Afghan War News Snippets

Insider Attack Casualty Identified. The Soldier killed in the most recent insider attack in Afghanistan came from Whitinsville, Massachusetts. It is a small village within the town of Northbridge, MA. SPC John Dawson was killed in the IT attack on Wednesday. He was a combat medic with the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell. (CBS Boston, Apr 9, 2015).

VBIED Attack Kabul City. On Friday afternoon (10 Apr) there was an attack on a logistics convoy with casualties reported. There are reports of three U.S. wounded and three Afghan civilians killed.

Ghazni - Roadside Bomb Kills Civilians. As many as twelve civilians were killed when a roadside bomb blew up a car full of people traveling to a wedding in Ghazni province on Friday. (Townhall.com, April 10, 2015).

Jalalabad Convoy Attack. Four civilians were killed and 12 wounded in a suicide attack near a convoy of Resolute Support troops on Friday. (Washington Post, Apr 10, 2015).

NGO Workers Killed. Five "Save the Children" workers were killed in Uruzgan province after they were kidnapped last month. (Pajhwok Afghan News, April 10).

MeS Courthouse Attack. Reports say that 18 were killed and over 100 wounded in the attack on the Mazar-e-Sharif courthouse in Balkh province on Thursday.

Attacks in Badakhshan. Several Afghan National Army posts were attacked in Badakhshan province. Some of the posts are no longer occupied by the ANA. (Tolo News, Apr 10, 2015).

Haqqani Network's 'Caravan of Heroes'. The Haqqani Network has released a 61 minute long video explaining its bombing attacks against the Coalition and ANSF. (The Long War Journal, Apr 10, 2015).

31 Hazara Hostages. "Inside the two seized buses, terrified passengers prayed to remain in their seats. The masked gunmen had collected their identification cards and snatched their cell phones, survivors would later recall. Next, they separated the males from females and Sunni Muslims from Shiite Muslims. Finally, they ordered the Shiite males - all ethnic Hazaras - off the buses". Read more in "After suffering under the Taliban, an Afghan minority faces new threats", The Washington Post, April 10, 2015).

Rule of Law - The Military's Role. Some good reading for the Resolute Support Essential Function 3 advisors working in the MoI and MoD. An article by Patrick Reinert and John F. Hussey entitled "The Military's Role in Rule of Law Development" (Joint Force Quarterly, April 1, 2015 - National Defense University Press) provides some background into the RoL efforts of ISAF and the future responsibilities of the U.S. military in regards to RoL in conflicts to come.

MoD Fuel Scandel - $100 Million. The fuel corruption within the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan appears to be quite massive. Reports indicate that more than $100 million was overcharged by Afghan fuel companies with the approval of senior officials from the MoD. One official was paid over $5 million as a bribe for his part in the corruption. Read the news report (Tolo News, April 9, 2015).

U.S. - Pakistan - Ground Hog Day. Read commentary about the U.S. and Pakistan relationship in an article by C. Christine Fair (a noted observer of AfPak affairs) published in War on the Rocks, April 9, 2015.

Afghanistan to Buy Mi-35 Helicopters. According to Shakir Kargar, a special envoy to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan will soon buy Mi-35 Attack Helicopters from Russia for its Afghan Air Force. Read more in a news report (Khaama Press, Apr 10, 2015).

Canada's 'Project Heroes' Exhibit. An exhibit has opened in Canada's Government House that celebrates the lives of the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. See a news story by Global News, April 10, 2015.

Report - "Afghan Civil Society: Tradition facing the future". Amy Strand, Deputy Director for the CMI Instutue of the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies has wrote a report (dated March 2015) on the development of robust civil society organizations.

Retrograde Slows. The op tempo of closing bases in Afghanistan has slowed due to the recent decision to take a knee in the withdrawal of advisors from the corps advisor platforms (TAACs). Read more in a news report in Army Times (Apr 10, 2015).

MG James Post (USAF) Fired Over A-10 'Treason' Comments. The Air Force general has been fired from his position and issued a letter of reprimand. He got himself in hot water after some inappropriate remarks about the A-10 Warthog. Air Force Times, April 10, 2015.

10th SFGA earns FBI's Highest Award. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) awarded members of the 10th Special Forces Group the agency's highest recognition for their work in countering IED networks in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2009. (DVIDS, Apr 9, 2015).

BAF Emergency Response Tests. Bagram Airfield recently tested its base defense and emergency response procedures. Learn more in a news report by army.mil, April 10, 2015.
www.army.mil/article/146226/

Russian IO Machine Now Available in Pashto. Sputnik Multimedia Group launched its Pashto-language website on Friday. If you want the Russian government's perspective on Afghanistan then you know what to read! Of course, you will need to know Pashto. http://pashto.sputniknews.com/

Mumbai Attack Suspect Released. Pakistan, the country that is renouncing terrorism and helping Afghanistan defeat the Taliban, has just released a prime suspect in the Mumbai, India attack from jail. He is one of seven men facing trial over the attacks which left 166 people dead. Mr. Lakhvi is accused of heading the Lashkar-e-Taiba group (LeT). (BBC News, April 10, 2015).
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32250763