Archive for August, 2009

Summary

Upon taking office, the Obama Administration faced a deteriorating security environment in Afghanistan, despite a build-up of U.S. forces there in preceding years, including an expanding militant presence in some areas, increasing numbers of civilian and military deaths, Afghan and international disillusionment with corruption in the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and the infiltration of Taliban militants from safe havens in Pakistan. Building on assessments completed in the latter days of the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration conducted a “strategic review,” the results of which were announced on March 27, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Pakistan Taliban on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack near the Afghan border that killed 22 policemen, saying it was their first retaliation for their leader’s death. A suicide bomber got into barracks near the Torkham border crossing late Thursday when officers were preparing to break their fast for Ramadan. Officials said the attacker triggered explosives strapped to his body, killing 21 people and wounding 15 others. One more died of injuries overnight, they said. “We claim responsibility for the blast,” Azam Tariq, spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said in a telephone call from an unknown location. “This is our first response since the death of our chief Baitullah Mehsud,” Tariq told AFP. “We will continue similar attacks in the future also.” He said “the victims of the suicide attack were all those supporting the United States. Anybody supporting the US is our enemy.”

Feared warlord Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft on August 5. His death was confirmed by Taliban commanders on Tuesday. Thursday’s bombing came hours after a US drone attack killed eight people in the nortHwestern tribal area of South Waziristan. Al-Qaeda’s number two Ayman Read the rest of this entry »

The Afghan army has taken direct control of security in the southern city of Kandahar after the deadliest attack in the country in more than a year. The move is supposed to be temporary and is part of a new security plan for the city. It comes after Kandahar was hit by two major attacks in as many days. On Tuesday at least 40 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a truck bombing. Twenty-four hours later a rocket hit the city’s main square, destroying several stores. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Zeina Khodr, who is in Kandahar, says the two attacks have prompted Afghan authorities to change the way they deal with security in what is regarded as the country’s most dangerous city. She said that prior to the attacks the many different security agencies that operate in Kandahar rarely cooperated or shared information, contributing to lapses in security. Mohammed Riza, a soldier with the Afghan army, told Al Jazeera the military was better trained to maintain security in the city and had better resources than the local police. “The police force is weak,” he said. “They only have one magazine of bullets – our soldiers have 15.” International forces, particularly Canadian troops, are helping to support the Afghan army, strengthening security at the entrances to the city.

The mayor of Kandahar province, Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, said they were praying for such incidents never to happen again. Memorial

Kandahar residents have become used to years of violence, but the scale of the recent attacks, particularly Tuesday’s truck bombing, has left many stunned. On Thursday Afghan officials and local residents held a memorial in honour of the attack victims by slaughtering a cow. According to the Afghan interior ministry, Tuesday’s blast came from remote-controlled explosives planted in a truck, but it is not known who planted the device. A Taliban spokesman on Wednesday denied any responsibility, and said that the group condemned the attack. The recent violence in Kandahar comes as the war-torn country awaits results from last week’s election. According to the latest results Hamid Karzai, the incumbent president, has extended his lead over his top challenger Abdullah Abdullah, although he remains short of the 50 per cent he needs to avoid a two-man runoff.

Judges at India’s Supreme Court have agreed to make public details about their financial assets following an intense public debate. Analyst Manoj Mitta says a lot more needs to be done to make India’s judiciary transparent.

Given the circumstances in which judges of India’s Supreme Court finally agreed to make declarations of their assets public, it seems to be a case of too little, too late. A lot more needs to be done to restore the huge amount of credibility they have lost in recent months over this issue of transparency. The decision taken by the 23 sitting judges at a special meeting this week seems to be more a damage control exercise than a change of heart. This is because Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, for instance, has said nothing yet on whether he has changed his mind about his oft-quoted fear that the disclosure of assets might prompt people to harass judges with frivolous allegations. Read the rest of this entry »

A former leader of India’s opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has challenged the decision by an Indian state to ban his book.

The BJP government in Gujarat banned Jaswant Singh’s book on Pakistan’s founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Mr Singh has filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the ban. He was expelled from the party last week. The state said it banned the book for “defamatory references” to India’s first home minister Vallabhbhai Patel. The late Mr Patel is a political icon in his home state of Gujarat. Described often as the “Iron Man of India”, Mr Patel played an important role in the country’s independence and the integration of the different states in the Indian union. Jaswant Singh said he was “saddened” by the ban. Read the rest of this entry »