Address support to terror from outside Afghanistan:India to United Nations
India ’s permanent envoy to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin has said that sustainable peace can be brought in Afghanistan by denying safe havens to the terrorist groups in its neighbourhood. “If we are to bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan, groups and individuals that perpetrate violence against the people and the Government of Afghanistan must be denied safe havens and sanctuaries in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood,” he said. Speaking on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security in UN Securit…
India’s aim to arm Afghan forces may anger Pakistan
India has signed an agreement under which it will pay Russia to supply arms and equipment to the Afghan military as foreign combat troops prepare to leave the country, in a move that risks infuriating Pakistan. Under the deal, smaller arms such as light artillery and mortars will be sourced from Russia and moved to Afghanistan. But it could eventually involve the transfer of heavy artillery, tanks and even combat helicopters that the Afghans have been asking India for since last ye…
$1trillion cost of longest US war hastens retreat from military intervention
The Afghanistan war, the longest overseas conflict in American history, has cost the US taxpayer nearly $1tn and will require spending several hundred billion dollars more after it officially ends this month , according to Financial Times calculations and independent researchers. Around 80 per cent of that spending on the Afghanistan conflict has taken place during the presidency of Barack Obama, who sharply increased the US military presence in the country after taking office in 2009. The enormous bill for the 13-year conf…
India and Pakistan 'battle' for Afghanistan
Experts say the impending departure of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan could push India and Pakistan toward a proxy war in the conflict-ridden state, as New Delhi and Islamabad fight for influence in the country. "The danger for Pakistan is the Indian influence in Afghanistan," former Pakistani President and Army Chief Pervez Musharraf recently told the AFP news agency in an interview in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. "They (India) want to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan." "If…
American troops in Afghanistan drops to 8,600 as Taliban make big changes ahead of expected talks
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement’s feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan. American troops in Afghanistan returning As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob brings his father’s fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield. Equally signifi…
Major U.S. Army division ends operations in Afghanistan 13 years after it arrived
The U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division formally concluded its operations in Afghanistan on Tuesday, another sign that the war is drawing to a close even as American commanders are evaluating whether they will have enough resources to support the fledgling Afghan military. After five tours in Afghanistan since 2001, four of which included operations in the country’s volatile and dangerous eastern provinces, most of the soldiers from the division will be en route to Fort Drum in New York by Wednesday afternoon. A few dozen soldiers…
Indian Defense News: Former Taliban Commander Who Joined ISIS Is Said to Be Killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — A former Taliban commander who had recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group was killed in a military operation in Helmand Province on Monday, according to Afghan officials and a tribal elder in the area. Precise details were unavailable. In announcing the death of the commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim, the Afghan spy agency said that it had been tracking him for a month, and that he and five of his men had been killed in a “successful military operation” in the Kajaki district of …
India begins training Afghan commandos in Rajasthan
India is training a group of Afghan special forces in the deserts of Rajasthan, army officials said on Friday, deepening its involvement with Afghanistan as its military prepares to secure the country after NATO’s withdrawal in 2014. Afghan military officers have been attending courses in India for years, but this is the first time members of its special forces have held joint exercises with Indian commandos. Afghanistan has been pressing India for military equipment including helicopters, tanks and field guns as well as greater invol…
Afghan reconciliation process should not confer legitimacy to insurgent groups: India
Throwing its weight behind Afghanistan on the issue of Taliban opening a political office in Doha, India on Friday said reconciliation process should not undermine legitimate Afghan government or confer legitimacy to insurgent groups. "The reconciliation process should not seek to create equivalence between an internationally recognised Afghan government and insurgent groups, confer legitimacy to insurgent groups or convey the impression of two competing state authorities for Afghanistan," external affairs ministry spokespers…
US military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,208
At least 2,208 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The AP count is three less than the Defense Department’s tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT. At least 1,828 military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers. Outside of Afghanistan, the department reports at least 136 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Oper…
Before US pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse
KABUL, Afghanistan — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S .’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance. The report was declassified Tuesday. Joe Biden The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, submitted to the Department of Defense in January 2021, underscores that American authorities had been alerted that Afghanistan’s air force did not have the capab…
US Envoy Raises Concerns About Attacks Against Hindus and Sinks In Afghanistan
Kabul: US Special Envoy Rina Amiri has raised concerns about the escalating attacks against Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan . On Saturday, Islamic State attacked Karte Parwan Gurdwara in which two people were killed and several others got injured. Gunmen had tried to storm the temple on Saturday morning and all were killed after a standoff that lasted several hours. "Deeply concerned about the escalating attacks against Afghanistan's Hindus & Sikhs. Afghanistan's rich diversity is its greatest treasure. A threat against one gr…
Germany and Italy to keep up to 1,350 soldiers in Afghanistan
Germany and Italy plan to keep a total of up to 1,350 soldiers in Afghanistan in 2015 to help train local armed forces, their defense ministries said on Tuesday, a slightly larger contingent than had been previously expected. After more than a decade of combat operations in Afghanistan , where Taliban insurgents remain a major security threat, NATO plans to refocus next year on its core mission of defending Europe and North America. But the United States and other nations want to keep thousands of troops there for counte…
US Relationship with Pakistan are extraordinarily complicated: Defense News
WASHINGTON: Describing the US' relationship with Pakistan as extraordinarily complicated, the outgoing Obama administration has hoped that President-elect Donald Trump would deepen counter-terrorism cooperation with the country to make America a safer place. "Obviously, the United States has an extraordinarily complicated relationship, particularly when it comes to national security with Pakistan," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday. "There are some areas where the United States and Pakis…
Karzai suspends talks with U.S. over Taliban agreement
The Afghan president on Wednesday suspended talks with the United States on a new security deal to protest the way his government was being left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban meant to find a way to end the nearly 12-year war. The move by Hamid Karzai raises tensions significantly and could derail the peace process even before it has begun. In a terse statement from his office, Karzai said negotiations with the U.S. on what American and coalition security forces will remain in the country after 2014 have been put o…
Taliban Make Big Changes Ahead of Expected Talks with Kabul
ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have put the son of the movement's feared founder in charge of their military wing and added several powerful figures to their negotiating team, Taliban officials said. The shake-up, one of the most significant in years, comes ahead of expected talks with Kabul aimed at ending decades of war in Afghanistan. As head of a newly united military wing, 30-year-old Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob brings his father's fiercely uncompromising reputation to the battlefield. Equally significant is the addition of four member…
U.S. military role in Afghanistan will still be combat
President Barack Obama may not call what American troops will do in Afghanistan next year “combat,” but he has quietly laid the groundwork for continuing battle against the Taliban. Obama has authorized the military to provide air support to Afghan troops next year after the U.S. has completed the transition to its “advise- and-assist” mission, the White House says. At the same time, administration officials say they aren’t increasing the number of troops, slowing the drawdown or changing their mission, but are allowing commanders …
'Streets safer' after Afghan mission, says General Sir Nicholas Houghton
The UK's top military officer says the "streets of the United Kingdom are safer" because of the Afghan mission. Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicholas Houghton said the "prime strategic purpose" of having troops in the country had been achieved. "In the last 13/14 years there has not been a single international terrorist attack launched from Afghanistan," he said. Britain's 13-year war in Afghanistan ended last month. More than 450 UK troops died during the conflict, and as …
Antony Blinken US Secretary of State arrives in India
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday evening with a focus on the expansion of bilateral ties between India and US , regional issues including Afghanistan, global terrorism, Indo-pacific, among other issues with Indian officials. On Wednesday, the US top diplomat will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. This will be Blinken's first visit to India after assuming the office. In the defence domain, both sides are expected to explore ways and means to deepen their collab…
US Army Struggles With War-Zone Inventory
WASHINGTON — As the Defense Department retrogrades mountains of equipment from Afghanistan, the US Army has failed to effectively report $419.5 million worth of equipment that may have gone missing, according to a recent DoD Inspector General’s (DODIG’s) audit. Some 15,600 pieces of equipment lost from the Bagram and Kandahar property redistribution yards were not reported in a timely manner by the unit responsible for tracking it, the 401st Army Field Support Brigade, according to the Oct. 30 audit. Once the inspectors made their …
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