omid (1 year, 1 month ago):
Drugs menace at UK's Afghan base
By JOHN HIGGINSON - Sunday, August 2, 2009
A security check at Camp Bastion
Drugs and alcohol are routinely being smuggled into Britain's biggest military base in Afghanistan, Metro has learned.
Heroin, amphetamines, steroids and alcohol are brought on to Camp Bastion in Helmand province by Russian contractors, military commanders claim.
Apart from fears that the contraband will get into the hands of British troops, it could also expose the hypocrisy of attempts to stamp out the drug trade, which funds much of the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Wing Commander Shaun Ryles said: 'Everywhere on Camp Bastion is dry but they are smuggling it in.'
The problem was highlighted during a briefing for armed forces minister Bill Rammell on a visit to the region.
Alcohol is banned on all British bases in Afghanistan, except in Kabul.
But Wing Cdr Ryles said drugs and alcohol had turned up during searches.
He told Mr Rammell: 'Camp Bastion is now as large as a village the size of Tewkesbury and the problem with having something that big is pattern of life.
'We have problems with the Russians and alcohol and drugs. [It's] not so much massive criminality but provides third-country nat¬ionals on base an asymmetric threat.'
Mr Rammell, who appeared shocked by the revelation, said: 'This is a serious issue that we will continue to tackle.'
The role of using British troops to crack down on Afghanistan's opium trade is increasingly being called into question.
MPs on the Commons foreign affairs committee described our counter- narcotics role as a 'poisoned chalice' and said it was 'highly unlikely' it would wean Afghan¬istan off its reliance on drugs money.
Instead, British forces should focus on one role – bringing security to the country.
Bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan
Monday, August 3, 2009
Violence is continuing in the country
The Taliban killed at least 10 people and critically injured a local police chief in a bomb attack in western Afghanistan.
The bomb was set on a crowded street near a fruit market in Herat. It killed 10 civilians and two police, according to Noor Khan Nekzad, a spokesman for the Herat provincial police.
The attack appeared to target the police chief for nearby Injil district who was driving into town, said Raouf Ahmedi, the top police spokesman in western Afghanistan.
He said the district chief, Mohammad Issa, was being transferred to a NATO-run hospital in critical condition.
Ahmedi said only 10 people were killed in the blast, including a woman, a young girl and six men. There was no immediate explanation for the different police counts. At least 30 people were injured in the blast, which blew windows out on a 100-metre radius, he said.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said the group had targeted the police chief.
The bombing in the comparatively calm Western city of Herat highlighted the volatile situation across the country as Afghanistan braces for presidential and local elections later this month.
Some 101,000 NATO and U.S. troops are deployed to secure the country. This includes a record 62,000 U.S. troops, more than double the number a year ago but still half their strength in Iraq.
President Barack Obama has increased the U.S. focus on Afghanistan as the Pentagon begins pulling troops out of Iraq.
Nine troops have been killed in fighting or bombings this month, including three Americans on Sunday and three on Saturday, along with two Canadians and one French.
July was the deadliest month for international troops since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban government for sheltering al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, with 74 foreign troops, including 43 Americans, killed.
Roadside bombs have become the militants' weapon of choice in Afghanistan, and the number of such attacks has spiked this year.
U.S. troops say militants are now using bombs with little or no metal in them, making them even harder to detect. The Taliban are also planting multiple bombs on top of one another and planting several bombs in one small area.
U.S. commanders have long predicted a spike in violence in Afghanistan this summer, the country's traditional fighting season, and Taliban militants have promised to disrupt the country's Aug. 20 presidential vote.
Sayed (1 year, 1 month ago):
Hi Ms. Sjyh serve with you. Saeed from France and I suggest a program if you use tv course is excellent and very good friend If Kashvara khodh restraint Please just started the program in favor of all the people and country. For example about the unity and brotherhood of our people Khosomat spite Vnfrt far from stuff that happened with the brotherhood in the society life stuff.
Without a chance in Afghanistan to neighboring countries Andazee is enough. Dg·h your salt on the wounds of Afghanistan Na andazid please. On the theorem that you speak of you every single Afghan people
Cool seen Stan and aware. And you said all the bad government and I agree with you May the thief all Afghan Stan If someone please introduce a good Mishnasi started. President and head of the officer. If not tell you. If Afghanistan and Khvdyt myself much like why there
Namirawyd? Thanks Saeed.
Sayed (1 year, 1 month ago):
Hi Ms. Sjyh serve with you. Saeed from France and I I suggest a program if you use tv course is excellent and very good friend If Kashvare khoda restraint Please just started the program in favor of all the people and country. For example about the unity and brotherhood of our people Khosomt spite Vnfrt far from stuff that happened with the brotherhood in the society life stuff.
Without a c
Drugs menace at UK's Afghan base
By JOHN HIGGINSON - Sunday, August 2, 2009
A security check at Camp Bastion
Drugs and alcohol are routinely being smuggled into Britain's biggest military base in Afghanistan, Metro has learned.
Heroin, amphetamines, steroids and alcohol are brought on to Camp Bastion in Helmand province by Russian contractors, military commanders claim.
Apart from fears that the contraband will get into the hands of British troops, it could also expose the hypocrisy of attempts to stamp out the drug trade, which funds much of the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Wing Commander Shaun Ryles said: 'Everywhere on Camp Bastion is dry but they are smuggling it in.'
The problem was highlighted during a briefing for armed forces minister Bill Rammell on a visit to the region.
Alcohol is banned on all British bases in Afghanistan, except in Kabul.
But Wing Cdr Ryles said drugs and alcohol had turned up during searches.
He told Mr Rammell: 'Camp Bastion is now as large as a village the size of Tewkesbury and the problem with having something that big is pattern of life.
'We have problems with the Russians and alcohol and drugs. [It's] not so much massive criminality but provides third-country nat¬ionals on base an asymmetric threat.'
Mr Rammell, who appeared shocked by the revelation, said: 'This is a serious issue that we will continue to tackle.'
The role of using British troops to crack down on Afghanistan's opium trade is increasingly being called into question.
MPs on the Commons foreign affairs committee described our counter- narcotics role as a 'poisoned chalice' and said it was 'highly unlikely' it would wean Afghan¬istan off its reliance on drugs money.
Instead, British forces should focus on one role – bringing security to the country.
Bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan
Monday, August 3, 2009
Violence is continuing in the country
The Taliban killed at least 10 people and critically injured a local police chief in a bomb attack in western Afghanistan.
The bomb was set on a crowded street near a fruit market in Herat. It killed 10 civilians and two police, according to Noor Khan Nekzad, a spokesman for the Herat provincial police.
The attack appeared to target the police chief for nearby Injil district who was driving into town, said Raouf Ahmedi, the top police spokesman in western Afghanistan.
He said the district chief, Mohammad Issa, was being transferred to a NATO-run hospital in critical condition.
Ahmedi said only 10 people were killed in the blast, including a woman, a young girl and six men. There was no immediate explanation for the different police counts. At least 30 people were injured in the blast, which blew windows out on a 100-metre radius, he said.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said the group had targeted the police chief.
The bombing in the comparatively calm Western city of Herat highlighted the volatile situation across the country as Afghanistan braces for presidential and local elections later this month.
Some 101,000 NATO and U.S. troops are deployed to secure the country. This includes a record 62,000 U.S. troops, more than double the number a year ago but still half their strength in Iraq.
President Barack Obama has increased the U.S. focus on Afghanistan as the Pentagon begins pulling troops out of Iraq.
Nine troops have been killed in fighting or bombings this month, including three Americans on Sunday and three on Saturday, along with two Canadians and one French.
July was the deadliest month for international troops since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban government for sheltering al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, with 74 foreign troops, including 43 Americans, killed.
Roadside bombs have become the militants' weapon of choice in Afghanistan, and the number of such attacks has spiked this year.
U.S. troops say militants are now using bombs with little or no metal in them, making them even harder to detect. The Taliban are also planting multiple bombs on top of one another and planting several bombs in one small area.
U.S. commanders have long predicted a spike in violence in Afghanistan this summer, the country's traditional fighting season, and Taliban militants have promised to disrupt the country's Aug. 20 presidential vote.
Hi Ms. Sjyh serve with you. Saeed from France and I suggest a program if you use tv course is excellent and very good friend If Kashvara khodh restraint Please just started the program in favor of all the people and country. For example about the unity and brotherhood of our people Khosomat spite Vnfrt far from stuff that happened with the brotherhood in the society life stuff.
Without a chance in Afghanistan to neighboring countries Andazee is enough. Dg·h your salt on the wounds of Afghanistan Na andazid please. On the theorem that you speak of you every single Afghan people
Cool seen Stan and aware. And you said all the bad government and I agree with you May the thief all Afghan Stan If someone please introduce a good Mishnasi started. President and head of the officer. If not tell you. If Afghanistan and Khvdyt myself much like why there
Namirawyd? Thanks Saeed.
Hi Ms. Sjyh serve with you. Saeed from France and I I suggest a program if you use tv course is excellent and very good friend If Kashvare khoda restraint Please just started the program in favor of all the people and country. For example about the unity and brotherhood of our people Khosomt spite Vnfrt far from stuff that happened with the brotherhood in the society life stuff.
Without a c