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Afghan Policeman Kills U.S. Service Member on Joint Patrol
By Martha Raddatz | ABC News
A U.S. service member was killed in southern Afghanistan today on a patrol with Afghan security forces when one of the Afghans turned his weapon on the Americans, the latest in a rash of what the ISAF is now calling "insider" attacks on American troops.
The incident comes just days after the U.S. military told troops to be constantly armed and ready for attack, both inside and outside their bases. Twenty U.S. troops and one aid worker have been killed in Taliban attacks in the past two weeks, 10 of them shot to death in cold blood by rogue Afghan soldiers or policemen.
The number of "green on blue" attacks this year already exceeds the total for last year. Since the beginning of 2012, there have been 32 attacks resulting in 40 deaths, far more than last year's 21 total attacks.
A senior U.S. military officer at International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul told ABC's Martha Raddatz forces throughout Afghanistan are now required to carry a loaded magazine in their personal weapon.
"Before, we usually did that only when we went out the gate," the official told Raddatz. "[Now] it applies everywhere. I am sitting in my office with a mag in my pistol. A round is not chambered, but I am ready to go at a moment's notice."
Karzai prays for welfare of Afghans over Eidul Fatar
KABUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Sunday congratulated his people over Eidul Fatar and prayed for the welfare and prosperity of Afghanistan.
"On this auspicious day -- the Eidul Fatar day, I am praying before Almighty Allah to give end the suffering of the people of Afghanistan and bring prosperity,"Karzai told journalists in a short speech after offering Eidul-Fatar prayer in Presidential Palace.
Eidul Fatar which marks the end of Ramadan or Muslims fasting month, is the second largest annual religious festival, celebrated in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.
Karzai also called upon Taliban militants to seek pardon from the Afghan nation for carrying out subversive activities in the month of Ramadan, the Muslims holy month, which had left scores of people, mostly civilians, dead.
Afghanistan experienced violent security incidents mostly in the shape of suicide and roadside bombings throughout the month of Ramadan.
However, Taliban militants fighting Afghan and NATO-led troops had claimed responsibility for some of the deadly attacks during Ramadan.
In his congratulatory message on Eidul Fatar day, Karzai also wished people in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan peace and prosperity.
Panetta prods Karzai on Afghan insider killings
By ROBERT BURNS | Associated Press – Sat, Aug 18, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to discuss the rising number of "insider" attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned their guns on American and other coalition troops.
Spokesman George Little said Panetta encouraged Karzai to work with U.S. commanders to ensure more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits. Little said Panetta and Karzai agreed that American and Afghan officials need to work together to address a problem that has intensified in recent days.
In the latest incident, an Afghan police officer on Friday shot to death two U.S. servicemen during a training exercise in the western province of Farah.
Little said Panetta advised more effective counterintelligence measures to identify potential attackers from inside the ranks of Afghan security forces, as well as "even more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits, and stepped up engagement with village elders, who often play a key role by vouching for Afghan security personnel."
The phone call was a sign of growing concern in Washington about the insider threat, particularly because American and allied troops are now working more closely with the Afghan army and police in preparation for the transition to complete Afghan security control by 2014.
On Friday it was disclosed that U.S. troops have been ordered to carry loaded weapons at all times in Afghanistan, even when they are on their bases. The order was a precaution against insider attacks.
Iran rejects allegation of role in deadly Afghan bombings
Reuters – 16 hrs agoKABUL (Reuters) - Iran has rejected Afghan government claims that Tehran orchestrated a series of suicide bomb attacks earlier this week that killed at least 28 people in Afghanistan, Iran's English-language Press TV reported on Sunday.
Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killed two alleged insurgents and detained three more this week for what they said was their involvement in the bombings this week in Afghanistan's Nimroz province.
The NDS said the five were Iranian citizens, and that they had trained for suicide bomb missions in Iran, which borders Afghanistan to its west.
"Stressing the friendly relations between Iran and Afghanistan, (Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin) Mehmanparast on Saturday denied any meddling by Iran," state-funded Press TV wrote on its site.
"(He) rejected the allegation that Iran was involved in the recent explosions in the Afghan province of Nimroz," it said.
Afghan officials routinely blame Iran and Pakistan, its neighbour to the east, for interfering in its affairs and providing weapons and training to insurgents, claims that Tehran and Islamabad deny.
In a speech marking Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, the main Muslim feast at the end of Ramadan, President Hamid Karzai said the Afghan people would settle the score with the Taliban if they are to blame for a string of bloody civilian attacks in recent days, including Nimroz.
But hinting at foreign aggression, Karzai said: "If you (Taliban) are not to blame and someone else has carried this out using your name then as a Muslim and as an Afghan raise your voice and tell the people".
Attention is turning towards Afghanistan's neighbors and what role they could play in the country's future as NATO and its foreign partners prepare to end their combat role by the end of 2014.
Though Afghan-Iranian ties have improved since the Taliban was ousted just over a decade ago with Washington even saying Tehran could help stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan. But the relationship remains fragile.
Iran rejected Afghanistan's long-term strategic agreement with the United States, sealed in May, and Afghan officials have accused Iran of meddling in its media.
Bombers in largely rural Nimroz province on Tuesday targeted crowded outdoor markets where shoppers were preparing for the end of Ramadan and a hospital in the provincial capital of Zaranj, about an hour's drive from the Iranian border.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Ed Lane)
NATO Says Taliban Commander Among Dozens Killed By Air Strike
August 19, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
NATO officials in Afghanistan say they have confirmed that a senior Taliban leader -- Maulawi Nur Mohammad -- and his deputy were among dozens of militants killed on August 18 by an air strike in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar.
NATO says Muhammad -- who also was known as "Turabi" -- had been the senior Taliban leader in Kunar's Chapah Darah district where he "directed all Taliban activity."
NATO named his slain deputy as Atiqullah -- also known as Khalid.
Meanwhile, NATO said three foreign soldiers serving in eastern Afghanistan were killed by a bomb attack on August 19.
They did not release the soldiers' nationalities or further details about the bombing.
Most foreign troops in eastern Afghanistan are from the United States. But there also are soldiers there from other countries.
With reporting by AFP and AP
Afghanistan Marks Independence Day With Low-Key Event
August 18, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has marked the 93rd anniversary of the country's independence in a ceremony in Kabul.
In a low-key event attended by government officials and the honor guard, Karzai placed a wreath at the foot of the monument of freedom in the Defense Ministry compound.
The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, which gave Afghanistan complete independence from British rule, went largely unobserved on the streets of the capital.
Although Britain controlled Afghanistan's foreign policy for 40 years following the end of the second Anglo-Afghan War, Afghanistan was never part of the British Empire, and many Afghans consider the anniversary insignificant.
Several Kabul residents, however, told Reuters they were disappointed that the historic day was no longer being marked by many Afghans.
In other news, Britain confirmed that a British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the British Ministry of Defense said the soldier died from enemy fire in the Nahr-e Saraj district of restive Helmand Province on August 17.
No further details were given about the soldier's identity.
The statement said the latest casualty brings the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 425, with 385 coming as a result of enemy action.
Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force after the United States.
Britain soldiers are based in Helmand, where they are battling Taliban insurgents and helping to training Afghan security forces.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and Pajhwok
NDS Accused of Planning Attacks in Pakistan
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
Pakistan's Interior Ministry accused the Afghanistan National Directorate of Security (NDS) of planning to launch attacks in Islamabad and Lahore with the help of insurgents, Pakistani media reported. "The insurgents will launch coordinated car bomb attacks in Islamabad and Lahore. The master mind of this attack, Mohammad Yasin, is an expert in car bombings," a Pakistani Interior Ministry official told Pakistan's The News.
The claims were rejected by the Afghan National Directorate of Security deputy spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri.
"We strongly reject this. Unfortunately, Pakistan's military officials are providing false information to their political leaders," Taheri said.
Meanwhile, the former Afghan Deputy Minister of Interior, General Abdul Hadi Khaled, believes that NDS is facing its own insurgent challenges within Afghanistan and does not have time to plan for any attacks in other countries.
This comes as 8 suicide attackers target one of the biggest air bases in Islamabad earlier this month.
NATO drone strike kills up to 50 militants in eastern Afghanistan: police
ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 50 militants were killed on Saturday afternoon when a NATO pilotless plane carried out an attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the police said.
"The drone targeted four suspected vehicles in Shinallai area of Chapa Dara district at around 1 p.m. local time Saturday, killing 50 militants, including 13 insurgent's local commanders," police chief of the district, Najibullah Khan, told Xinhua.
Khan said a Taliban shadowy police chief for the district named Hattiqullah and another Taliban leader named Turabi were among the killed.
The Taliban insurgent group, which launched in May this year's spring offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, has yet to make comments.
The Kunar province bordering Pakistan, has seen increasing militancy despite continued military operations there.
Separately, a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) lost his life in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the ISAF confirmed Saturday.
Currently over 130,000 NATO-led ISAF troops have been serving in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
In another development, militants killed the head of a district prison in the country's southern province of Helmand Saturday afternoon.
"Head of Gereshk district's prison, Ismail Khan, was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle went off near the prison compound at around 1 p.m. local time shortly after he get in his car," police chief of the district, Guli Khan, told Xinhua.
Earlier, Saturday a bomb explosion hit the vehicle of a local elder named Mohammad Ali, killing his driver and injuring four anthers including Ali in Nahrin district of northern Baghlan province.
Woman among three New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghan blast
New Zealand PM John Key vows not to "cut and run" from Afghanistan after three soldiers, including a woman, die in a huge roadside bomb blast.
ABC
New Zealand prime minister John Key vowed not to "cut and run" from Afghanistan after three New Zealand soldiers, including a woman, were killed in a huge roadside bomb blast.
The New Zealand Defence Force says the soldiers were in the last vehicle of a convoy that was hit by an an improvised explosive device in north-east Bamyan Province.
Mr Key has named the three soldiers as Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, Private Richard Harris, and Corporal Luke Tametea.
Lance Corporal Baker, a medic, is New Zealand's first female casualty in Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened north-west of the town of Do Abe, where another two New Zealand soldiers were killed two weeks ago.
Speaking this morning Mr Key said New Zealand, which has suffered a total of 10 deaths in Afghanistan, was looking at withdrawing its 145-member provincial reconstruction team in Bamyan in early 2013, rather than late 2013 as originally planned.
Mr Key said discussions about an early exit began before August 4, when two soldiers were killed and six wounded in what has been the bloodiest month for New Zealand troops since they deployed in 2003.
"That date, if we confirm that, which we would want to do in the next few weeks, is not something that's changed as a result of these five tragic deaths," he told Radio New Zealand.
He said there had been increased insurgent activity recently in north-east Bamyan and New Zealand would not "cut and run" before handing over to local authorities.
"It's neither practical, nor sensible, nor right for us just to abandon and cut and run today," he said.
"That wouldn't honour those 10 deaths, it wouldn't mark the enormous amount of work that we've put into Afghanistan and it just isn't the way that New Zealand operates on the international stage.
"The three brave soldiers paid the ultimate price for their selfless work and my thoughts are with their families and friends as they mourn their loved ones," he said.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
Mr Key said the attack came in the context of a growing insurgency in the Bamyan area, fuelled by a new bomb-making cell operating from a nearby province.
New Zealand's Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, said he was deeply saddened by the latest deaths.
"On behalf of the entire New Zealand Defence Force, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families, colleagues and friends of the personnel involved," he said.
Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae called the latest incident a "great tragedy".
"The soldiers were part of New Zealand's Provincial Reconstruction Team, which for many years has worked tirelessly to bring peace and security to the lives of the people of Bamyan province," he said.
"Their service has brought great credit to New Zealand and the New Zealand Defence Force."
Another 'green on blue' killing
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, an Afghan in police uniform shot and killed a NATO soldier in the south of the country on Sunday, taking the death toll from so-called 'green on blue' attacks this year to 40.
The spike in insider attacks is causing growing concern in the United States and among its NATO allies fighting the Taliban insurgency.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died when an individual wearing an Afghan Uniformed Police uniform turned his weapon against ISAF service members in southern Afghanistan today," ISAF said.
The incident took place in the police headquarters of Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, provincial government spokesman Jaweed Faisal said.
NATO does not disclose the number of wounded in any attacks, but a provincial official said another soldier and an interpreter were injured and that the shooter was killed by return fire.
The latest death takes the toll among international coalition soldiers from insider attacks to 10 in less than two weeks, sharply eroding trust between foreign troops and the Afghans they work with.
Two American soldiers were killed in an incident on Friday, a week after six were killed in a single day on August 10. Another NATO soldier was killed three days earlier.
The green on blue toll makes up 13 per cent of all international coalition deaths this year, according to figures from NATO and a tally of total deaths kept by the icasualties.org website.
In a sign of US concern, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta called Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Saturday, urging him to crack down on the incidents.
Underscoring the security threat, US soldiers in Afghanistan last week were ordered to carry loaded weapons with them at all times, on and off base.
Senior Taliban Leader Captured in Balkh
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
A senior Taliban leader was captured in a joint Afghan and Nato operation in Chahar Bolak district of northern Balkh province on Friday, Isaf said in a statement today.
The commander who was detained acquired weapons, explosives and funds for insurgents in the area, and directed and led attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, according to the statement. He was also responsible for using extortion and other forms of intimidation against Afghan civilians.
The statement added that a joint force also arrested several insurgents during an operation to capture Haqqani-affiliated terrorists in Baraki Barak district of Logar province today. One insurgent was killed during the operation after he threatened to attack members of the joint force.
Haqqani-affiliated insurgents are believed to be responsible for directing attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Logar .
During the operation, the security force also discovered a weapons cache that included multiple heavy weapons, ammunition, improvised explosive device components, and a large amount of homemade explosive.
Illegal Building Halted by Kabul Municipality
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
The head of construction at Kabul Municipality, Abdul Tawab Ahmadi, said Saturday that officials will prevent the construction of illegal buildings during the holidays. Various individuals will try to construct illegal buildings during the Eid holidays when municipality employees will not be working.
"We have started this program and we will not allow construction of illegal buildings during holidays and Eid days," Ahmadi said.
Many residents in Kabul believe that these regulations will be ignored by the powerful and wealthy.
The construction of high rise buildings has turned out to be a major problem for the city plans.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By Martha Raddatz | ABC News
A U.S. service member was killed in southern Afghanistan today on a patrol with Afghan security forces when one of the Afghans turned his weapon on the Americans, the latest in a rash of what the ISAF is now calling "insider" attacks on American troops.
The incident comes just days after the U.S. military told troops to be constantly armed and ready for attack, both inside and outside their bases. Twenty U.S. troops and one aid worker have been killed in Taliban attacks in the past two weeks, 10 of them shot to death in cold blood by rogue Afghan soldiers or policemen.
The number of "green on blue" attacks this year already exceeds the total for last year. Since the beginning of 2012, there have been 32 attacks resulting in 40 deaths, far more than last year's 21 total attacks.
A senior U.S. military officer at International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul told ABC's Martha Raddatz forces throughout Afghanistan are now required to carry a loaded magazine in their personal weapon.
"Before, we usually did that only when we went out the gate," the official told Raddatz. "[Now] it applies everywhere. I am sitting in my office with a mag in my pistol. A round is not chambered, but I am ready to go at a moment's notice."
Karzai prays for welfare of Afghans over Eidul Fatar
KABUL, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Sunday congratulated his people over Eidul Fatar and prayed for the welfare and prosperity of Afghanistan.
"On this auspicious day -- the Eidul Fatar day, I am praying before Almighty Allah to give end the suffering of the people of Afghanistan and bring prosperity,"Karzai told journalists in a short speech after offering Eidul-Fatar prayer in Presidential Palace.
Eidul Fatar which marks the end of Ramadan or Muslims fasting month, is the second largest annual religious festival, celebrated in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.
Karzai also called upon Taliban militants to seek pardon from the Afghan nation for carrying out subversive activities in the month of Ramadan, the Muslims holy month, which had left scores of people, mostly civilians, dead.
Afghanistan experienced violent security incidents mostly in the shape of suicide and roadside bombings throughout the month of Ramadan.
However, Taliban militants fighting Afghan and NATO-led troops had claimed responsibility for some of the deadly attacks during Ramadan.
In his congratulatory message on Eidul Fatar day, Karzai also wished people in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan peace and prosperity.
Panetta prods Karzai on Afghan insider killings
By ROBERT BURNS | Associated Press – Sat, Aug 18, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to discuss the rising number of "insider" attacks in which Afghan security forces have turned their guns on American and other coalition troops.
Spokesman George Little said Panetta encouraged Karzai to work with U.S. commanders to ensure more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits. Little said Panetta and Karzai agreed that American and Afghan officials need to work together to address a problem that has intensified in recent days.
In the latest incident, an Afghan police officer on Friday shot to death two U.S. servicemen during a training exercise in the western province of Farah.
Little said Panetta advised more effective counterintelligence measures to identify potential attackers from inside the ranks of Afghan security forces, as well as "even more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits, and stepped up engagement with village elders, who often play a key role by vouching for Afghan security personnel."
The phone call was a sign of growing concern in Washington about the insider threat, particularly because American and allied troops are now working more closely with the Afghan army and police in preparation for the transition to complete Afghan security control by 2014.
On Friday it was disclosed that U.S. troops have been ordered to carry loaded weapons at all times in Afghanistan, even when they are on their bases. The order was a precaution against insider attacks.
Iran rejects allegation of role in deadly Afghan bombings
Reuters – 16 hrs agoKABUL (Reuters) - Iran has rejected Afghan government claims that Tehran orchestrated a series of suicide bomb attacks earlier this week that killed at least 28 people in Afghanistan, Iran's English-language Press TV reported on Sunday.
Afghanistan's spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killed two alleged insurgents and detained three more this week for what they said was their involvement in the bombings this week in Afghanistan's Nimroz province.
The NDS said the five were Iranian citizens, and that they had trained for suicide bomb missions in Iran, which borders Afghanistan to its west.
"Stressing the friendly relations between Iran and Afghanistan, (Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin) Mehmanparast on Saturday denied any meddling by Iran," state-funded Press TV wrote on its site.
"(He) rejected the allegation that Iran was involved in the recent explosions in the Afghan province of Nimroz," it said.
Afghan officials routinely blame Iran and Pakistan, its neighbour to the east, for interfering in its affairs and providing weapons and training to insurgents, claims that Tehran and Islamabad deny.
In a speech marking Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, the main Muslim feast at the end of Ramadan, President Hamid Karzai said the Afghan people would settle the score with the Taliban if they are to blame for a string of bloody civilian attacks in recent days, including Nimroz.
But hinting at foreign aggression, Karzai said: "If you (Taliban) are not to blame and someone else has carried this out using your name then as a Muslim and as an Afghan raise your voice and tell the people".
Attention is turning towards Afghanistan's neighbors and what role they could play in the country's future as NATO and its foreign partners prepare to end their combat role by the end of 2014.
Though Afghan-Iranian ties have improved since the Taliban was ousted just over a decade ago with Washington even saying Tehran could help stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan. But the relationship remains fragile.
Iran rejected Afghanistan's long-term strategic agreement with the United States, sealed in May, and Afghan officials have accused Iran of meddling in its media.
Bombers in largely rural Nimroz province on Tuesday targeted crowded outdoor markets where shoppers were preparing for the end of Ramadan and a hospital in the provincial capital of Zaranj, about an hour's drive from the Iranian border.
(Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Ed Lane)
NATO Says Taliban Commander Among Dozens Killed By Air Strike
August 19, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
NATO officials in Afghanistan say they have confirmed that a senior Taliban leader -- Maulawi Nur Mohammad -- and his deputy were among dozens of militants killed on August 18 by an air strike in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar.
NATO says Muhammad -- who also was known as "Turabi" -- had been the senior Taliban leader in Kunar's Chapah Darah district where he "directed all Taliban activity."
NATO named his slain deputy as Atiqullah -- also known as Khalid.
Meanwhile, NATO said three foreign soldiers serving in eastern Afghanistan were killed by a bomb attack on August 19.
They did not release the soldiers' nationalities or further details about the bombing.
Most foreign troops in eastern Afghanistan are from the United States. But there also are soldiers there from other countries.
With reporting by AFP and AP
Afghanistan Marks Independence Day With Low-Key Event
August 18, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has marked the 93rd anniversary of the country's independence in a ceremony in Kabul.
In a low-key event attended by government officials and the honor guard, Karzai placed a wreath at the foot of the monument of freedom in the Defense Ministry compound.
The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, which gave Afghanistan complete independence from British rule, went largely unobserved on the streets of the capital.
Although Britain controlled Afghanistan's foreign policy for 40 years following the end of the second Anglo-Afghan War, Afghanistan was never part of the British Empire, and many Afghans consider the anniversary insignificant.
Several Kabul residents, however, told Reuters they were disappointed that the historic day was no longer being marked by many Afghans.
In other news, Britain confirmed that a British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan.
In a statement, the British Ministry of Defense said the soldier died from enemy fire in the Nahr-e Saraj district of restive Helmand Province on August 17.
No further details were given about the soldier's identity.
The statement said the latest casualty brings the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 425, with 385 coming as a result of enemy action.
Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force after the United States.
Britain soldiers are based in Helmand, where they are battling Taliban insurgents and helping to training Afghan security forces.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and Pajhwok
NDS Accused of Planning Attacks in Pakistan
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
Pakistan's Interior Ministry accused the Afghanistan National Directorate of Security (NDS) of planning to launch attacks in Islamabad and Lahore with the help of insurgents, Pakistani media reported. "The insurgents will launch coordinated car bomb attacks in Islamabad and Lahore. The master mind of this attack, Mohammad Yasin, is an expert in car bombings," a Pakistani Interior Ministry official told Pakistan's The News.
The claims were rejected by the Afghan National Directorate of Security deputy spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri.
"We strongly reject this. Unfortunately, Pakistan's military officials are providing false information to their political leaders," Taheri said.
Meanwhile, the former Afghan Deputy Minister of Interior, General Abdul Hadi Khaled, believes that NDS is facing its own insurgent challenges within Afghanistan and does not have time to plan for any attacks in other countries.
This comes as 8 suicide attackers target one of the biggest air bases in Islamabad earlier this month.
NATO drone strike kills up to 50 militants in eastern Afghanistan: police
ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- About 50 militants were killed on Saturday afternoon when a NATO pilotless plane carried out an attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the police said.
"The drone targeted four suspected vehicles in Shinallai area of Chapa Dara district at around 1 p.m. local time Saturday, killing 50 militants, including 13 insurgent's local commanders," police chief of the district, Najibullah Khan, told Xinhua.
Khan said a Taliban shadowy police chief for the district named Hattiqullah and another Taliban leader named Turabi were among the killed.
The Taliban insurgent group, which launched in May this year's spring offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, has yet to make comments.
The Kunar province bordering Pakistan, has seen increasing militancy despite continued military operations there.
Separately, a soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) lost his life in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the ISAF confirmed Saturday.
Currently over 130,000 NATO-led ISAF troops have been serving in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
In another development, militants killed the head of a district prison in the country's southern province of Helmand Saturday afternoon.
"Head of Gereshk district's prison, Ismail Khan, was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his vehicle went off near the prison compound at around 1 p.m. local time shortly after he get in his car," police chief of the district, Guli Khan, told Xinhua.
Earlier, Saturday a bomb explosion hit the vehicle of a local elder named Mohammad Ali, killing his driver and injuring four anthers including Ali in Nahrin district of northern Baghlan province.
Woman among three New Zealand soldiers killed in Afghan blast
New Zealand PM John Key vows not to "cut and run" from Afghanistan after three soldiers, including a woman, die in a huge roadside bomb blast.
ABC
New Zealand prime minister John Key vowed not to "cut and run" from Afghanistan after three New Zealand soldiers, including a woman, were killed in a huge roadside bomb blast.
The New Zealand Defence Force says the soldiers were in the last vehicle of a convoy that was hit by an an improvised explosive device in north-east Bamyan Province.
Mr Key has named the three soldiers as Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, Private Richard Harris, and Corporal Luke Tametea.
Lance Corporal Baker, a medic, is New Zealand's first female casualty in Afghanistan.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened north-west of the town of Do Abe, where another two New Zealand soldiers were killed two weeks ago.
Speaking this morning Mr Key said New Zealand, which has suffered a total of 10 deaths in Afghanistan, was looking at withdrawing its 145-member provincial reconstruction team in Bamyan in early 2013, rather than late 2013 as originally planned.
Mr Key said discussions about an early exit began before August 4, when two soldiers were killed and six wounded in what has been the bloodiest month for New Zealand troops since they deployed in 2003.
"That date, if we confirm that, which we would want to do in the next few weeks, is not something that's changed as a result of these five tragic deaths," he told Radio New Zealand.
He said there had been increased insurgent activity recently in north-east Bamyan and New Zealand would not "cut and run" before handing over to local authorities.
"It's neither practical, nor sensible, nor right for us just to abandon and cut and run today," he said.
"That wouldn't honour those 10 deaths, it wouldn't mark the enormous amount of work that we've put into Afghanistan and it just isn't the way that New Zealand operates on the international stage.
"The three brave soldiers paid the ultimate price for their selfless work and my thoughts are with their families and friends as they mourn their loved ones," he said.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
Mr Key said the attack came in the context of a growing insurgency in the Bamyan area, fuelled by a new bomb-making cell operating from a nearby province.
New Zealand's Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, said he was deeply saddened by the latest deaths.
"On behalf of the entire New Zealand Defence Force, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families, colleagues and friends of the personnel involved," he said.
Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae called the latest incident a "great tragedy".
"The soldiers were part of New Zealand's Provincial Reconstruction Team, which for many years has worked tirelessly to bring peace and security to the lives of the people of Bamyan province," he said.
"Their service has brought great credit to New Zealand and the New Zealand Defence Force."
Another 'green on blue' killing
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, an Afghan in police uniform shot and killed a NATO soldier in the south of the country on Sunday, taking the death toll from so-called 'green on blue' attacks this year to 40.
The spike in insider attacks is causing growing concern in the United States and among its NATO allies fighting the Taliban insurgency.
"An International Security Assistance Force service member died when an individual wearing an Afghan Uniformed Police uniform turned his weapon against ISAF service members in southern Afghanistan today," ISAF said.
The incident took place in the police headquarters of Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, provincial government spokesman Jaweed Faisal said.
NATO does not disclose the number of wounded in any attacks, but a provincial official said another soldier and an interpreter were injured and that the shooter was killed by return fire.
The latest death takes the toll among international coalition soldiers from insider attacks to 10 in less than two weeks, sharply eroding trust between foreign troops and the Afghans they work with.
Two American soldiers were killed in an incident on Friday, a week after six were killed in a single day on August 10. Another NATO soldier was killed three days earlier.
The green on blue toll makes up 13 per cent of all international coalition deaths this year, according to figures from NATO and a tally of total deaths kept by the icasualties.org website.
In a sign of US concern, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta called Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Saturday, urging him to crack down on the incidents.
Underscoring the security threat, US soldiers in Afghanistan last week were ordered to carry loaded weapons with them at all times, on and off base.
Senior Taliban Leader Captured in Balkh
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
A senior Taliban leader was captured in a joint Afghan and Nato operation in Chahar Bolak district of northern Balkh province on Friday, Isaf said in a statement today.
The commander who was detained acquired weapons, explosives and funds for insurgents in the area, and directed and led attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, according to the statement. He was also responsible for using extortion and other forms of intimidation against Afghan civilians.
The statement added that a joint force also arrested several insurgents during an operation to capture Haqqani-affiliated terrorists in Baraki Barak district of Logar province today. One insurgent was killed during the operation after he threatened to attack members of the joint force.
Haqqani-affiliated insurgents are believed to be responsible for directing attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Logar .
During the operation, the security force also discovered a weapons cache that included multiple heavy weapons, ammunition, improvised explosive device components, and a large amount of homemade explosive.
Illegal Building Halted by Kabul Municipality
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 18 August 2012
The head of construction at Kabul Municipality, Abdul Tawab Ahmadi, said Saturday that officials will prevent the construction of illegal buildings during the holidays. Various individuals will try to construct illegal buildings during the Eid holidays when municipality employees will not be working.
"We have started this program and we will not allow construction of illegal buildings during holidays and Eid days," Ahmadi said.
Many residents in Kabul believe that these regulations will be ignored by the powerful and wealthy.
The construction of high rise buildings has turned out to be a major problem for the city plans.
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