A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.
By Professor Joseph B. Varner
Global War on Terror
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The Taliban’s swift retreat from their newly conquered territory north of Kandahar city left Afghan officials triumphant on Thursday, but a Canadian commander warned that the insurgents are capable of more spectacular attacks in the coming months. Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, the top Canadian commander in Afghanistan, said Afghan forces and foreign troops pushed deep into the Arghandab valley on Wednesday night.
A few hours after dawn Thursday morning, a Taliban spokesman confirmed by telephone that most insurgents were pulling out of the district. In the past week, Taliban insurgents launched a spectacular attack on Sarpoza jail on the western outskirts of Kandahar city, freeing nearly all the prisoners, and briefly seized control of a dozen villages in Arghandab district, a strategic valley with no major Taliban presence until recently.
General Thompson said the Taliban remain capable of more attacks, even something on the scale of the prison break. The latest crisis appeared to have passed, however. Kandahar police chief Sayed Agha Saqib said 50 to 60 insurgents were killed in the fighting, including two fleeing Taliban shot by police near the bridge that connects Arghandab with the district of Shah Wali Kot. Many other insurgents escaped northward.
(Source: Globe and Mail-CAN)
A Thai army helicopter crashed in an insurgency-plagued area of southern Thailand on Friday, killing all 10 people on board. The helicopter reported engine trouble before it crash-landed and exploded in Yala province. There was no evidence the helicopter had been attacked, he said. Eight soldiers, one police officer and one civilian were killed in the crash. Other details were not immediately available. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Thailand’s southernmost provinces since the insurgency erupted in early 2004. (Source: Washington Times)
Iraq
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Weapons caches are turning up with increasing frequency in public places in Iraq, from a bakery to a fish farm, as recent security gains embolden more civilians to come forward with tips, U.S. and Iraqi military officials say. The odd locations of many of the discoveries reflect the fine line separating civilians from the Shiite and Sunni extremists who don’t wear uniforms and often live among them. Many would-be tipsters had previously looked the other way because of intimidation or because they sought protection from local militias. Cash rewards are another motivation for tipsters. For the military, its money well spent: So far this year, U.S. and Iraqi forces have cleared and found 4,950 caches, compared with 6,963 in all of 2007, according to U.S. military figures. The trend is particularly evident in Sadr City, a sprawling district in northeastern Baghdad that houses 2.5 million people and has long been dominated by the Mahdi Army militia of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraqi soldiers, with U.S. troops staying on the outskirts of the district, have discovered 51 caches containing 7,820 weapons and other munitions in Sadr City between the start of the operation and June 16, according to figures provided by the U.S. military. (Source: AP)
United States
President Bush awarded the nation’s highest civilian medal yesterday to six Americans, including retired Marine Gen. Peter Pace and former Clinton administration official Donna E. Shalala, hailing contributions that he said have helped transform the U.S. military, promote better care for wounded service members, advance human rights and improve public health. (Source: Washington Post)
A Pennsylvania senator sought assurance from the Pentagon on Thursday that it is taking action to prevent accidental electrocutions among U.S. troops in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, died January 2 of cardiac arrest after being electrocuted while showering at his barracks in Baghdad. At least 11 other troops have also been electrocuted, according to the Army and Marine Corps. (Source: Washington Post)
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In an Army stretched by seven years of war, there will be no short-term relief for soldiers from the pace of overseas deployments, the nation’s top military adviser said Wednesday in a town-hall meeting here. Even if an improving situation in Iraq allows the withdrawal of more troops from there, there will be a need to send more soldiers to Afghanistan where the Taliban resistance has been on the rise, said Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “I have the need for three additional brigades in Afghanistan,” Mullen said. “Those are the pressures and constraints that we are under right now … We are in a very delicate time.” Three brigades would require anywhere from 7,000 to more than 10,000 additional soldiers. (Source: Seattle Times)
Africa
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Simon Mann, the former SAS officer accused of plotting to overthrow the President of Equatorial Guinea, yesterday portrayed a reclusive London-based tycoon as “the Cardinal”, who controlled every aspect of the attempted coup in 2004, and himself as a mere “junior”. Mann asserted that Ely Calil, 64, was one of a shadowy group of rich and powerful figures who were still plotting to remove Teodoro Obiang Nguema and seize control of his tiny, oil-rich state. “They’re not going to give up,” the Old Etonian told the judges at his trial in the hot and humid Equatorial Guinean capital. As if to help his case, the prosecution presented evidence later in the day against six other defendants, all Equatoguineans linked to the exiled opposition leader Severo Moto and accused of participating in a plot against Mr Obiang, 66, this year. (Source: The Times-UK)
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Militants in speedboats raided an oil installation off Nigeria’s southern coastline on Thursday, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to slash production and exposing Africa’s biggest oil industry as vulnerable even on the high seas. The attack by fighters of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, about 85 miles into the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, was the militant group’s farthest-ever attack in the open ocean. “The location for today’s attack was deliberately chosen to remove any notion that offshore oil exploration is far from our reach,” the group said. “The oil companies and their collaborators do not have any place to hide in conducting their nefarious activities.” (Source: AP)
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With just a week to go before Zimbabwe’s run-off elections, and with the body count growing, President Mugabe has been warned that he could be hauled before the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the atrocities inflicted on his opponents.
A key Western diplomat, speaking yesterday on condition of anonymity, said: “He needs to know he is moments away from an ICC indictment.” Twelve bodies of activists, most of them showing signs of torture, were found across Zimbabwe yesterday. In New York, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, convened a crisis meeting at the United Nations. She said: “By its actions, the Mugabe regime has given up any pretence that the June 27 elections will be allowed to proceed in a free and fair manner. We have reached the point where stronger international action is needed.” (Source: The Times-UK)
Americas
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One month after Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced major plans for the Canadian military without actually having a document to show the media, the Tories have quietly put their Canada First Defence Strategy online. The report calls for clearly defined missions and capabilities for the military. The plan has six core missions:
- Daily domestic and continental operations, including in the Arctic and through Canada’s commitment to NORAD.
- Supporting a major international event in Canada, like the 2010 Olympics.
- Responding to any potential terrorist strikes.
- Support for civilian authorities for natural disasters.
- Conducting a major international mission for a extended period .
- Deploying to world crisis spots for shorter periods.
The Tories have committed to provide stable funding over 20 years. It is expected the military will have a budget of $45 to $50 billion for big-ticket purchases. One chart shows that personnel accounts for $250 billion of defense spending, 2008-09 to 2027-28 (Accrual Numbers), or 51 per cent of the funding. This would see 70,000 regulars and 30,000 reserves by 2028, and includes a 25,000-strong civilian workforce. (Source: CTV.ca)
Members of the U.S. Congress have been told the Canadian government plans to spend $114 million on new howitzers to contribute to the war on terror while parliamentarians at home in Canada have been kept in the dark over the deal. (Source: Canada.com)
Middle East
The U.S. military has begun testing tunnel detection systems along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been testing unidentified advanced tunnel detection systems in the eastern Sinai. A 14-member U.S. military delegation has been instructing the Egyptian security forces in the operation of the system to detect Palestinian weapons smuggling tunnels that connect to the Gaza Strip. In 2008, the Bush administration approved $23 million for equipment to detect Palestinian smuggling tunnels that connect the divided city of Rafah. Over the last three months, at least three U.S. military delegations toured the Gaza-Sinai border to determine requirements for Egypt to detect and destroy an estimated 200 tunnels, used to transport everything from eggs to weapons to the Gaza Strip. (Source: World Tribune)
Mahmoud Abbas is pushing through an overhaul of his security forces by decree, retiring old-guard commanders and giving broad law enforcement powers to a secretive special unit. Several thousand top officers who rose through the ranks under Yasser Arafat have so far given up command, with Abbas offering pre-retirement promotions and pensions equal to their full wages. The U.S.-backed overhaul envisages shedding about 30,000 security jobs. (Source: Reuters)
Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University.
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