Coalition Forces

The Khaleej Times reported on March 1 that coalition forces and Afghan troops have begun clean-up operations in the southern province of Zabul, which will consist of hunting and eliminating remaining pockets of resistance.  March 5 saw a deadly engagement in the mountains near Pakistan, in which U.S. snipers killed nine suspected pro-Taliban militants.  On March 7, New Zealand Prime Minster Helen Clark announced that units of the country’s Special Air Service would return to Afghanistan in order to assist with “tracking and surveillance” operations, beginning on April 1. 

In further action, three soldiers of the U.S. Army 10^th Mountain Division were wounded on March 8 when their vehicle ran over a mine west of the eastern city of Ghazni.  Three suspected Taliban sympathizers were detained, but it is unclear if they were arrested in connection with the mine attack.  Meanwhile, a Human Rights Watch report accused America of violating international law by arresting Afghans without proper cause and with excessive brutality.  Military spokesman Lt. Col. Brian Hilferty says the Pentagon is looking into the incidents mentioned in the report, but expressed little faith in HRW’s understanding of the combat environment.

On March 9, resistance forces attacked a U.S. base near Nangalam.  Up to a dozen fighters participated in the assault, which was quickly beaten back and left an unknown number of guerillas wounded.  One civilian was also killed in the crossfire. 

The U.S. military announced March 12 that it would launch a spring offensive along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, code-named Operation Mountain Storm.  The operation is aimed at capturing Osama bin Laden.

General Afghan Security Situation

According to a March 2 UN news release the organization hopes to train 20,000 Afghan police to monitor the forthcoming elections. The same day saw 750 recruits beginning the third in a series of training classes.  The current instruction complements the overall Afghan police reform program being supervised by Germany.

Also on March 2, Afghan forces captured four Taliban suspects in southeast Zabul province, including mid-level commander Mullah Nahim.  No coalition forces were involved in the capture, and the suspects were sent to Kandahar.  On March 4, allied Afghan forces suffered their own losses, as Taliban fighters in the Maruf district of Kandahar province ambushed and killed seven of them.  The Taliban suspects may have crossed the border from Pakistan.

Unknown assailants executed an Afghan Red Crescent worker, Mohammed Isah, after stopping his car and forcing him out of it on March 6, in Zabul province.  It is unclear whether the killers were Taliban guerrillas or had more personal motives; the man’s younger brother, also in the car, was unhurt. 

Also killed on March 6 were a Turkish engineer and an Afghan guard working on a highway in Zabul.  Another Turkish man was kidnapped by suspected Taliban remnants.  The Kabul-Kandahar highway, on which all three of the incidents occurred, is notorious for violent incidents. 

Afghan Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim Khan visited with his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul, in Ankara on March 9.  The two praised relations between present-day Turkey and Afghanistan, as well as both countries’ historical forerunners.  In light of the kidnap and murder, respectively, of two Turkish nationals three days before, Khan gave assurances that the government of Afghanistan was doing all in its power to protect foreign workers. 

Afghan officials worried on a March 13 that large-scale desertions from the Afghan National Army will be mirrored in the projected 20,000-man police force currently being trained.  Over 3,000 ANA soldiers have deserted post so far, jeopardizing the integrity of the entire Army and threatening to leave the June elections under-protected.  That same day, an assault on a government post in Kandahar left one Afghan soldier and three suspected Taliban militants dead.

Unknown fighters launched rockets at Kabul and Jalalabad on March 14.  One person was injured in Jalalabad.

International Security Assistance Force

NATO Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. Gen. James Jones, testified before a Belgian Senate committee on March 9, detailing progress in the stabilization of Afghanistan.  According to Jones, ISAF peacekeepers have managed to secure at least three-quarters of the country, while Taliban and Al Qaeda guerrillas now probably number under 1,000.  Jones also stressed, however, that NATO member nations needed to back up their rhetorical commitment to Afghanistan with funding and materiel. 

On March 10, Afghan President Hamid Karzai requested additional troops for the NATO-led ISAF ahead of the upcoming elections, scheduled for June.  In doing so, he implied that without increased ISAF help the elections could be postponed in order to maximize voter registration efforts.  As of now, only 10 percent of eligible Afghans have registered to vote.  NATO’s Commander responded by pointing out the imminent formation of two new NATO provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in northern Afghanistan, and promised to try to aggressively expand the force in the coming months.  

Lt. Gen. Rick Hillier, commander of ISAF, praised Canada’s plan to replace some of the troops it will withdraw in August with a Coyote armored reconnaissance unit. 

Pakistan

On March 1 a Pakistani military spokesman denied a report in The New Yorker that Pakistan would be allowing “thousands” of U.S. troops into border areas in order to search for Osama bin Laden.  The spokesman further denied that there had been any quid pro quo agreement with the U.S. government concerning the issues of “national sovereignty” such as allowing foreign troops on Pakistani soil. 

Two days later Pakistani authorities detained 15 elders of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe, accusing them of hiding al Qaeda suspects.  A few days earlier, the same tribe had been fined $95,000 for failing to stop rocket attacks on the Pakistani Army from their territory.  The Ahmadzai Wazir was fined under a tribal code that attributes collective responsibility to a tribe for the actions of one of its members.  At least 15 more rockets were fired at Pakistani troops that same day, calling the effectiveness of their countermeasures into question.

An Afghan district governor told the BBC on March 6 that the Pakistani military had narrowly missed capturing bin Laden in a recent sweep.  The following day, commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command Gen. John Abizaid denied reports that American forces were active in the Pakistani border area, insisting that all U.S. action has so far taken place on the Afghan side of the border.  However, Gulf News reported the following day, March 7, that Khalid al-Zawahiri, son of bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, was recently captured in a Pakistani army sweep in South Waziristan.  The son has reportedly supplied Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence and the CIA with “crucial” information concerning the whereabouts of other senior Qaeda officials.

Less encouraging was a report released on March 10 by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, charging that the Pakistani government has been uncooperative with U.S. efforts to pursue Taliban elements in Pakistan.  Wolfowitz allowed that Pakistan had been very helpful in the pursuit of al Qaeda, but far less so where the remnants of the former Afghan regime are concerned.  He also noted that this intransigence was particularly noteworthy as it comes on the heels of Washington’s notably restrained reaction to the Abdul Qadeer Khan nuclear-smuggling pardon. 

Other News in Brief

March 1: Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah expressed hope that Kabul International Airport would one day become a major regional hub, despite its current state of dilapidation.  However, an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) official said that international airlines cannot safely land at the airport until a new landing system is installed, hopefully by April. 

March 2: Clashes between Shia Muslims and Afghan army cadets led to the death of one Shiite.  The fight reportedly started after a cadet taunted Shiite marchers commemorating Imam al-Husayn, one of Shia Islam’s most important figures.  New Zealand press also reported that according to a State Department report, opium production levels have reached their highest point ever -- despite eradication efforts -- due to poverty and the lesser profit available from traditional crops.  Also on March 2, a United Nations sponsored voluntary repatriation program for Afghan refugees restarted after having been suspended in November following the murder of a staffer.

March 3: The Chinese government signed a reconstruction contract with the government of Afghanistan to rebuild a major irrigation line north of Kabul.  The construction is scheduled to be completed in 24 months.   

March 6: In response to the March 2 U.S. Department of State report showing opium production in Afghanistan at its highest level ever, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw praised Afghan efforts at reducing the crop.  Straw voiced the belief that it would take time before the new, democratic government could find acceptable ways to combat drug cultivation that would be as successful as the Taliban’s far harsher methods. 

March 11: The United Nations released a report showing that the percentage of newly registering Afghan voters who are women is gradually increasing.  Currently, 28 percent of registered voters women, compared with 22 percent in January.