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NATO Forces Take Over Command In Afghanistan
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Nato forces are to take over the command of ISAF
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Additional
reporting By Nadeem Shakir, IOL Baghdad Correspondent
KABUL,
July 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A squad of NATO troops
arrived in Kabul Sunday, July 13, ahead of the organization's takeover
of command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which
patrols the city, an ISAF spokesman said.
"Forty
two NATO soldiers arrived in Kabul by plane this morning,"
Colonel Thomas Loebbering told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"An
advance NATO team is already present in the Afghan capital to prepare
for the takeover of ISAF command," he said.
NATO
is due to takeover command of ISAF, which comprises about 4,600
personnel from 28 countries -- of which only 14 are members of the
trans-Atlantic alliance, on August 11.
The
peacekeeping force, which operates under U.N. mandate, has been under
joint German and Dutch command since February 2003. It has also been
helmed by Turkey and Britain since its creation after the 2001 fall of
the Taliban.
Under
NATO's command it will consist mainly of Canadian soldiers.
"From
now and until August 11, the arrival of NATO soldiers will be regular,
at a rate of approximately twice a week," Loebbering said.
NATO's
mission in Afghanistan, to be directed by German General Goetz
Gliemeroth and Canadian Andrew Leslie, will be the alliance's first
operation outside Europe.
‘Bomb
Explosion’
In
the meanwhile, a makeshift bomb exploded near a U.N. building in the
eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad but there were no casualties, a
United Nations spokesman said Sunday.
Manuel
de Almeida e Silva told reporters the device exploded Saturday, July
12, blasting a large hole in the wall of a warehouse rented by German
non-governmental organization GTZ from the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees.
"Fortunately,
there were no casualties. It appears that the device was planted
against the wall (of the building) which was unoccupied except for
some guards," he said.
Authorities
have opened an investigation into the bombing, the latest in a string
of small attacks against U.N. and other international targets in
Afghanistan that have produced no casualties.
The
attack came one day before Afghan forces seized 300 rocket-propelled
grenades and dozens of anti-tank mines in a raid on an alleged Taliban
hideout near the Pakistan border.
Taliban
fighters guarding the camp escaped the government swoop, an Afghan
commander was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The
haul included 300 rocket-propelled grenades, dozens of anti-tank
mines, 20 AK-47 rifles and various types of ammunition and explosives.
Afghan
Police Attacked
Afghan
forces came under a number of attacks during the last few days, amid
rising discontent among people.
Four
suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol to the south of
Kandahar city Saturday evening, a provincial security official said.
The southern city was the Taliban powerbase during their rule.
Two
policemen, including the patrol commander, were wounded, but the
gunmen escaped after an hour-long battle, the official said.
On
Saturday, unidentified gunmen shot and injured an Afghan military
commander and his driver near the southern city of Kandahar, in the
latest of a series of violent incidents to hit the former Taliban
stronghold.
The
commander was on his way home late Saturday when his vehicle was
ambushed by two assailants at Tuluqan village, Kandahar security chief
general Mohammed Akram said.
"Four
bodyguards of the commander fired back but the attackers managed to
escape," he said.
Akram
said security forces mounted an operation in the area following the
attack and arrested four suspects.
Akram
accused Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces of staging the attack and said the
four suspects were Taliban members.
Skirmishes
Also
Saturday, two pro-government Afghan soldiers were wounded in a
skirmish with Pakistani troops along Afghanistan border with Pakistan.
"There
was fresh fighting for a few hours late on Saturday between members of
the Afghan border patrol and the Pakistani military," Haji Ibrar,
a security official based in the main eastern city of Jalalabad said.
Ibrar
said the fighting, the latest in a series of incidents involving
Pakistani troops along the mountainous border between the two
countries, prompted the residents of two nearby villages to flee their
homes.
Elders
in the surrounding province of Nangarhar, particularly tribesmen
living near the border, say Pakistani troops have been infiltrating up
to 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) into Afghan territory for the past three
weeks.
During
this period, Pakistani troops, Afghan pro-government soldiers and
Pakistani tribal militia have been clashing almost daily over disputed
land.
Pakistani
officials have admitted the sporadic clashes, but denied incursions
into Afghanistan.
Tensions
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the main backer of the now-ousted
Taliban regime, have increased recently.
‘Failure’
With
the arrival of NATO forces, many analysts here deemed the ISAF mission
a failure so far, as the war-dashed country is still descended into
chaos and anarchy since the beginning of the U.S. military invasion in
2001.
"ISAF
only takes action only when its forces come under attack. It turns a
blind eye over acts of looting and pillaging and leaves matters into
the hands of unqualified Afghan police," one analyst told
Islamonline.net on condition of anonymity.
The
analyst cited the attack on the Pakistani Embassy by dozens of
demonstrators last week and the killing of five Afghan soldiers by the
U.S. military.
"The
ISAF did not move to take any action towards the two incidents,"
he added.
Other
analysts also lamented that ISAF soldiers deem most Afghans Al-Qaeda
or Taliban suspected members.
The
situation is therefore worse in areas outside Kabul, where war lords
and militias hold dominance.
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