Taliban raid targets Afghan police

by Al Jazeera (reposted)

Mon, Apr 14, 2008 8:01AM

Monday, April 14, 2008 : At least 11 officers killed in Kandahar province after a police post is stormed.

Taliban fighters have stormed a police post in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing at least 11 policemen, according to a police official. The overnight attack in Arghandab district of the troubled province is the latest in a string of clashes in recent days.

"One of our police posts was attacked in Arghandab last night. At this point I can confirm that 11 policemen have been killed," Amanuallah Khan, the deputy provincial police chief, said on Monday.

Police vehicles and weapons were also seized by the attackers, Khan said. He laid the blame for the raid on the "enemies of Afghanistan". Kandahar province was where the Taliban rose to prominence in the early 1990s and is one of the worst hit regions in anti-government campaign led by the grouo since their removal from power.

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For more information: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CB0...

§Afghanistan should be NATO's priority

by via Daily Star, Lebanon

Mon, Apr 14, 2008 8:01AM

Monday, April 14, 2008 : The recent NATO summit meeting in Bucharest came at a critical time for the 26-member alliance and its mission in Afghanistan. It also came at a critical time for the one country that can make or break that mission: Pakistan. NATO is collectively holding its breath as the Musharraf era comes to a close.

By Karl F. Inderfurth
Commentary by
Monday, April 14, 2008

The recent NATO summit meeting in Bucharest came at a critical time for the 26-member alliance and its mission in Afghanistan. It also came at a critical time for the one country that can make or break that mission: Pakistan. NATO is collectively holding its breath as the Musharraf era comes to a close, replaced by a new and uncertain civilian political leadership and accompanied by a continuing rise in extremist violence. A month-long surge in suicide bombings has put the country on edge. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO's secretary general, said during his recent visit to Washington that as soon as the new Pakistan government is in place, he would travel to Islamabad. After Bucharest there is no better destination to reinforce NATO's Afghan mission.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are inextricably linked. There can be no successful outcome for Afghanistan if Pakistan is not a part of the solution. The future stability of both depends on the development of an effective regional strategy to counter and uproot the Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctuary in Pakistan's tribal border areas. Despite Pakistan's counter-insurgency efforts over the last four years (or lack thereof, according to the critics), the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have developed a stronghold in this region that bolsters the Taliban's capabilities against coalition forces in Afghanistan, poses a direct threat to the Pakistani state itself, and facilitates Al-Qaeda planning and execution of global terrorist plots, including those directed against the United States.

§Taleban attack kills 11 policemen

by BBC (reposted)

Mon, Apr 14, 2008 8:03AM

Monday, April 14, 2008 : Taleban insurgents storm a police post in the southern Afghanistan, killing at least 11 policemen, officials say.

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