Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2011 5:52:52 GMT 10
Bomber kills US troops
Last updated 07:52 30/10/2011
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a van into an armoured NATO bus Saturday, killing 13 American troops and four Afghans in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in Kabul since the war began - a major setback for the US-led coalition as it begins to draw down combat troops.
The explosion sparked a fireball and littered the street with shrapnel and twisted metal hulks. Heavy black smoke poured from burning wreckage at the site along the four-lane highway frequently used by foreign military trainers in the southwestern section of the city.
Underscoring the difficulties ahead, the brazen assault occurred on the same day that top NATO and Afghan officials were meeting elsewhere in Kabul to discuss the second phase of shifting security responsibilities to Afghan forces in all or part of 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
It also was a blow to efforts by the US and President Hamid Karzai to forge peace with the fundamentalist Taliban movement as NATO plans to withdraw all its combat troops from the country by the end of 2014, with support for the costly war reaching new lows in the West
Last updated 07:52 30/10/2011
A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a van into an armoured NATO bus Saturday, killing 13 American troops and four Afghans in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in Kabul since the war began - a major setback for the US-led coalition as it begins to draw down combat troops.
The explosion sparked a fireball and littered the street with shrapnel and twisted metal hulks. Heavy black smoke poured from burning wreckage at the site along the four-lane highway frequently used by foreign military trainers in the southwestern section of the city.
Underscoring the difficulties ahead, the brazen assault occurred on the same day that top NATO and Afghan officials were meeting elsewhere in Kabul to discuss the second phase of shifting security responsibilities to Afghan forces in all or part of 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
It also was a blow to efforts by the US and President Hamid Karzai to forge peace with the fundamentalist Taliban movement as NATO plans to withdraw all its combat troops from the country by the end of 2014, with support for the costly war reaching new lows in the West
Three Aussie soldiers killed in Afghanistan in rogue shooting spree
by: Jeremy Kelly and Nui Te Koha From: The Sunday Telegraph October 30, 2011 12:00AM
THREE Australian diggers have been killed by a man dressed in an Afghan army uniform who went rogue at a shooting range.
The killer was reported to be a trainee Afghan solider.
Seven diggers were also injured in the rampage which happened at Shah Wali Kot in Northern Kandahar.
Alliance force NATO said last night: "International Security Assistance Force service members were killed today in southern Afghanistan when an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform apparently turned his weapon on Afghan and coalition forces.''
NATO said the shooter was also killed in the incident but gave no further details.
Early today, the Australian Defence Force was unable to confirm whether those killed in the latest incident are Australian.
The killings follow a similar incident in June when Lance-Corporal Andrew Jones was gunned down by a local soldier while on guard duty.
The murder follows the death of dozens of Coalition troops at the hands of Afghan soldiers during the 10-year conflict, including eight US troops killed in Kabul in April.
Some Afghanistan National Army troops remain fiercely loyal to their tribal leaders. They have questionable backgrounds and are answerable only to Afghan authorities.
Aussie troops have long-held concerns about rogue Afghan soldiers.
Their fears stem from numerous incidents where the Afghans have been high on opium
by: Jeremy Kelly and Nui Te Koha From: The Sunday Telegraph October 30, 2011 12:00AM
THREE Australian diggers have been killed by a man dressed in an Afghan army uniform who went rogue at a shooting range.
The killer was reported to be a trainee Afghan solider.
Seven diggers were also injured in the rampage which happened at Shah Wali Kot in Northern Kandahar.
Alliance force NATO said last night: "International Security Assistance Force service members were killed today in southern Afghanistan when an individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform apparently turned his weapon on Afghan and coalition forces.''
NATO said the shooter was also killed in the incident but gave no further details.
Early today, the Australian Defence Force was unable to confirm whether those killed in the latest incident are Australian.
The killings follow a similar incident in June when Lance-Corporal Andrew Jones was gunned down by a local soldier while on guard duty.
The murder follows the death of dozens of Coalition troops at the hands of Afghan soldiers during the 10-year conflict, including eight US troops killed in Kabul in April.
Some Afghanistan National Army troops remain fiercely loyal to their tribal leaders. They have questionable backgrounds and are answerable only to Afghan authorities.
Aussie troops have long-held concerns about rogue Afghan soldiers.
Their fears stem from numerous incidents where the Afghans have been high on opium
Sooooooooo, war almost over then, when do we declare victory?