{"id":34672,"date":"2017-12-03T16:09:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T11:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=34672"},"modified":"2017-12-03T16:09:47","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T11:09:47","slug":"crime-casualties-undermine-u-s-gains-on-afghan-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tns.world\/?p=34672","title":{"rendered":"Crime, casualties undermine U.S. gains on Afghan battlefield"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUNDUZ Dec 03 (TNS):<\/strong> Since U.S. forces began stepping up air strikes against the Taliban, Kunduz shopkeeper Najibullah no longer fears another insurgent takeover of the northern Afghan city. But he does fear robbery or kidnap by militia gangs.<\/p>\n

With Afghan forces improving and on the offensive, U.S. commanders have more freedom to attack the Taliban and insurgents no longer threaten any major urban centers.<\/p>\n

Although Taliban-controlled areas begin within a 10-minute drive of the city, Kunduz \u2013 a strategic hub that fell twice in the past two years \u2013 is largely calm. But there is a long way to go to build confidence in daily security.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past people were afraid that the Taliban would come but no-one talks about that now,\u201d said Najibullah, who like many Afghans, uses only one name.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have internal problems,\u201d he said, leaning over the counter of his shop in the city center and talking softly to avoid being overheard. \u201cThere are gunmen that do anything they want. There are people in this city, if they know you have money they\u2019ll come to your shop and rob you in broad daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the city, where the Taliban still hold sway, the risk of being caught between helicopter gunships and the insurgents or swept up in a clearing operation means life is also more difficult for villagers on the front line.<\/p>\n

Last month, locals say 16 people were killed by U.S. helicopters in a night raid near the villages of Qatl-e Am and Gharow Qushlaq in Chahardara district, an area largely controlled by the Taliban. A U.S. investigation concluded there was no evidence any civilians were killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the Americans announced their new strategy and signed the new agreement, the situation has been getting worse,\u201d said Atiqullah, a villager who said he was about three kilometers away when the raid took place.<\/p>\n

NOT SAFE<\/p>\n

The shift in perceptions on the ground suggests ordinary Afghans are seeing the fresh strategy is hitting the insurgents. But their new fears underline how much more is needed to build trust in the Western-backed government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2018m a businessman but I can\u2019t go anywhere without a gun,\u201d said Jamal Nasir Aymaq, who owns a number of bakeries in the city. \u201cOur businessmen and rich people have already escaped Kunduz and children are not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidnapping and robbery are rife and there is little confidence of justice from a government many see as deeply implicated in abuses by rogue militia \u201ccommanders\u201d who operate with impunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know peace cannot be achieved by force alone, it needs development and the economy,\u201d said Kunduz police chief Abdul Hameed Hameedi. \u201cSecurity is much better than last year but we haven\u2019t got what people are expecting yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kunduz Governor Asadullah Omarkhil dismissed talk of any official collusion in kidnapping as \u201cbaseless\u201d, but while many people fear the Taliban, many also feel they are more honest and efficient than city officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there were a real government in the center of Kunduz, people wouldn\u2019t be going to the Taliban for legal decisions,\u201d said Mawlawi Khosh Mohammad Nasratyar, a member of the Kunduz provincial council. \u201cNow, even people from the center of Kunduz go to the Taliban to settle legal cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

OPTIMISM<\/p>\n

The wariness among many Afghans contrasts with optimism among Western officials, who say the new approach is starting to turn a stalemate with the Taliban around.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe air strikes have made all the difference,\u201d said one Western diplomat in Kabul. \u201cWhen you go to (the NATO-led Resolute Support mission) headquarters, there\u2019s a bit of a buzz about the place that wasn\u2019t there before and a feeling they\u2019re back on the front foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far in 2017, U.S. forces have dropped three times the quantity of bombs as last year and special forces units have been in regular action with their Afghan counterparts.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Taliban fighters and many senior leaders have been killed, including Mullah Abdul Salam, mastermind of the assault that saw the Taliban flag raised over Kunduz in 2015, the first time the insurgents had taken a major town.<\/p>\n

Similar successes have been seen in other towns including Tarin Kot in the central province of Uruzgan, which the Taliban briefly overran last year, or Lashkar Gah in Helmand, which they have also come close to taking.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago, there was a fear of Taliban attack on the city every minute and we couldn\u2019t come into the office,\u201d said Kunduz provincial council secretary Fawzia Jawad Yaftali. \u201cBut now everything is different, the shops are open and I\u2018m sitting in my office without any fear,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

CIVILIAN CASUALTIES<\/p>\n

The campaign has not been without cost however and hanging over it is the fact that the air strikes have inevitably brought more civilian casualties in their wake, even if their numbers are still well below those killed by roadside bombs.<\/p>\n

In a briefing this week, the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson said they go to \u201cextraordinary lengths\u201d to avoid civilian casualties and have \u201ca rigorous process\u201d to investigate allegations.<\/p>\n

But people from Chahardara react with deep anger to official denials that the raid on Nov. 3-4 killed at least 16 civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe helicopter started bombing at three in the morning. Afterwards, at about 6 o\u2019clock a lot of people gathered to help and then the helicopter came back. That was the big bomb,\u201d said Mohebullah, a village elder.<\/p>\n

\u201cSixteen people were killed and six wounded,\u201d he said, showing a handwritten list of names. \u201cThey have advanced equipment, they should be sure of who they are attacking. They should target criminals not innocent and helpless people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said reports of at least 10 deaths were \u201ccredible\u201d. A U.S. investigation found no evidence of any civilian casualties but Capt. Thomas Gresback, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said they would engage in dialogue with anyone who came forward with information.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the propaganda about civilian casualties comes from the enemy,\u201d said Governor Omarkhil, who said only one person was killed in the incident. \u201cIn Chahardara, the Taliban made people go to the battle zone and take out dead bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. military says the Taliban deliberately shelters in houses and schools but the issue, over which former Afghan President Hamid Karzai repeatedly clashed with Washington, causes deep resentment, sapping support for the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who were killed were all civilians, they had nothing to do with the government or the Taliban,\u201d said Mohebullah. \u201cEveryone lost a family member, everyone is shocked and in grief. The governor is lying.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KUNDUZ Dec 03 (TNS): Since U.S. forces began stepping up air strikes against the Taliban, Kunduz shopkeeper Najibullah no longer fears another insurgent takeover of the northern Afghan city. But he does fear robbery or kidnap by militia gangs. With Afghan forces improving and on the offensive, U.S. commanders have more freedom to attack the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1391,23],"tags":[1392,589],"class_list":["post-34672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kunduz","category-national","tag-kunduz","tag-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34674,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672\/revisions\/34674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}