Coalition Forces

On Oct. 2 two U.S. and one Afghan soldier were killed in an insurgent attack in Kunar province. Three Americans were also wounded.

A U.S. patrol was targeted by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 7 – the five-year anniversary of the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom – no casualties were reported.

Six men delivering aid from American forces were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 14.

U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops raided an insurgent hideout in Ghazni Province on Oct. 17; one soldier was wounded and three militants killed.

General Afghan Security

On Sept. 30 a suicide bombing occurred outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul. Two policemen and 10 civilians died. At least 42 people were injured.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency announced on Oct. 4 that it is detaining 17 people, including one Afghan, who had admitted attended training camps in Pakistan. The men were detained in the provinces of Kabul, Kunduz, and Nangarhar.

As of Oct. 7, according to a former Taliban commander and current lawmaker, Abdul Salaam Rocketi, the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Paktika, Khost, Kunar and Ghazni continue to be insurgent strongholds.

According to the Afghan Defense Ministry, several clashes occurred in Helmand on Oct. 8.

A remote-controlled mine killed three district officials, their driver and a bodyguard in Nangarhar Province on Oct. 9. Four policemen were also wounded.

Eleven Afghan policemen were wounded in Kabul on Oct. 10 when a remote-controlled bomb exploded as their bus passed by. Eighteen civilians were also wounded.

Gov. Gulab Mangal of eastern Laghman Province was targeted in an insurgent attack on Oct. 14. An unnamed provincial official was killed in the attack. Additionally, a bomb struck another provincial governor’s convoy east of Kabul; the governor was not injured.

On Oct. 15, Muhammad Younus Hussaini, a member of the Kandahar provincial council, was assassinated. His driver was wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, two Afghan policemen died in a raid on Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan, and two civilians died in the south when a roadside bomb exploded.

A suicide bomber attacked the Bibi Marou School, near Kabul's international airport, on Oct. 17. The bomber was cornered outside by police before the charge went off wounding an 11-year old girl. Increased security, including pat-downs of all children entering schools, has become common practice in schools throughout Kabul.

Oct. 19, a suicide bombing in Khost province wounded four policemen and killed one.

Eight Afghan laborers were killed on Oct. 19 while working for the U.S. military in the Korangal area of Kunar Province. They were ambushed and robbed of $6,000 before being executed. Two of the workers escaped.

Fourteen villagers were killed and three others wounded in Uruzgan province by a roadside bomb on Oct. 27.

Pakistan

Forty-eight suspected Taliban were arrested on Oct. 7 by Pakistani police in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province. Police acted on a tip and raided several Taliban hide-outs; the men had recently arrived from Afghanistan.

Eight detainees arrived in Pakistan on Oct. 17, according to Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. They were previously held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men are to be questioned at Rawalpindi and then set free.

Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is in the Pakistani city of Quetta, according to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. On Oct. 17 the Pakistani government denied the claim.

The bodies of 18 insurgents were repatriated from Afghanistan to Waziristan in Pakistan on Oct. 22.  It is unclear how the militants died.  Local tribal leaders called upon religious leaders and intelligence agencies to stop sending “our youths to their deaths.” It is increasingly common for young men educated in one of Karbala’s madrassas to join the fight in Afghanistan.

On Oct. 25 a U.S. anti-terrorism official acknowledged that militants have traveled from as far away as the Caribbean to fight in Afghanistan.  North Africans have reportedly been converging on Koranic schools in Quetta and Peshawar, Pakistan.

Pakistani journalists claimed on Oct. 26 that the agreement between Pakistani forces and tribal elders in North Waziristan was signed by militants, not tribal elders. The Taliban is reportedly in control of the region and have established offices and are collecting taxes and administering their brand of justice. NATO officials report militant activity in the border regions as 300 percent higher since the pact was signed. It is unclear if a similar agreement to have been signed with local Taliban in Bajaur this week will go ahead.

A madrasa in Chingai village near the Afghan border was destroyed by Pakistani troops and gunships on Oct. 30 killing 80 terrorist suspects. The facility was believed to be a training facility linked to al-Qaida. Sahibzada Haroon-ur Rashid, the local member of parliament from the religious Jamaat-e-Islami party, and at least one other resigned from Parliament in protest.

International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)

On Sept. 30 it was confirmed that German aircraft are supporting NATO operations in southern Afghanistan.  German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung recently announced that there are no intentions of committing ground troops to fight in the South.

Three NATO soldiers and three civilians were wounded in a suicide bombing on Oct. 2.

On Oct. 3, NATO operations were reported to have successfully cleared the Taliban from a substantial portion of southern Afghanistan. Some $500,000 in reconstruction aid is being distributed to returning villagers by military commanders and the Kandahar governor in an attempt to prevent the area falling back under Taliban control.

British troops operating under NATO command reached an agreement on Oct. 3 with village elders in the town of Musa Qala, in Helmand Province. Troops agreed to halt offensive actions; the elders will pressure the Taliban to stop attacks. British soldiers pulled out on Oct. 17. Karzai supports the move.

An alliance patrol was attacked by insurgents in Kandahar Province on Oct. 3. One NATO soldier was killed and eight wounded.

On Oct. 4, the NATO commander, U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones, stated that the “real challenge” in Afghanistan is the adequate focusing of the reconstruction mission and international aid.

NATO officially took command of the 14 eastern provinces on Oct. 5. The number of troops under their control is now over 30,000, including 12,000 Americans.

Insurgents detonated a roadside bomb and attacked a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan on Oct. 7, killing one NATO soldier.

ISAF’s commander, British Army Lt. Gen. David Richards, reportedly asked for 2,500 troops on Oct. 9, warning that unless reconstruction efforts increased, about 70 percent of Afghans might begin to favor the Taliban.

NATO and Afghan forces reportedly killed 52 insurgents in Uruzgan province on Oct. 9.

In Kandahar Province on Oct. 13, a U.S. soldier under NATO command died in a military hospital after falling from a helicopter. A clash also occurred between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces.

A suicide bomber killed one NATO soldier and eight Afghan civilians on Oct. 13.  The soldier’s nationality was not released. The attack occurred on a main thoroughfare in Kandahar, damaging dozens of shops. NATO reported at least 78 suicide attacks have taken place in Afghanistan so far this year.

Two Canadian NATO soldiers were killed in action and three wounded in Kandahar Province on Oct. 14. NATO forces and Afghan police also killed one man and arrested nine others suspected of involvement in recent bomb attacks southeast of Kabul.

Three Afghan civilians were killed and four civilians and one NATO soldier wounded by a suicide bomber in Kandahar on Oct. 17.  Four militants were killed by U.S. troops fighting under NATO command in eastern Kunar Province.

The NATO Intelligence Fusion Center officially opened in England on Oct. 16, where 17 nations will share their intelligence. Currently, the main focus is on Afghanistan.

A NATO airstrike in Kandahar Province killed nine Afghan civilians on Oct. 16. Simultaneously, a rocket struck a house in another village nearby killing 13. The attack was targeted on suspects in recent roadside bombings in Panjwai.

A suicide bombing in Lashkar Gah on Oct. 19 killed one British soldier and wounded two.  The explosion also killed two children and wounded seven civilians.

Canada requested more troops from NATO on Oct. 20 to carryout operations in the South. Officials stated that they cannot maintain control with the 2,300 troops currently deployed to the region.

A NATO convoy was attacked in Zabul Province on Oct. 22; the ensuing battle left 15 insurgents dead.

NATO troops and helicopters were deployed to intervene in fighting between two Pashtun clans, the Barekzai and Noorzai, in Herat on Oct. 22. Thirty-two people from both sides were killed and many others wounded.

An Afghan girl was killed and two others wounded in Kunar Province on Oct. 25 when a NATO mortar fell short of its target and hit a house. The surviving girls were taken to Bagram Air Base for medical care, where they were said to be in stable condition.

Three separate clashes between NATO forces and insurgents occurred on Oct. 24 in the Panjwai district outside of Kandahar. Taliban militants attacked a NATO base and an Afghan Army outpost near Sperwan.

Two incidents on the night of Oct. 24 prompted NATO airstrikes. One bombing occurred near the village of Zangi Abad. On Oct. 25 NATO confirmed that they had treated four wounded civilians and estimated killing 48 Taliban fighters in the bombing. On Oct. 26 President Hamid Karzai issued a presidential decree which formally initiated an investigation. Currently, Afghan officials estimate a civilian death toll between 30 and 80.

On Oct. 25 it was reported that NATO’s commander has sent out a second letter urging members to decrease the restrictions on their troops’ deployment. He will meet with NATO officials in Brussels next week to discuss the issue.

An international scandal erupted on Oct. 25 as pictures of German soldiers posing with a skull in Afghanistan appeared in the media. Two German soldiers were suspended for the incident on Oct. 27; several others are under investigation.

Human Rights Watch said on Oct. 29 that NATO’s tactics in Afghanistan are endangering civilians; the criticism comes in the wake of a NATO airstrike on Oct. 24 which may have caused up to 80 civilian casualties.

A battle ensued overnight on Oct. 28. The clash occurred when NATO and Afghan forces were attacked by 100 to 150 militants in Uruzgan Province. On Oct. 29, a NATO statement claimed roughly 70 insurgent deaths.  The statement also reported that a NATO convoy had hit a roadside bomb, killing one soldier and wounding eight.  Three Afghan civilians were also wounded.

Another battle occurred on Oct. 31 as Operation Eagle, the joint offensive led by NATO and Afghan troops, continued. The six-hour clash in the Daychopan district of Zabul Province left 55 militants dead and 20 wounded; one NATO soldier died.

Other News in Brief

Brent Bennett, an American citizen, was released from an Afghan prison on Sept. 30 after spending more than two years behind bars; he was convicted of running a private prison as part of a freelance hunt for terrorists. He and two others were arrested by Afghan security forces in 2004 after a raid exposed their operation and discovered eight Afghan men who were possibly abused. It is unclear if Bennett was released into U.S. custody or set free.

On Oct. 1, Afghan authorities were considering the use of herbicide to stem increasing poppy cultivation, although opinion remained divided on its usefulness.

A habeas corpus petition was filed on Oct. 2 by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of 25 men being held at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. The filing demands that the men are either charged or released and be given counsel. A bill approved by Congress during the last week of September would prohibit this.

As of Oct. 2 the Associated Press had counted 2,800 deaths in Afghanistan during 2006; this tally included insurgents and civilians based on official counts from U.S., NATO and Afghan officials.

Operation Promise Keeping has begun in Pakistan with the mission of providing aid and rebuilding supplies to regions hit by earthquakes in late 2005. Officials said on Oct. 6 that over $200 million in aid will be released over four years; it is hoped that the projects will gain the favor of those who would otherwise turn towards the Taliban.

Two German freelance journalists working for Deutsche Welle were gunned down on a roadside in Baghlan Province on Oct. 7.

The UN Security Council said on Oct. 9 that they may send a diplomatic mission to Afghanistan in November as a show of support for the country and to review the current situation on the ground.

Lawyers filed records in Washington federal court the week of Oct. 9, corroborating the innocence of a 22-year-old detainee being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Abdul Rahim, a student from the United Arab Emirates, was captured by the Taliban in 2000 and jailed in Afghanistan when he refused to fight for al-Qaida. The filed documents allegedly support his story of a coerced confession.

It was reported on Oct. 13 that 16 Afghans and one Iranian arrived in Afghanistan recently; they were previously detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some had served up to four years.

On Oct. 13, Army Sgt. 1st Class David Kellerman, a federal air marshal from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., was charged with unlawful possession of firearms and other weapons-related charges by U.S. District Court. Before he left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan he was found to be in possession of a small arsenal including a grenade launcher, about 33 pounds of C-4 plastic explosives, and several automatic weapons.

Paul McHale, the assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, has been called to active duty in Afghanistan; it was reported on Oct. 13.

Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello was abducted by five gunmen on the highway from Lashkar Gah on Oct. 14. Three days later his kidnappers requested the return of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian convert given asylum in Italy, in exchange for his release.  Under Shariah law Rahman could face the death penalty unless he reverts to Islam.

On Oct. 15, France announced the return of 200 special forces from Afghanistan by early next year.

On Oct. 18, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, head of the Army Corps of Engineers, stated that the number of reconstruction projects planned for this fiscal year in Central Asia will double. Projects will be carried out in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

On Oct. 22, the United Nations and the Afghan government pleaded for $43 million in aid to provide food for 1.9 million people affected by a severe drought.

On Oct. 24, Mullah Mohammed Omar used the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr to warn of an impending rise in attacks to drive foreigners out of Afghanistan.