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Kunduz: Suicide attack kills more than 30 civilians
I-Bones Kabum - 23.02.2011 19:02
Monday 21 February 2011 16.39 GMT - Jon Boone - Kabul
Taliban bomber kills 30 civilians at Afghan militia meeting
Suicide attack thought to be aimed at US-backed informal police force kills locals queuing outside
 http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Media/Pix/pictures/2011/2/21/1298304725548/Taliban-suicide-bomb-site-007.jpg
A police officer stands guard at the government building in Kunduz outside which an explosion killed 40 people. Photograph: Fulad Hamdard/AP
More than 30 civilians were killed when a Taliban bomber targeted a meeting of US-sponsored militia commanders in the once-peaceful north of Afghanistan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/taliban
A further 40 were wounded in the attack near the entrance to a government centre in Kunduz province, raising the death toll from a recent insurgent bombing campaign to more than 100.
Those at the meeting say around 40 chiefs of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) force were at the district centre along with officials from the district of Emam Saheb when the bomber approached.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/16/afghans-fear-return-of-warlords?INTCMP=SRCH
The bomber wanted to get inside but instead blew himself up in the queue outside, said Commander Maqsoom, leader of a 10-man ALP group.
He said most people inside the conference room were left unhurt and that the victims were ordinary citizens queuing for government papers.
"These attackers believe that they will be shaheed [martyrs] and go to heaven, but that's not true," Maqsoom said. "By killing Americans you will be shaheed, but not by killing ordinary people."
One provincial official said the office had been particularly busy in the run-up to the Afghan new year, with many parents requiring documents to enrol their children in schools.
The fact that just three police were among the dead highlights the heavy price increasingly paid by civilian bystanders.
The carnage in Kunduz will also sharpen concerns that the largely untrained and lightly armed militias are particularly vulnerable to attacks by insurgents.
ALP is Nato's preferred name for the controversial informal teams of gunmen it has been supporting, but which locals know as traditional tribal militias or arbikai.
Despite strong support for such auxiliary forces by top US commander David Petraeus, who regards them as an essential element of his campaign to roll back the Taliban, one Afghan official likened the militias to "shields of flesh".
Sami Kovanen, a private security analyst in Kabul, said the insurgents were clearly shifting strategy to counter Nato's multibillion-dollar efforts to rapidly build up the nation's army, police and irregular fighting forces.
"They want to demoralise these forces, particularly the young recruits with families who tell them to quit the police if it looks too dangerous," he said.
Two days before Monday's attack 38 people died when insurgent gunmen and suicide bombers targeted a Kabul Bank branch in the eastern city of Jalalabad when police officers were withdrawing their salaries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/taliban-bomber-kills-30-civilians?INTCMP=SRCH
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| supplements | | A Year at War: The Afghan Partners | James Dao - 25.02.2011 23:51
February 25, 2011, 2:42 PM
A Year at War
In a dangerous country, Afghan police officers have perhaps the most dangerous jobs. They do not direct traffic, walk beats, write tickets and investigate crimes the way police officers in most countries do. Outside Kabul, they are first and foremost a paramilitary force, the first line of the government’s defense against the Taliban insurgency. They are also the least well trained and equipped, and the most undermanned of all the Afghan security forces. So they are often the first to die in insurgent attacks. According to figures compiled by the Afghan government, more than 100 police officers are killed in the line of duty each month.
Given their frontline significance, strengthening the police is at the crux of the Obama administration’s plans for drawing down American forces from Afghanistan. The military has set a goal of expanding the Afghan National Police to 134,000 officers by this fall, up from 115,000 last year. But the attrition rate remains a daunting obstacle: nearly half of the recruits quit within months, though that is an improvement from the peak of 70 percent a few years ago. For thousands of recruits, the job simply has not paid enough to justify the danger. Illiteracy is another major problem, as most recruits cannot read maps, spell their names, do simple math or decipher the serial numbers on their weapons. And then there is corruption: even some of the most disciplined and honest officers are thought to take food from the citizens they are expected to protect. At the other end of the spectrum, the most corrupt officers steal with abandon, traffic in weapons and drugs and even conspire with the Taliban.
In Northern Afghanistan, the First Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain has been working with the police for the past year. In some places, the local police have proved lethargic at best, compromised at worst. But in some areas, they have found the police to be aggressive and highly motivated partners. The Chardara district of Kunduz Province is one of those places. Though a small force trying to secure a sprawling area, the local police, under the guidance of a charismatic chief, have fought gamely alongside American infantrymen in some of the most dangerous parts of the province. They have helped clear once heavily mined roads and established checkpoints in villages where they could not travel just six months ago. Not surprisingly, insurgents have struck back violently: a suicide bomber killed the district governor earlier this month and a roadside mine nearly killed the district police chief last week. As the 1-87 prepares to go home and a smaller American battalion takes its place, the police will be expected to take an even greater responsibility for securing Chardara.
A Year at War interviewed three police officers in Chardara in the fall. All three had become close to the American platoon, part of Delta Company in the 1-87, that worked out of their district headquarters. They lived together, sharing meals and danger alike. One, Nyaiz Muhammad, a grizzled commander, fought against the Russians while a teenager. Another, Nazar Muhammad, helps feed his impoverished family with his small income. The third, Torialy, worries that the gains made by the Americans in the district will be fleeting. All talk about how dangerous the job is — not just for themselves, but also their families. “Every second is dangerous,” Nazar Muhammad said. “You know it’s really dangerous, Charadara. Every second we spend here.”
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/
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