Afghan, NATO forces retake remote area from Taliban

US military suspends refueling at vital Kyrgyz base
Washington (AFP) June 1, 2010 - The US military has stopped flying aerial refueling tankers out of Krygyzstan as the government there presses to renegotiate a fuel contract for a major US base, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The Manas air field, a vital hub for the US-led force in Afghanistan, was "still operational" but flights for KC-135 refueling aircraft had been suspended amid talks with the Kyrgyz government, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. "We are negotiating with them adjustments under the current fuel contract," Whitman said. By halting KC-135 flights out of Manas, "that's a significant way of conserving fuel," he said.

Asked if Bishkek was demanding a higher price for jet fuel, he said: "It's sufficient to say they're not proposing reducing the cost of the fuel." Whitman declined to say what alternative bases would be used for the refueling aircraft. Leaders of the Kyrgyz interim government, which took power after ousting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev in an uprising last month, have alleged the ex-president's family embezzled millions of dollars from lucrative jet fuel contracts with the United States. NATO has increasingly relied on the Manas base, outside Bishkek in the country's north, as 30,000 additional US forces deploy to Afghanistan.

But the US military presence has irritated Russia, placing Kyrgyzstan at the center of a big power rivalry for regional influence. Kyrgyzstan last year threatened to close the base after receiving a promise of more than two billion dollars in aid and loans from Moscow, which many saw as a sign of Russian resentment over the American operation. Bishkek eventually agreed to keep the US base open after Washington more than tripled the rent paid to use Manas. The US base operates round-the-clock, carrying out mid-air refueling missions and medical evacuations while transporting tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tonnes of cargo every month.

by Staff Writers
Kabul (AFP) June 1, 2010
Afghan and international forces have retaken a district near the Pakistan border that was overrun by Taliban militants, NATO and the government said Tuesday.

The militants seized the district of Bargi Matal in rugged Nuristan province on Saturday, driving out Afghan security forces after days of fierce fighting.

On Monday, NATO jets bombed the troubled region in what the alliance's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said was an operation in support of its Afghan counterparts.

The defence ministry said Tuesday Bargi Matal had been recaptured.

"In a joint operation of ANA (Afghan National Army) commando unit and coalition forces last night at 21:50 hours (1720 GMT) the Barg Matal district of Nuristan province was captured by government forces," it said in a statement.

ISAF said that no shots had been fired and no one was injured during the operation, which was "in response to the large amount of insurgent activity in the area during previous weeks".

The Taliban are waging an insurgency to overthrow the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, which is backed by 130,000 international troops.

The insurgency has gained strength in recent years as the rebels have spread their influence beyond their traditional stronghold in the country's south.

NATO, US and Afghan troops are preparing their biggest offensive against the rebels in the southern province of Kandahar, with foreign troop numbers set to peak at 150,000 by August.

earlier related report
Danish soldier killed, five hurt in Afghanistan: military
Copenhagen (AFP) June 1, 2010 - One Danish soldier was killed and five others injured, one of them seriously, in two separate incidents in the southern Helmand province in Afghanistan, the Danish military said Tuesday.

"A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded two, and later another roadside bomb wounded three soldiers," the military said in a statement.

The first bomb exploded just after noon (0730 GMT), striking a vehicle carrying Danish soldiers near a patrol base in Bridzar, about six kilometres (four miles) northeast of the town of Gereskh, the statement said.

"The fallen soldier was killed on the spot," it said, adding that two slightly wounded soldiers in that incident had been taken by helicopter to a field hospital in Camp Bastion.

"Four hours later, another three Danish soldiers were injured" by another roadside bomb, also near Bridzar, the Danish military said, adding that one of them was seriously injured.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said in a statement he wanted to express his condolences to the family of the killed soldier, "who lost his life fighting for our security and to give the Afghan people hope of a better future."

There are 750 Danish troops in NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Most are in Helmand province under British command.

Thirty Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the deployment began. The Scandinavian country of 5.5 million people has suffered more deaths than any other country as a proportion of the number of troops it has in the ISAF.

Two other Danish soldiers have died in Afghanistan outside of combat, one of a heart attack. The other committed suicide.

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USS Eisenhower, 'critical component' in anti-Taliban fight
Onboard Uss Dwight D. Eisenhower In The Arabian Sea (AFP) May 30, 2010
The planes coming in from missions over Afghanistan for a night landing touch down with a thud, the runway so short and narrow that there is no room for error. It's the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea that provides air support for coalition forces fighting Islamic Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The floating airport, or the "city at s ... read more

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