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June 29, 2017 Kabul, AfghanistanOn a warm Thursday morning last August, a very odd group of people gathered outside the Abu Fazal mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan. The mosque was the site of a horrific attack in December 2011 that left more than 80 dead. The unlikely group in August included Afghan children younger than 14, two older Afghan men, and a slightly older US man with long curly hair, a golf cap, and a guitar. Much to the surprise of the onlookers outside the mosque, the group broke into a song.

A little loud and a little out of sync with each other, the young members of the Miraculous Love Kids and their American teacher, Lanny Cordola, were performing the song Dont Panic by the British rock band Coldplay. Not that anyone present in their audience of older Afghan gentlemen and a few women knew what it was until a few children sang part of the lyrics in Dari, one of Afghanistans national languages. As the youths sang We live in a beautiful world in the local language, the initially suspicious crowd warmed toward them. Within no time, a small congregation had formed around them, smiling and cheering for the children.

Mr. Cordola, a rock musician, moved to Kabul in early 2016. Before that he had toured with well-known names in music such as Gilby Clarke from Guns N Roses, and he had appeared in a couple of episodes of the ABC comedy Full House as a musician. But everything changed when he learned about two attacks in Afghanistan.

I saw this photo on the news of a young girl in green crying, surrounded by dead bodies. It really moved me, Mr. Cordola says. But when I read about these two sisters ... who were killed in another attack while working on the streets selling scarves, I knew I had to do something.

Cordola hoped that his music could bring healing to child survivors of the frequent attacks and at the outset, he specifically wanted to help the family that lost the two daughters. On one of my visits to their house, I brought my guitar along, and one of the [other] daughters Mursal asked to play it, he narrates. I taught her a few moves, and seemed to make her very happy.

His mission became clear: Thats when I thought, Why not do this teach music? he shares. His venture has been largely self-funded.

In particular, he wanted to work with street children. So Cordola and his Afghan associate, Jamshid Bik, drove around parts of Kabul to talk to such youngsters. They were a bit distrusting at first, so we told them to bring their fathers, uncles, and brothers along anyone who made them feel safer, he recalls. After they started coming regularly, the word got out, and next thing we know we had a large classroom.

Today more than 60 children participate, the classes taking place in a large apartment rented by Cordola in central Kabul. Parents rarely accompany the children now, although he adds with a chuckle, Some of the mothers and fathers have also picked up the guitar and sat for a lesson or two.

A key factor in families acceptance of the music lessons is the fact that they provide stability and a routine. And in addition to music, Cordola and his team of volunteers teach the children English and other subjects. Jamshid also teaches them the Quran, which also encourages parents to send their kids to us, Cordola notes.

Working with Mr. Lanny has been a very fulfilling experience, says Mr. Bik, Cordolas interpreter and colleague. I am going to be here for as long as God wills me to be here.

Of course, the undertaking hasnt been without risks. As an American in a postconflict and conservative country, Cordola has to be mindful of the security situation and local values. Ive heard some stories that people werent happy with what we were doing, although I havent faced any direct threats, he says.

Playing U2

Most of the songs that Cordola picks for the children are in English, and he has some verses translated into Dari. He chooses songs that he feels the youths can relate to.

Take the U2 song Pride (In the Name of Love), which is about Martin Luther King Jr. I used that song to explain to them about civil rights, he says, noting pragmatically, I dont assume they retain a lot of what I tell them, but it is a lot of seeds being planted.

We pick songs that speak to the universal human condition, which they have experienced at a harsh level, Cordola elaborates. But the youths, he admits, usually prefer the noisier songs.

Indeed, a recent class has a lot of high-pitched singing. The children, mostly girls, are thrilled to have guests and demonstrate some of their best moves on the guitar. Thirteen-year-old Mursal, the girl who lost two sisters in an attack, takes control of the crowd, shouting over the din, Give me a D minor! Soon, all the youngsters organize themselves and are following Mursals lead. (Many Afghans go only by a first name.)

I love coming here. Mr. Lanny is my qahramaan, she says at the end of the class, using the Dari word for hero.

For Mursal and her friend Breshna, these classes are more than just an extracurricular activity; they are a way to leave behind the evils and misery of their daily lives. My father is a drug addict, and a few months ago, he abandoned us, Mursal confides. We dont know where he is, but my mother is a strong woman; she is a policewoman. She provides for my four siblings and myself, she adds with pride.

Both girls plan to finish school and go to the United States for further studies. Mursal wants to be a music teacher like Cordola. And Breshna says, I no longer sell scarves on the streets. I play guitar, study English here on the weekends, and I go to a school on weekdays.

The girl in green

Still, a few children have dropped out of Cordolas classes because of family pressure. Its a constant struggle, he says with a small sigh. But he is sure he can turn things around and recalls an incident with one of his first students, Tarana the girl in green in the photo, a picture taken right after the attack at the Abu Fazal mosque.

Although Tarana started attending Cordolas classes, her father didnt approve and wanted to put a stop to it. Cordola invited him over for a chat. Her father came to one of our classes, sat through the session, and even picked [up] the guitar and inspected it, Cordola recalls. Convinced that this could be a positive change for his daughter, who spent a few hours every day selling trinkets on the streets, he agreed to let her attend. Today Tarana, age 14, leads some of the classes for the younger children.

Cordola often collaborates with local artists to give the children exposure to a variety of local art and music. Weve conducted classes with Ramika Khabiri, one of Afghanistans first female rap artists, he notes. Theyve also teamed up with ArtLords, a peace organization working on cultural development in Afghanistan.

I first met Lanny and his kids during one of their practices, and I could see the impact the music had on those children, says Omaid Sharifi, cofounder of ArtLords. The organization collaborated with Cordola to paint a mural of Mursal holding a guitar at the very location where she lost her sisters.

What Lanny is doing giving these children a safe place to grow and heal through music is innovative and effective, Mr. Sharifi says.

The deteriorating security situation does not deter Cordola. In fact, it pushes him to work harder. There are terrible things happening, but we elect how we respond. I choose to respond with hope, he says. Unlike most foreigners working in Kabul, Cordola has no exit plans, even after the bombing May 31 that killed at least 150.

I will only leave if I feel that my presence could adversely affect the kids, he says. Till then, I will live my life like a great song.

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From 'Full House' to Afghanistan: an American teaches street ... - Christian Science Monitor

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to discuss timeframes for the mission in Afghanistan after meeting with defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday over the future of America's longest war.

"I don't put timelines on wars, it's that simple," Mattis told reporters. "War is a fundamentally unpredictabe phenomenon, and every effort to create a pat answer to something like that is probably going to fail."

Mattis is using his time in Brussels to discuss NATO commitments for the fight in Afghanistan as he prepares a plan for the next phase of the war. He'll also use information gathered from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, who visited Afghanistan this week.

On Thursday, Mattis was asked to respond to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats' testimony before lawmakers last month, in which he said the situation in Afghanistan "will almost certainly deteriorate" through 2018.

Coats told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that the deterioration will continue "even with a modest increase in military assistance by the United States and its partners."

Mattis said of the comments "They're entitled to their assessment," adding that it's more important to ask what would happen if the U.S. pulled its troops from the country.

"You can't say, 'well I got tired of it so I'm going to come home' and wonder why you get hit again. We've all seen the results of leaving ungoverned areas. What is the price of not fighting this war, and in this case we're not willing to pay that price."

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Jim Mattis on Afghanistan: 'I don't put timelines on wars' - Washington Examiner

CFB TRENTON, Ont. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwallwill start the second day of their royal tour atCFB Trenton in eastern Ontario, where the couplewill meet members of the military and honour soldiers who lost their livesin Afghanistan.

Prince Charlesis also expected towatch asearch and rescuedemonstrationand visit military families while the Duchess of Cornwall will meet with aregiment the Queen's Own Rifles.

The couple will also attend a commemoration service and participate in a wreath laying at the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial near the base.

Between 2001 and 2014, 158 members of the Canadian Armed Forces lost their lives in Afghanistan.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston alsoannounced this morning that the Prince of Wales has been appointed to the extraordinary companion category of the Order of Canada for supporting Canadian charitable activitiesas well as themen and women in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Later in the day, Charlesand Camilla will visitWellington Farmer's Market in Prince Edward County, where they will meet vendors and artisansand stop in at a local winery.

The Canadian Press

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Prince of Wales, wife Camilla to honour soldiers who died in Afghanistan - rdnewsnow.com

Last week, Islamic State fighters overran all of Darzab, according to the acting district governor, Baz Mohammad Dawar. Government officials were able to regain control of the districts center, but not most of the rest of the territory; 10 police officers or soldiers were killed in the fight, he said.

With the districts clinic under Islamic State control, 15 patients were evacuated to the capital of Jowzjan Province, Sheberghan, but they died en route, Afghan officials said.

Mohammad Reza Ghafori, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said that Islamic State fighters had destroyed the 50-bed clinic, forcing the patients to flee.

Mr. Dawar said he thought the patients had died of their injuries on the rugged journey because of a lack of medical staff members in the area. Other officials said it seemed likely that the fighters, who controlled the area the patients had to travel through, had killed them.

In the village of Betaw in Darzab, Islamic State militants killed seven local police officers and 15 civilians, according to a local elder, and threatened to kill anyone who held funeral ceremonies for them. Some held them anyway.

We live in a state of fear, the elder said by telephone. All of us who participated in the funeral are now scared that ISIS will attack and kill us. The elder spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation by militants. It was not clear if the seven police officers were counted among the 10 cited by the governor, or if they were additional casualties.

ISIS is more powerful than the Taliban were in Darzab because their fighters are brave, said Hajji Obaidullah, the former police chief of the district. He and other local officials said that two former Taliban commanders, Qari Hikmat and Mufti Nemat, had combined forces and switched their allegiance to the Islamic State in recent months. He said the government had rushed in hundreds of reinforcements, in the form of police officers and soldiers from other areas, to keep the district center from falling to insurgents.

There is no Taliban in Darzab now, but only ISIS, said Halima Sadaf, a member of the Jowzjan Provincial Council, who is from Darzab.

They took over the district before Eid al-Fitr, she said, referring to the holiday signifying the end of Ramadan that began on Sunday.

But Afghan national security forces pushed them out of the capital of the district; the rest of the district is all with them, she added. They are strong and regrouping to launch another offensive.

One of the Islamic State commanders, Mufti Nemat, was persuaded last year to quit the Taliban and join the government side after a heavily publicized intervention by General Dostum, the first vice president. Mufti Nemat was previously a religious teacher in General Dostums home village. He later accused the government and General Dostum of reneging on promises made to him, announcing that he was joining forces with Qari Hikmat and would support the Islamic State.

Spokesmen for General Dostum and for the Taliban both confirmed that Mr. Nemat had left the Taliban, joined General Dostums side, but then gone over to the ISIS camp. Nemat is a threat for the government. He knows the Darzab District and the area very well; he is a very dangerous guy, said Enayatullah Babur Farahmand, General Dostums chief of staff. He blamed government inaction for alienating Mr. Nemat.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman who was reached via WhatsApp, said both local leaders who had joined ISIS had been rejected by the Taliban. Qari Hikmat, Mr. Mujahid said, had been sentenced to prison by the Taliban on corruption charges but he escaped and joined ISIS.

The Islamic State in Khorasan, as the group is known in Afghanistan, has generally been active only in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where fighters are locked in a struggle with the government as well as with local Taliban forces. Taking a district elsewhere in the country would be a significant advance for the group.

Jawad Sukhanyar reported from Kabul and Rod Nordland from London. Fahim Abed contributed reporting from Kabul.

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ISIS, Aided by Ex-Taliban Groups, Makes Inroads in Northern ... - New York Times

BRUSSELS European allies will tell U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Thursday they are willing to help step up NATO's mission in Afghanistan - but only if the United States is clear on its strategy, diplomats said.

The United States wants to send 3,000-5,000 more troops to Afghanistan, and other NATO members might send around 1,200.

While no decisions have been made, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said U.S. allies would send more troops to help Afghans "break the stalemate" with resurgent Taliban rebels.

As part of the broader efforts, Britain will send just under 100 additional troops Secretary of Defense Michael Fallon said as he arrived for a meeting of his NATO counterparts.

"We are in it for the long haul, it's a democracy that has asked for our help and it is important that Europe responds," Fallon said.

"Transnational terror groups that operate in Afghanistan are a threat to us in Western Europe and to the continued existence of the Afghan state."

NATO leads some 13,450 multinational troops in Afghanistan, who are training the country's armed forces. About 8,400 are U.S. personnel, some 6,900 of whom come under the NATO command structure.

Fifteen members and partners of the military alliance have said they will contribute more troops and equipment to the training mission for 2018, following a closed-door meeting of military planners this month.

"This is nothing like a surge, this is well within the bounds of what is feasible politically," a senior NATO diplomat said, citing a willingness to meet U.S. President Donald Trump's demands that the alliance do more to fight Islamist militants.

A decision by NATO allies to send more troops would reflect alarm about territorial gains by Taliban rebels and military and civilian casualties.

However, diplomats said everything hung on the Afghan strategy being devised by Mattis, who will address NATO defense ministers later on Thursday, partly because many allies depend on U.S. equipment to be able to carry out their training.

"We need clarity from the United States," a second NATO diplomat said.

Some diplomats expressed frustration that the process had dragged out months, saying they had been repeatedly promised the new U.S. strategy, firstly by the NATO leaders' meeting in May in Brussels and then by Thursday's defense ministers' meeting.

"The confusion in Washington has had an impact," a third diplomat said.

"HOW WE END THIS WAR"

The concern about delay extends beyond Brussels. In Washington, Republican Senator John McCain recently scolded Mattis during a televised Senate hearing.

"It makes it hard for us to support you when we don't have a strategy," McCain said.

U.S. and allied forces have been fighting for nearly 16 years against Taliban Islamists who harbored al Qaeda militants behind the attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001.

For Mattis, the NATO trip will bring him one step closer to an expected mid-July finish line for his long-awaited Afghan war plan, which he hopes will break a stalemate in America's longest war and eventually bring it to a successful conclusion.

Speaking to reporters during his flight to Europe, he said he would brief allies about the U.S. assessment of the situation in Afghanistan and his efforts to fill in "any gaps left in the strategy".

He declined to say how many troops he expected from NATO allies.

Mattis said he aimed to return to Washington to "finish out some things" in consultation with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford, who just returned from Afghanistan, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"And then we'll present to the president a strategy that's been informed by our allies, to include Afghanistan of course, and given a framework that is regional in nature and focuses on: how we end this war," he said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Robin Emmott,; editing by Andrew Roche and Ed Osmond)

SYDNEY/VATICAN CITY Cardinal George Pell, a top adviser to Pope Francis, said on Thursday he was innocent of charges of sexual abuse in his native Australia, and that the pontiff had given him leave of absence to return there to defend himself.

WARSAW A trip to Poland by U.S. President Donald Trump next week may feel like a diplomatic coup for the right-wing government, but western European nations are uneasy it will encourage Warsaw's defiance towards Brussels.

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What next in Afghanistan? Europe seeks US leadership - Reuters