanistan.

Earlier in the year, US General John Nicholson described the security situation in Afghanistan as a "strategic stalemate" and called for about 5200 more foreign troops for training and mentoring of local security forces.

"While there have been some expected setbacks in the security situation since 2015, the Afghan security institutions continue to demonstrate resilience in the face of a challenging security environment," Senator Payne said.

Australia is expected to maintain its military support in Afghanistan until at least June 2018.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said it was important Afghanistan did not become a safe haven for terrorists intent on destroying western democracies.

"We've made a commitment in blood and the lives of people and we've got to see this commitment through," he told ABC Radio.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, a former senior intelligence analyst turned whistleblower, said the war in Afghanistan was lost long ago.

"Australia really should get out of the place and let it find its natural political level," he said.

"Sending more troops there just throws more fuel on the fire."

Australia first sent troops to Afghanistan in November 2001, following the September 11 attacks in the US.

The combat mission wrapped up in 2014 with an Australian death toll of 42.

AAP 2017

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Australia commits 30 more troops to Afghanistan - 9news.com.au

PESHAWAR: A relative of ex-prime minister of Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Haji Fareed, was shot dead in Pishtakhara area of Peshawar in the early hours of Tuesday.

According to the police, Fareed was coming out of a mosque in Tajabad area in Pishtakhara when unidentified persons opened fire, killing him on the spot.

Fareed, who has also served as the secretary of Hekmatyar, had recently returned from Afghanistan. He was related to Hekmatyar by law as him daughter was married to the latters son.

Afghan scholars in Peshawar have been targeted in the past as well.

According to an Afghan news agency, Pajhwok, three scholars were killed in 2016 by unidentified person in Peshawar.

The triple murder had taken place after Fridays prayers, an Afghan refugee, Azizullah, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Unidentified gunmen had opened fire at a seminary in the area, killing the madrasa head, Maulvi Ghulam Hazrat, his father and another scholar, Sheikh Ilyas.

Azizullah said the religious scholars were residents of Pachiragam district of eastern Nangarhar province, who had been living in Peshawar for the last three decades.

A man, who wished to go unnamed, said the slain scholars belonged to Pir Saif-ur-Rahman religious group in Bara area of Peshawar where the group has been engaged in a bloody rivalry with another group over the past several years.

Original post:
Relative of Afghanistan's ex-PM killed in Peshawar - Geo News, Pakistan

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.

The first American war casualty in Afghanistan was Alabama native Mike Spann. Spann, from Winfield, was murdered by the Taliban in 2001.

His daughter, Alison Spann, spoke at Tuscaloosa's Memorial Day program Monday.

This Memorial Day, she urged the crowd to remember the families of fallen soldiers.

Alison Spann currently works with two scholarship programs, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation and the CIA Memorial Scholarship Foundation, ensuring the children of fallen servicemen and servicewomen receive good educations.

"It's really hard when a father or mother dies and leaves the other parent alone with three, four, even one kid to provide the basic essentials like education. So those specific projects are really close to my heart because I want to make sure all of those families are provided for," she told ABC 33/40 News.

Alison Spann said her father's legacy was putting God, family, and country first. He also always wanted to help others. She said he was passionate about freeing the people of Afghanistan from Taliban rule.

See the article here:
Daughter of Afghanistan war hero speaks in Tuscaloosa | WBMA - Alabama's News Leader

HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: The war in Afghanistan is now the longest in American history. Its been almost 17 years since the United States invaded in retaliation for the September 11th terrorist attacks carried out by al Qaeda, the terrorist group harbored at the time by the Taliban-led government.

To date, 2,396 American military personnel, along with 1,136 coalition soldiers have died in the war. So have an estimated 170- thousand fighters and civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Now, with the Taliban having regained control of 40 percent of the country, the Trump administration is contemplating a surge of 5,000 U.S. troops to add to the more than 8,000 still there.

Joining me here to discuss this is Barnett Rubin, associate director of New York Universitys Center on International Cooperation. He previously worked in the Obama State Department.

Thanks for joining us.

So, how do we get there? Why are we still 17 years out and were talking about our adversary controlling 40 percent of the country?

BARNETT RUBIN, NEW YORK UNIVERSITYS CENTER ON INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: We never really defined what we were trying to accomplish. We had a long list of goals which were capturing and killing terrorists, and we were never exactly what are the boundary around that category was and trying to stabilize Afghanistan. Those two missions got in their way. We were distracted by Iraq. We never really had an adequate understanding of what the problem was, and we did not pay attention to the region around Afghanistan which has changed very radically in the 16 years or so that we have been there.

SREENIVASAN: It seems like theres almost sort of two goals now that are countering each other. I mean, you can either stabilize the country or you can root out the terrorists.

RUBIN: You can have a permanent U.S. military presence there to try to strike at terrorists and other enemies and so on in the region or you can try and stabilize the country, because the country cannot be stabilized with a permanent presence of U.S. troops because most of the countries of the region dont want us there and they let us know that by supporting the Taliban.

SREENIVASAN: What did the Obama administration get wrong?

RUBIN: Well, of course I was there. I would I would, in my opinion, the big mistakes were, one, when Obama announced a troop surge, he should not have given a date for withdrawing it. And two, when he announced the troop surge, that was the time when he should have made very far-reaching offers of a negotiated settlement. Unfortunately, our military and many others in the government believe that you shouldnt make any offers of negotiated settlement until you have already succeeded militarily. But that is too late. You have to do it when you are when your capacities are increasing.

And Im afraid they are about to make the same mistake now. Theyre going to they want to add administer troops and then they say once when they are stronger, they will make some they will make some kind of offer of negotiation.

SREENIVASAN: Wouldnt the 5,000 troops make a difference?

RUBIN: Of course, 5,000 troops will make some difference, but they will make only a marginal difference. They might stop the erosion of the stalemate as it is now as if you say, these estimates are all very dubious, but lets say the Taliban control approximately 40 percent of the population. Well, maybe with 5,000 troops, we could get that down to 30 percent or 25 percent. That would not be decisive in any way.

And then, of course, our troops are not going to be there forever. No matter how many times we tell people that were committed, everyone knows that we are not going to be in Afghanistan longer than the Afghans. So, they can wait us out.

So, there is no alternative to working towards a political settlement not just with the Taliban but with the countries of the region now, immediately.

SREENIVASAN: We have been talking about policy, what about the people in the ground that are somehow living through this? I mean, this kind of seesaw between a local or provincial government control and then back and forth to the Taliban control?

RUBIN: From the point of view of the people in Afghanistan, this war has been going on for almost 40 years, since there was a coup detat in 1978. And you gave numbers about the numbers of people who have been killed and injured again, thats the last 16 years. People believe a million or more people may have been killed over the last 40 years, including the period of the Soviet intervention. So, this has really its been a terrible agony that the people of Afghanistan have gone through for a long time. Of course, they have become very resilient and those of them who arent killed, find ways of adapting but its becoming more and more difficult for them.

SREENIVASAN: All right. Barnett Rubin, associate director of New York Universitys Center on International Cooperation thanks for joining us.

RUBIN: Thank you.

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Trump considering sending more troops to Afghanistan | PBS ... - PBS NewsHour

U.S President Donald Trump made the remarks when addressing families of American soldiers who lost thier lives in Afghanistan.

The U.S President Donald Trump paid tribute to America's fallen troops at Arlington National Cemetery on America's Memorial Day on Monday and said the U.S forces are fighting the enemies of civilization in Afghanistan".

During the ceremony, Trump told the stories of two soldiers who died in Afghanistan. One of them, Andrew Byers, died protecting an Afghan soldier and U.S troops after running through a "hail of bullets" to rescue them.

"Robert died fighting the enemies of all civilizations in Afghanistan. To John, Karen, Heather, Tate, Andrea and the entire Kelly family, today 300 million American hearts are joined together with yours. We grieve with you, we honour you, and we pledge to you, we will always remember Robert and what he did for all of us. Thank you John, he said.

Following the ceremony, Trump talked with various family members.

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US Troops Fighting Enemies of Civilization In Afghanistan: Trump - TOLOnews