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http://www.newsmax.com/international/afghanistan/2007/09/19/33859.html
NATO Launches New Afghan Operation
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO forces launched a new military operation
Wednesday in Afghanistan's most violent southern province, while the
alliance said it was investigating a shipment of weapons intercepted near
the border with Iran this month.
About 2,500 Afghan and NATO troops began the operation in the Gereshk region
of Helmand province, the site of the fiercest battles this year and the
world's largest opium-producing region.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the troops would conduct
military "security and stabilization" operations in the upper Gereshk
Valley, but provided no other details.
Meanwhile, a NATO spokesman said ISAF was investigating the source of a
weapons shipment recently intercepted by troops in Farah province near the
Iranian border.
"Although we know that it came from the geographic area of Iran, there is no
definitive indication that it came from the Iranian government. We're still
evaluating what is contained in that shipment," spokesman Maj. Charles
Anthony said.
A Washington Post report Sunday said the shipment seized Sept. 6 was being
sent to the Taliban and included armor-piercing bombs similar to those that
have been used in roadside bombs against foreign troops in Iraq. NATO
previously intercepted two shipments of weapons said to be from Iran in
April and May.
NATO's top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan McNeill, has said there is no
evidence linking the Iranian government to the shipments.
Last month, President Bush said he thinks Iran is playing a destabilizing
role in Afghanistan, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Iran is
playing a helpful role in the country.
During a visit to Kabul last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said he has "serious doubts" that his country is supplying weapons to
Taliban insurgents, and called Afghanistan a "brotherly nation" whose
stability is paramount for the region.
Insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan has killed more than 4,300 people
this year, mostly militants, according to an Associated Press tally of
figures from Western and Afghan officials.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomb attack in the Garmsir district of Helmand left
eight Afghan police officers wounded, including three who were in critical
condition, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.
In other violence, Taliban militants in southern Zasbul province attacked
and killed three Afghan security guards protecting a construction project
Wednesday in Qalat, said Gulab Shah Alikhail, spokesman for the governor.
A joint operation Tuesday between Afghan forces and the Afghan intelligence
service left three militants dead in Wardak province, including a senior
member of the militant group Hezb-i Islami, which is led by renegade former
Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Defense Ministry said. Three
insurgents were wounded, and four were arrested in the operation in Nirkh
district.
Also, two militants were killed and three arrested in a joint operation by
Afghan police and coalition forces Tuesday night in Spin Ghar district of
Nangarhar province, the Interior Ministry said.
NATO Launches New Afghan Operation
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO forces launched a new military operation
Wednesday in Afghanistan's most violent southern province, while the
alliance said it was investigating a shipment of weapons intercepted near
the border with Iran this month.
About 2,500 Afghan and NATO troops began the operation in the Gereshk region
of Helmand province, the site of the fiercest battles this year and the
world's largest opium-producing region.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the troops would conduct
military "security and stabilization" operations in the upper Gereshk
Valley, but provided no other details.
Meanwhile, a NATO spokesman said ISAF was investigating the source of a
weapons shipment recently intercepted by troops in Farah province near the
Iranian border.
"Although we know that it came from the geographic area of Iran, there is no
definitive indication that it came from the Iranian government. We're still
evaluating what is contained in that shipment," spokesman Maj. Charles
Anthony said.
A Washington Post report Sunday said the shipment seized Sept. 6 was being
sent to the Taliban and included armor-piercing bombs similar to those that
have been used in roadside bombs against foreign troops in Iraq. NATO
previously intercepted two shipments of weapons said to be from Iran in
April and May.
NATO's top general in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan McNeill, has said there is no
evidence linking the Iranian government to the shipments.
Last month, President Bush said he thinks Iran is playing a destabilizing
role in Afghanistan, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said Iran is
playing a helpful role in the country.
During a visit to Kabul last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said he has "serious doubts" that his country is supplying weapons to
Taliban insurgents, and called Afghanistan a "brotherly nation" whose
stability is paramount for the region.
Insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan has killed more than 4,300 people
this year, mostly militants, according to an Associated Press tally of
figures from Western and Afghan officials.
On Wednesday, a suicide bomb attack in the Garmsir district of Helmand left
eight Afghan police officers wounded, including three who were in critical
condition, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal.
In other violence, Taliban militants in southern Zasbul province attacked
and killed three Afghan security guards protecting a construction project
Wednesday in Qalat, said Gulab Shah Alikhail, spokesman for the governor.
A joint operation Tuesday between Afghan forces and the Afghan intelligence
service left three militants dead in Wardak province, including a senior
member of the militant group Hezb-i Islami, which is led by renegade former
Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Defense Ministry said. Three
insurgents were wounded, and four were arrested in the operation in Nirkh
district.
Also, two militants were killed and three arrested in a joint operation by
Afghan police and coalition forces Tuesday night in Spin Ghar district of
Nangarhar province, the Interior Ministry said.
