Insurgent Attack Wounds U.S. Servicemember
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2005 -- A U.S. servicemember was wounded Feb. 24 when a vehicle filled with insurgents fired on coalition forces in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, military officials there reported today.
The military said coalition forces were investigating an improvised explosive device when they came under small-arms fire from a passing vehicle.
The soldier was reported in stable condition at the Kandahar Airfield hospital.
In a separate incident, five Afghan security force personnel were injured Feb . 24 when their vehicle was ambushed near a border checkpoint in Khost province. Afghan security forces returned fire and pursued the insurgents, killing three insurgents and injuring one.
The injured Afghan security force members were taken to a coalition hospital at Forward Operating Base Salerno and treated for their injuries. Three were reported in stable condition; the other two were treated and released. No coalition forces were injured in the attack.
Hours later, two coalition helicopters surveying the ambush area received small-arms fire. One helicopter returned fire, killing seven more attackers.
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Re: Taliban Kill 9 in Attacks; U.S. Soldier Is Hurt
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March 1 2005, 9:08 PM
p.s. Some other stories of interest out of Afghanistan the last week :)
Afghan Citizens Lead Coalition Troops to Explosive Devices
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2005 -- Afghan citizens led coalition troops to two improvised explosive devices recently, one that was found alongside a road as Afghan National Army and coalition forces were returning from a medical humanitarian mission Feb. 26.
During that mission, some 800 Afghan men, women and children received treatment, medications and supplies during a two-day visit. Afghan medical students conducted most of the diagnoses and treatment with the help of coalition medical personnel.
The visit was a joint effort between the Afghan government and coalition forces.
Military officials said Afghan elders from the Oruzgan district in central Afghanistan reported the improvised explosive device, which was later defused.
In a separate incident, an Afghan elder led coalition forces to the site of a second IED in the Herat province Feb. 28.
Military officials said two children discovered the IED while they were playing. The children told their father, who then notified coalition forces.
In other developments Feb. 28, coalition forces discovered five weapons caches at various locations throughout the country.
The first cache, discovered in Zabul province, contained five AK-47 rifles, 10 AK-47 magazines filled with ammunition, two 82 mm mortar rounds, one rocket- propelled-grenade launcher, three RPG rounds, and two fragmentary grenades.
A second cache in Parwan province, which military official believed to be in an old Soviet weapons depot, contained 500 107 mm rockets, 2,000 RPG rounds, five unserviceable tanks, and 5,000 122 mm tank rounds.
In the Hilmand province, the discovery of a third weapons cache turned up 200 30 mm rounds, three 30 mm barrels, and one RPG launcher.
Among items in a cache discovered in Paktia province were five AK 47s, 508 7.62 mm rounds, 200 203 mm howitzer rounds, 80 machine gun rounds, 25 5.54 mm rounds, six RPG boosters, and four boxes of armor-piercing rounds.
Also, in the Ghazni province, Afghan citizens led coalition troops to another cache that contained 21 RPG rounds.
(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)
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Coalition Forces Recover Weapons Caches in Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2005 -- Coalition forces recovered four weapons caches in Afghanistan Feb. 27, according to Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials.
The first weapons cache was located in Khost province and contained four "pineapple grenades" and one Russian hand grenade.
The second weapons cache was turned in to coalition forces in Paktika province. It contained three anti-tank grenade launchers, a machine gun, two AK-47 rifles, 25 boxes of 14.5 mm ammunition, 15 boxes of 12.7 mm ammunition, nine rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two RPG rounds, six 82 mm mortar rounds, and 11 boxes of 23.5 mm armor-piercing rounds.
Coalition forces found the third weapons cache, containing two anti-personnel mines and two anti-tank mines, in Uruzgan province.
Local Afghan citizens in Kunar province turned the fourth weapons cache in to coalition forces. This cache contained 22 RPG-7s, 12 recoilless-rifle rounds, five mortars, 13 60 mm mortar rounds, 15 mortar fuses, and 560 12.7 mm ball rounds.
Coalition forces have secured all the weapons caches, officials said.
(From a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.)
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Coalition Leader Says Tide Turning in Afghanistan
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 20, 2005 -- The tide is turning against anti- coalition fighters in Afghanistan, a senior British general serving there said.
Speaking about the progress of ongoing operations in the central Asian country, British Army Maj. Gen. Peter Gilchrist, deputy commanding general of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, said Feb. 19 that there many indicators the coalition's strategy is working and that anti-coalition forces are losing steam. Enemy fighters in Afghanistan include members of the al Qaeda terrorist network, the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin -- or HIG -- terrorist group, remnants of the former Taliban regime and other forces.
When he arrived in Afghanistan three months ago, Gilchrist said, he was reading daily incident reports about attacks on coalition forces. Now, the reports tell a different story, mostly describing caches of weapons and ammunition turned in to coalition forces by Afghan citizens.
"The whole thing seems to me anyway to have shifted significantly, which demonstrates to me that the people are on our side. The people are working very much with us, not that they weren't before, but it's gone another stage further," Gilchrist said. "It has subtly changed. Does that mean you've ruined the insurgency? It doesn't. But you've gone an awful long way toward it."
Humanitarian assistance work by the coalition is one reason why Afghans are increasingly supportive of the coalition and why anti-coalition fighters are losing support, Gilchrist said.
An example of this is the support provided to the Afghan government by the coalition in delivering hundreds of tons of food, medicine and supplies to villages cut off from the rest of the country by recent severe snowstorms. The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has declared a state of emergency in the country following severe snowstorms that created drifts up to 20 feet tall in the mountains and heavy rains that turned roads into impassable mud bogs.
Helping the Afghan people shows them the coalition is trying to help them, Gilchrist said, adding that he was impressed by the way the Afghan government responded to the situation. Afghanistan's central government coordinated efforts between the coalition, international humanitarian relief agencies, the United Nations and other organizations.
"The great thing, the really good bit of news, is that it's been coordinated by the Afghan government and it's been well-organized," Gilchrist said. "Once they realized they had an impending crisis, they've mitigated it. To me, that shows that we're gaining maturity in this government, slowly but certainly."
It is becoming obvious to many insurgents that they will not be successful in their attempts to overthrow the Afghan government, the general said. That is one reason why some anti-coalition fighters may be willing to put down their arms.
"The signs are out there that a resurgence won't probably work," Gilchrist said. "They can carry on the fighting for a fair bit of time, but their chances of winning anything strategic are getting to be pretty small, if not infinitely small."
Though hardcore extremists may not quit fighting unless they are captured or killed, Gilchrist said he thinks many rank-and-file anti-coalition fighters are prepared to stop fighting and adapt to a peaceful way of life. To help them reintegrate into the new Afghan society, the coalition is working to help the Afghan government create and implement a re-integration program for former anti- coalition fighters.
"There are rumors that there are quite a lot of people who want to come back," Gilchrist said, adding that he believes people will turn themselves in to be reintegrated "once we demonstrate that the people who do come back can come in and not be arrested and interfered with, and go back home and start a normal life."
The reintegration program would allow former fighters to register with government authorities. They would then be placed under the supervision of a local elder or chieftain for a probationary period in their local district. The program does not exonerate those responsible for crimes, Gilchrist pointed out.
"It's not an amnesty. There are no preconditions for this. If they have done a war crime and subsequent investigations come along and find that these guys are guilty of war crimes, they will be tried for them," Gilchrist said. "What we will be doing is helping the Afghanistan government to facilitate their return."
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Re: Taliban Kill 9 in Attacks; U.S. Soldier Is Hurt
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March 2 2005, 8:47 PM
03/03/05
America’s Battalion strikes back at enemy forces 3/3 scores major success in Khowst
Cpl. Rich Mattingly, CJTF76 Public Affairs Office
KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Under the light from a pale, yellow moon, the Marines moved swiftly across the cold and barren wadi, hand and arm signals mobilizing squads and fire teams silently into position around the village. Shifting in and out of the shadow of trees and low rock walls in the surrounding fields as they neared, America’s Battalion sealed a seamless cordon and prepared to search for several men they suspected of perpetuating terrorist activity and attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces in the area.
Only when the night’s reverie was split by the blaring sounds of psychological operations’ surrender appeals and the roar of Cobra gunships appearing a few hundred feet overhead, did the inhabitants realize they had been surrounded. By the break of dawn, the Battalion was well underway to completing one of its most successful operations to date in the region.
“We moved over 44 kilometers at night, dismounted a few (kilometers) away, and surrounded the village where we believed the enemy to be hiding by moving in on foot. Our enemies had never seen anything like this before, so they weren’t ready for us and they had no chance to escape into the mountains,” explained Capt. Ken Barr, Commanding Officer, Weapons Co., 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, whose company planned the operation over a month and a half, gathering key human intelligence on anti-government militia forces operating in the Khowst province. Over the course of two days, Weapons and Headquarters and Service Companies, who combined forces for the operation, set up shop quite literally in the suspected terrorists’ backyards. Both companies are organized as provisional rifle companies in the Battalion’s expansive area of responsibility.
America’s Battalion was able to capture eight men they believed to be members of anti-government militias and seize a significant amount of illegal weapons and explosives. And they did it without a single shot being fired.
One of Weapons Co.’s platoon commanders explained the relationship that they have tried to foster in the area over the course of the last few months that has improved their successes and ability to go in hard and fast without disrupting friendly ties.
“The local populace has begun to trust us more and more as we’ve built a relationship with them through local patrols with Afghan police and the medical and humanitarian relief efforts we’ve performed,” said 2nd Lt. Luke Lazzo, second platoon commander, Weapons Co., 3/3. “We try to stress to them that it’s their community and they have to take responsibility for the actions of those they live with. We’re here to help them with that. That allows us to go into a town the way we did and successfully find our enemies without too much resistance from the locals.”
The Marines and Sailors of 3/3 are operating with a high level of cultural and societal awareness and attention to detail in order to strike a certain balance with the local populace during security and stability operations, said Barr, something he believes is a reflection of his Marines’ professionalism as they complete more complicated missions.
When Weapons Co. entered the village, the commander’s first action was to meet with the village elders and give them a chance to give up the men who were wanted in connection with the attacks.
“We went to the village elders and mullahs and asked them how they would like us to handle searches of houses in their villages,” continued Barr. “We told them that if they would give up the men responsible for attacking Marines and Afghan forces in the area, then we wouldn’t be forced to cordon and search their villages. The Marines and Sailors have upheld their end of things admirably, which improves our chances of even more future successes.”
It was that approach that led to the operation’s success, said 3/3 Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Norm Cooling.
“It’s easy to get on line and fight a clearly defined enemy,” said Cooling. “In our situation, you can’t always locate, close with and destroy the enemy in a straight forward manner. You have to establish human intelligence relationships to locate the enemy and then devise creative ways to close with him. While doing that here in Sabari, we sent a significant message to the villagers that by helping us they can help make their town and their country a safer place.”
The Marines of 3/3 were very successful in their searches, which were done with the supervision of the town’s elders. In the suspects’ homes they found everything from grenades shoved into sacks of flour, to weapons buried in dung heaps, and plastic explosives and blasting caps stuffed in an old car tire. One squad even recovered a belt of illegal armor-piercing AK-47 rounds hidden under an infant in a crib.
“I, for one, understand the mentality of a homeowner who doesn’t want some stranger coming into their house,” said Sgt. Chris Bloom, squad leader with Weapons Co., whose squad recovered several stockpiles of munitions from the suspected insurgents. “This is their country and we always have to be aware of that. What we did by waiting for the elders to go in with us and let them give up the guys we were after was very important to maintaining the trust of the people. We just want to take the guns and explosives away from the people who shot at us and make sure they pay for their crimes.”
“It comes down to the golden rule,” said Barr. “You have to treat others here the way you would want to be treated in their situation. This war is going to be won by the use of well-aimed, non-kinetic rounds,” he said, referring to successful information and psychological operations campaigns that win the proverbial “hearts and minds” of the populace. “You may be able to kill a lot of the bad guys with bullets, but you can also lose this war that way.”
Weapons Co. plans on following up their successful round-up of suspected terrorists with medical assistance operations in the area. America’s Battalion continues to operate throughout Eastern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
http://www.centcom.mil/
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