Afghan insurgent attacks falling, says US-led coalition

KABUL: International forces in Afghanistan have released new data showing violence trending downward in their favor, only a day after the UN reported considerably more clashes and other attacks per month than last year.
The quick scheduling of the news conference to unveil the statistics underscored Nato’s sensitivity about how the war is perceived back home as the US and other nations start to withdraw some forces with an eye toward pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014.
Nato’s statistics, released Thursday, show that insurgent attacks in the first eight months of the year were down two per cent compared with the same period last year.
The UN report, by contrast, found that the monthly average number of clashes and other attacks was running nearly 40 per cent higher than last year.
The UN study measured not only Taliban attacks but also assaults by Nato and Afghan forces on insurgents; it did not provide a breakdown between the two.
The coalition cited methodological differences between the two surveys: The UN report counted a wide range of security incidents that the Nato report did not, including arrests and seizures of weapons caches.
Nevertheless, both sets of figures confirm that Taliban fighters continue to display resilience despite US claims of advances against the insurgents in their southern strongholds.
The militants have opened new fronts in the north and west and have stepped up attacks in the east, including high-profile suicide bombings inside the heavily secured capital, Kabul.
That resilience renews questions about whether the Afghan government and its Western allies have a solid grip on security, and whether the Afghan forces can ever secure the nation by themselves.
In a briefing at Nato headquarters in Kabul, the coalition said the Taliban were relying more on roadside bombs to fight the war instead of shooting at better-armed international troops.
Roadside bomb activity, which includes both explosions and attempted bombings, rose 25 per cent in the eight-month period compared with last year.
Direct-fire attacks from insurgents fell by 30 per cent in June through August compared to the same period last year.
”The actual enemy-initiated attacks are down,” said German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the coalition. ”That is what we are observing as an indicator that actually violence trends are going down in our favor.”
The coalition defines ”enemy-initiated attacks” as all militant actions, such as direct and indirect fire, shooting at aircraft from the ground, roadside bombings and mine strikes. Potential or attempted attacks by militants are not included in this figure.
Since May of this year, the monthly number of these attacks has been lower than the same month in 2010, something not seen since 2007, the coalition said.
Moreover, the coalition said that in 17 of the past 22 weeks, these attacks were lower than the same week of last year.
”The important thing is that we are looking at a decrease overall in comparison to last year … with a higher number of troops” in the country, Jacobson said.
Coalition officials at the briefing said the international force expected a 17 per cent to 30 per cent increase in insurgent-initiated attacks this year partly because of the 10,000 to 25,000 additional coalition forces and 60,000 more Afghan security forces compared with 2010.
In the first eight months of the year, 405 international troops were killed in Afghanistan —16 per cent fewer than the 483 who died in the same period last year, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
Jacobson said the coalition and the UN need to put their reports side-by-side to find out how the data is being compiled.
”This doesn’t mean there is controversy or there is a conflict,” he said. ”It just means that we are looking at certain incidents from a certain angle and different perspective.”
Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy to Afghanistan, also insisted there was no conflict between the different assessments.
He told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan had improved ”in a purely military way,” but at the same time there has been an increase in civilian casualties.
In a midyear report, the UN said 1,462 Afghan civilians lost their lives in the crossfire of the battle between Taliban insurgents and Afghan, US and Nato forces.
During the first half of last year, 1,271 Afghan civilians were killed, mostly by roadside bombs.
That UN report said airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition remained the leading cause of civilian deaths by pro-government forces.
In the first six months of the year, 79 civilian deaths were attributed to air strikes —up 14 per cent from the same period last year, the UN report said.

Pakistan must eliminate militant safe havens, says Clinton

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday renewed calls on Pakistan to eliminate safe havens that militants use to launch attacks into Afghanistan, while calling for better US-Pakistani ties.
“We’re certainly making clear that we want to see an end to safe havens and any kind of support from anywhere for terrorists inside Pakistan,” Clinton told reporters.
“And we also want to continue to work to put our relationship (with Pakistan) on a stronger footing,” the chief US diplomat said as US-Pakistani ties appeared worse than ever.
The Pakistani government and opposition leaders on Thursday closed ranks against increasing US pressure for action against the Haqqani network, refusing to be pressured into doing more in the war on terror.
The group, allegedly based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, was founded by former CIA asset Jalaluddin Haqqani and is run by his son Sirajuddin. It is blamed for attacks on US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Despite the “serious questions” that Washington has about Pakistan’s support for militants, Clinton said, “we have a lot of interests that are in common, most particularly the fight against terrorism.”

Khar, Lavrov express resolve to work for regional stability, prosperity

Pakistan News: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and her Russian counterpart expressed their firm resolve to work together for stability and prosperity of the region, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, said a message here from Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations, New York.The two sides expressed satisfaction over the existing bilateral ties between the two countries.

The two Foreign Ministers also discussed prospects of enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries particularly in the sectors of metallurgy, mining, energy, transport and civil aviation.

Issues related to regional peace and security, including the situation in Afghanistan, also came under discussion.Sergei Lavrov also extended invitation to Hina Rabbani Khar to visit Russia.

Militants attack 35 killed on Pak-Afghan border

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Pakistan News / Bajaur – At least 35 militants were killed when security forces repulsed their attacks at Kharkai and Binshahi border area in district Dir official sources said, E Pakistan News Reported.

Talking to E Pakistan News Staff the ISPR divisional head Lt. Col Arif said that hundreds of Afghan militants attacked security forces in Kharkai and Binshahi area when they were setting up check posts on the border.

He said the Pakistan army, Frontier Corps and volunteers of a local militia took part in operations against militants who had crossed the border. “This time militants have left dead bodies of the killed terrorists inside the Pakistani territory, “the ISPR spokesman said.

About security forces` casualty he said by the race of Allah none of its jawan had been hurt. The report could not be confirmed through independent sources as the border area had been without communication system.

Clashes between the Pakistani army and militants from across the border at Kharkai and Binshahi top in Dir Lower have become a routine and on Sept 24 officials here had claimed killing of 15 militants. Two personnel of security forces were killed while three others had injured in that clash.

The ISPR spokesman said that personnel of the Paksitan army that had launched successful offensive in Swat had been deployed on the Pak-Afghan border at Miskini Darra and Binshahi Darra.

He said that militants were carryng out attacks on Pakistani security forces which were being repulsed by the later. On Sept 15 a suicide bomber had blew himself up at Sadbar village not very far from the Pak Afghan border at Miskini Darra. The blast had killed 45 people and injured 100 others when they were offering a Funeral prayer

On Pakistan, Mullen plays Bad Cop, but Hillary plays Good Cop: report

Top Obama administration officials have divided up responsibilities for applying pressure and offering an outstretched hand to the Pakistani government, in a new diplomatic strategy that some officials have dubbed "coercive diplomacy."

"The Obama administration is totally fed up and have decided to up the ante," said one official familiar with the new approach, explaining that inside the administration, "pressing for Pakistani behavior change is the new mantra."

Outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who has visited Pakistan 27 times since 2008, clearly assumed the role of "bad cop" when he testified on Sept. 22 that the U.S. government believes the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, with the help of Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was responsible for the recent bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Mullen upped the ante further, saying the Haqqani network was a "veritable arm" of the ISI, a charge anonymous U.S. officials walked back on Tuesday.

Also heading up the "bad cop" team is new Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who seemed to threaten increased U.S. military incursions into Pakistan on Sept. 16. An official familiar with the strategy said that even more threatening statements by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who declared on Sept. 25 that there would be broad bipartisan support for U.S. military attack on Pakistan, were coordinated with the administration as part of their new campaign to apply pressure on Pakistan. The State Department is also considering whether to add the entire Haqqani network to its list of foreign terrorist organizations, but no decision has yet been made.

The administration may also be using the media as part of its new campaign to exert new pressure on Pakistan. On Monday, a story appeared in the New York Times with an excruciatingly detailed account of a 2007 ambush of American officials by Pakistani militants.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is leading a parallel "good cop" effort with the Pakistani government. She has sought ways out of the current diplomatic crisis by increasing her personal engagement with her Pakistani counterparts, as evidenced by her three-and-a-half hour meeting with new Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Sept. 18 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

According to one official inside the meeting, Clinton told Khar, "We want this relationship to work. Give us something to work with."

"The secretary's message was that, given the efforts of the Haqqani Network on the 13th of September [the day of the assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul], that this was an issue that we had to deal with and that this is a threat to both Pakistan and the United States," a senior State Department official said about the meeting. "That part of the conversation concluded that joint efforts need to be made to end this threat from the Haqqanis, and that Pakistan and the United States ought to be working together on this and not separately."

Other U.S. officials inside that meeting included Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman and his deputy Dan Feldman. Afghan reconciliation was also a main topic of the meeting.

In her meeting with Khar, Clinton tried to find specific ways to address the threat of Pakistan-based extremists operating with impunity in Afghanistan.

"It is possible for the United States and Pakistan to work together to identify those interests that we have in common and then figure out how to act on them together," the State Department official said. "And I'd say that that if that could be the overriding philosophy or kind of headline that came out of this meeting, that'd be a very good thing for both sides."

After initially making some harsh statements against the U.S. Khar has now settled on a message that mixes her desire to defend Pakistani pride with the need to project the Pakistani civilian government's willingness to find a way out of the crisis.

Khar said yesterday morning on NPR that the U.S. and Pakistan "need each other" and "are fighting against the same people" but "Pakistan's dignity must not be compromised."

Clinton's strategy is also reflective of the feeling of some inside the administration that the late Special Representative Richard Holbrooke's drive to transform the U.S.-Pakistan relationship from a "transactional" one to a "strategic" relationship is now a lost cause.

"The strategic relationship is over, we're back to transactional with Pakistan," one U.S. official recently told The Cable. "We can call it ‘long-term transactional' if we want, but that's the way it is now."

Amid all the tough talk, on-the-ground intelligence cooperation between the United States and Pakistan continues. CIA Director David Petraeus and ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha met in Washington on Sept. 20 and put into force a new intelligence sharing agreement, an official briefed on the agreement said. Pasha also reportedly met with top White House officials at the residence of Pakistani Ambassador Husain Haqqani.

Inside Pakistan, there is speculation that the United States may be bluffing about its threat to increase military strikes inside Pakistan. The Pakistani government is also grappling with a fervent anti-U.S. media and a realization that its control over the ISI, much less the Haqqani network, is ultimately limited. But U.S. aid to Pakistan will never be effective leverage in convincing Pakistani to change its basic approach to dealing with groups like the Haqqani network, the official said.

"Pakistan is unwilling to align its strategic vision with America's worldview," the official said. "Meanwhile, the mood toward Pakistan in Washington is the worst it's ever been." (FP)

Pakistan won't allow compromise on dignity: Khar

Pakistan will not allow its dignity to be compromised, said Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar amid heightened tension between the Washington and Islamabad.

The US-Pakistan ties became strained over an accusation that Pakistan's spy agency was helping the Haqqani network.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in an interview aired Wednesday reiterated Islamabad’s strong exception to Admiral Mike Mullen’s assertions of Pakistani complicity with Afghan insurgents and stressed there are no unilateral solutions.

“We have strong reservations against a statement of this type, which was made by a person who is representing a country with which we have had many counterterrorism successes,” she told National Public Radio. Khar was in the US to attend the UN General Assembly.

She called for understanding that the “dignity of any sovereign state must be respected. “You don’t want to give Pakistanis the message that their lives are any less important than yours. That is a wrong message to give”.

In addition to human sacrifices, the war against terrorists has cost $68 billion to Pakistan.

“Most of the money that comes is reimbursement for money that Pakistan has already spent. Let’s not look at it as an aid syndrome or a relationship that is determined by how much who is giving each other,” she said.

Pakistan would be better off with a safe neighbourhood, she stressed, reaffirming Islamabad’s commitment to a peaceful region.

Khar noted that her country and the US “need each other” and “are fighting against the same people” but emphasised that “Pakistan’s dignity must not be compromised”.

When asked why Pakistan had reacted so strongly to Mullen’s comments, Khar said 30,000 Pakistanis have died due to the war against terror.

“Imagine, how the US would react? We have 6,000-some soldiers who have died in the battle,” she stressed.

“Imagine how the US would react if such a number had lost their lives and then comments would come from other countries, which said that you are the problem, you are part of the problem.”

Top brass to face tough questions at APC

ISLAMABAD: The federal capital hosts the biggest-ever political gathering for many years when leaders of almost all political and religious organisations meet on Thursday at an All-Party Conference convened by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to discuss the situation arising out of serious allegations levelled by US officials against Pakistan’s armed forces and its intelligence agency, the ISI.
The nation has pinned great hopes on leaders representing all shades of opinion to evolve a framework for the country’s foreign and security policies and to set direction for its progress on genuinely independent lines.
The top military leadership invited to the conference may face some tough questions, especially from the PML-N chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif, and leaders of nationalist and religious parties about what is considered to be ambiguous relationship with the West, particularly the United States, and military’s engagement on western borders.
The conference has one-point agenda — national security in the aftermath of security challenges emerging from outside the country.
Because of the US allegations that the ISI is hand in glove with the Haqqani network, the two countries are facing a tough challenge to keep their alliance intact in the so-called war against terrorism.
Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne will attend the conference while ISI Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha is expected to make a detailed presentation on national security concerns besetting the country vis-à-vis US interests in Afghanistan.
It will be an in-camera briefing, but Mr Sharif has made his intentions clear by saying that will not only raise all important issues and ask tough questions, but also address the media after the conference.
Private TV channels quoted him as saying that “real hard facts” should be shared with the political leadership of the country.
Talking to Dawn, PML-N’s spokesperson Senator Mushahidullah Khan said Mr Sharif and the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would ensure that something concrete came out of the APC.
He said the party leadership had decided to fully participate in the conference because the nature of tension between Pakistan and the US had risen to the maximum. He said the PPP-led government had developed so many grey areas that nothing positive could be expected from it.
Since his return from exile in Saudi Arabia in 2007, Mr Sharif has been critical of the army’s overwhelming role in the country’s foreign and defence policies. And there is a perception that because of this he is no more welcome in the military establishment.
Nationalist parties in Balochistan have also expressed reservations over the military’s role in the province. They are likely raise the issue at the conference which, observers suggest, may include target killings in Karachi and lawlessness in Balochistan.
It will be the third APC under the present government. The first was held on Dec 2, 2008, in the aftermath of Mumbai attacks when India threatened to take punitive actions. The conference presided over by the prime minister had lasted more than five hours.
A seven-point declaration issued after the conference stated that the leaders and representatives of political parties unanimously condemned the Mumbai attacks and expressed unwavering resolve of the Pakistani nation to defend its honour and dignity, sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity. It said all political parties and democratic forces firmly supported the government and the armed forces in defending Pakistan’s security.
The second APC was held on May 18, 2009, which lasted about nine hours. Its 16-point resolution unanimously backed the government’s counter-insurgency operation in Swat and Malakand division and resolved to try to unite the nation in the face of insurgency.
To come up with such sweeping resolutions at Thursday’s APC will be a tough call for the participants because the US has been an ally of Pakistan for a long time and particularly after 9/11. Besides receiving military and economic aid, Pakistan heavily banks on the US for its exports. American is the main trading partner of Pakistan and, therefore, economic managers of the country will advise the participants to take a moderate line in the final resolution.
The APC is expected to be attended by about 55 leaders who will be briefed not only by security officials but also by ministers of foreign and interior affairs and finance.
According to a spokesman of the Prime Minister House, political leaders who have confirmed their participation are: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan, JUI-F Amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-F’s Haji Khuda Bux Rajar, Fata MNA Haji Munir Khan Aurakzai, PPP-S chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi of the National People’s Party, Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri of BNP-A, Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Syed Munawar Hassan, former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, PKMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senator Salim Saifullah Khan of PML (like-minded), PML-A chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, PTI chief Imran Khan, Hasil Khan Bazenjo of NPB, Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi of TJP, Senator Shahid Hassan Bugti of JWP, Dr Tahir-ul- Qadri of Tahrik-i-Minhajul Quran, Hamid Ali Shah Moosvi of TNFJ, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq of JUI-S, Sarwat Ejaz Qadri of Sunni Tahrik, Muhammad Hanif Tayyab of Nizam-i-Mustafa Party, Sahibzada Abu Khair Muhammad Zubair of JUP-N, Pir Fazal Haq of Jamiat Mashaikh, Sahibzada Muhammad Fazal Karim of Sunni Ittehad Council, Dr Paul Bhatti, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Harmony, Ameer Hussain Gilani, Mufti Feroze Din Hazarvi of Muttahida Ulema Forum, Abdul Qadeer Khamosh, Allama Tahir Ashrafi of Ulema Council Bait-ul-Aman, Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, former AJK prime minister and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Leader of Opposition in Senate.