Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

World's Medical Leaders Help Afghans Combat Disease

2008-05-09T10:08:22-07:00

'World's Medical Leaders Help Afghans Combat Disease', ReliefWeb / Government of the United States of America, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Medical leaders from coalition forces and international medical organizations gathered at the Jirga Center here May 5 for an all-day seminar to discuss infectious diseases that plague the Afghan population. The seminar featured presentations by experts from Afghanistan’s Public Health Ministry and the World Health Organization. 'The purpose of this seminar is to train U.S. and coalition doctors to treat Afghans the Afghan way,' said Army Lt. Col. Mendalose Harris, a public health nurse assigned to Combined Joint Task Force 101 in Afghanistan. Dr. Ahmad Jan Naeem, director of policy and planning at the Afghan Public Health Ministry, discussed the importance of infectious disease control. Most deaths in Afghanistan are a result of infectious diseases, he said. Dr. Sha Muhamad Rahim, a staff officer at the Public Health Ministry, spoke of five strategies being developed to combat infectious diseases."

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US Deploys More Than 43,000 Unfit For Combat

2008-05-09T09:26:48-07:00

'US Deploys More Than 43,000 Unfit For Combat', USA Today, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show. This reliance on troops found medically "non-deployable" is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million servicemembers to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups say. 'It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops,' said Bobby Muller, president of Veterans For America. 'They are repeatedly exposed to high-intensity combat with insufficient time at home to rest and heal before redeploying.' The numbers of non-deployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel at each military installation before a servicemember's deployment.

See also:
'Prior assault boosts PTSD risk after combat', Reuters, 9 May 2008

New Figures Reveal Scope Of Afghan Mission's Mental Toll

2008-05-09T09:07:55-07:00

'New Figures Reveal Scope Of Afghan Mission's Mental Toll', Canada.com, 7 May 2008

EXCERPT: "At least 1,500 of the 20,000 men and women who have served in the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan since 2001 have suffered from service-related stress conditions, including post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression or addiction, according to federal government figures released Wednesday. The figures were provided by the Department of National Defence as Greg Thompson, the federal minister of Veteran Affairs, announced the planned creation of a clinic in Ottawa for servicemen and women struggling with a range of 'mental injuries.' The Ottawa clinic, which is expected to treat between 100 and 150 clients annually after it opens at the end of the year, is one of several planned across the country."

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"Time to talk to Taliban"

2008-05-09T09:03:58-07:00

'"Time to talk to Taliban"', The Australian, 9 May 2008

EXCERPT: "A key adviser and cousin of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has warned that fighting in the strife-torn country could drag on for 10 years or more unless the insurgent Taliban are politically engaged. Hekmat Karzai said that although Afghans largely welcomed the international forces, which include an Australian deployment of 1000, the support would not last forever. Mr Karzai, director of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies in Kabul, said: 'Not only the military but politicians have realised that in Afghanistan the military is not going to win the battle. We need to have less military action and more political manoeuvring.' In Sydney to speak at the Council for Asia Terrorism Research, hosted by Macquarie University's Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter-terrorism, Mr Karzai said 85 to 90 per cent of the Taliban fighters were motivated financially rather than ideologically. The Afghan Government could not negotiate with the al-Qa'ida militants, he said, but dealing with the Taliban was a different matter."

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Related posts:
'Face to face with a Taliban commander', 6 May 2008
'Talking to the Taliban', 25 March 2008
'We can persuade the Taliban to be peaceful: Expelled UN official', 18 February 2008

Afghanistan Receives US-Acquired AN-32 Transports

2008-05-09T09:00:36-07:00

'Afghanistan Receives US-Acquired AN-32 Transports', Flight Global, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The Afghan National Army Air Corps has received its first two of four Antonov An-32 transports acquired through the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) under a unique Foreign Military Sales arrangement. Purchased from commercial sources in Kiev, Ukraine, following technical inspections completed by navy personnel, the newly acquired aircraft form part of an initiative intended to provide Afghanistan’s armed forces with a credible aviation component as part of NATO-led reconstruction effort inside the country. Afghanistan’s existing An-32 inventory has operated since 1989 with no logistics support infrastructure, according to NAVAIR, which has also purchased support systems for the nation’s latest aircraft."

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Afghan "Spring Offensive" A Myth: US Commander

2008-05-09T08:53:05-07:00

'Afghan "Spring Offensive" A Myth: US Commander', Reuters, 9 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The commander of U.S. forces in southeast Afghanistan on Friday dismissed suggestions of any renewed Taliban offensive, saying fighting might pick up in some areas but a full-on offensive was a myth. 'There is no such thing as a spring offensive,' Colonel Pete Johnson, the commander of a taskforce from the 101st Airborne Division that is responsible for security in six Afghan provinces along the border with Pakistan, told Reuters. 'I think this year this myth is finally going to be debunked. Last year was the same thing -- it never materialised. This year it has not materialised and it won't materialise. Will there be increases in fighting and insurgent activity. Absolutely. But it's a weather-based construct, a seasonal construct, not a deliberate execution of an offensive. Increased activity is not a coordinated offensive.'"

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Inquiries Into Abuse Claims By Taliban

2008-05-09T08:42:14-07:00

'Inquiries Into Abuse Claims By Taliban', The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 May 2008

EXCERPT: " Three separate investigations are under way into allegations that Australian troops maltreated Afghan civilians who were captured during a raid on a bomb-making operation on April 30. The Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal, Angus Houston, said an initial inquiry carried out in the country by the ADF indicated there was no truth in the allegations. However, he had immediately sent two teams to Afghanistan to investigate further. One team consists of military police, who he said would thoroughly investigate the allegations. The second team would carry a longer-term administrative investigation to see if any issues emerged that needed to be dealt with. The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has also launched its own investigation, headed by a British colonel. Air Chief Marshal Houston said the allegations related to a raid carried out by Australian troops on the bomb-making operation just north of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt."

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See also:
'Australia to investigate Afghan prisoner mistreatment claims', Voice of America, 9 May 2008
'Australia launches abuse inquiry', BBC News, 9 May 2008

NATO Could End Rotating Command In Southern Afghanistan

2008-05-09T08:33:13-07:00

'NATO Could End Rotating Command In Southern Afghanistan', Agence France Presse, 9 May 2008

EXCERPT: "NATO could change its rotating command of southern Afghanistan and give the role to a single country, amid concern that the current system is boosting the Taliban insurgency, NATO's top US general said Thursday. 'Everything is open,' General Bantz Craddock told AFP when asked how command of the Taliban hotbed area, which currently alternates between Canada, Britain and the Netherlands, was likely to change. Craddock said he received a letter from the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, saying 'it would be better if we had one country take lead as opposed to rotate.' ISAF includes 47,000 soldiers from 40 countries who work alongside a separate US-led coalition numbering about 20,000 and the Afghan security forces to defeat extremist violence."

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Bulgarian Troops To Leave Kabul By Summer

2008-05-08T10:12:16-07:00

'Bulgarian Troops To Leave Kabul By Summer', Sofia Echo, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The Bulgarian military contingent would leave its responsibility zone in Afghan capital Kabul by summer, Sega daily reported on May 8, quoting unnamed sources in the Bulgarian Defence Ministry. Local authorities had firmly insisted before the Nato command in charge of the operation that the Afghan police take over the security of the city in several months' time. The 200 Bulgarian soldiers, who have served under the Italian command for two years, would be given new tasks, Sega daily said. The Cabinet is yet to discuss several options. It is possible that the contingent, again under Italian command, would head to the northern part of Afghanistan, where the alliance commanders intend to station it. But there was also the possibility that the 200 Bulgarian rangers would be deployed in the turbulent city of Kandahar, where another 220 Bulgarian soldiers are already guarding the local airport."

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Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan

2008-05-08T10:08:31-07:00

'Illicit Drug Trends in Afghanistan', United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, April 2008

EXCERPT: "Trends in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan have been on an upward trajectory since the early 1990s, accelerating quickly after the fall of the Taliban government. In 2007, opium poppy cultivation reached an all-time high of 193,000 ha with the majority of cultivation (69 percent) occurring in the five southern provinces. Concomitant with the rise in opium poppy cultivation has been the rise in opium production. 2007 witnessed a substantial 34 percent increase in opium production reaching 8,200 metric tons. This increase in production in Afghanistan combined with effective efforts at limiting production in other countries has made Afghanistan virtually the sole supplier of opium, accounting for 93 percent of global production.

"Approximately two-thirds of the opium produced in Afghanistan is converted into heroin or morphine before export. Traditionally, the processing of opium into heroin occurred in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, notably Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, with very few heroin production facilities located within Afghanistan. Recent years however have seen an increase in the number of laboratories moving upstream along smuggling routes and Afghanistan itself is now a major centre not just for opium production but also for its conversion."

To continue reading the report, click here [pdf].