US plans new Afghan command in south: officials

Pakistan confirms Taliban commander's killing in airstrike
Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) March 6, 2010 - Pakistan said Saturday that a key Taliban commander in the Swat valley and at least 20 suspected militants had been killed in an airstrike. Fateh Mohammad and the suspected militants were killed when two helicopter gunships pounded militant hide outs Friday in the Mohamad tribal district's Dawaizai village, interior minister Rehman Malik said. Mohammad was a senior commander in the Swat valley where the military launched a massive offensive last April to drive out Taliban militants who had taken control of the area. Malik could not confirm the killing of two other senior Taliban figures. Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the deputy chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and South Waziristan based militant commander Qari Ziaur Rehman were also believed to have been hit.

"Both of them were also present there yesterday and if they have survived the air strike then it would be a miracle," Malik told reporters in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province. "I can only confirm their killing when their bodies would be found." Pakistan is under huge US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants who pose a domestic threat and who infiltrate Afghanistan to attack Western forces fighting an eight-year war. The military claims to have made fresh gains against Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds over the last year, launching major offensives in the northwestern district of Swat and the tribal region of South Waziristan. Washington says militants use Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt to plot and stage attacks in Afghanistan, where more than 120,000 NATO and US troops are helping Afghan forces battle the Taliban militia.

NATO general criticises German Afghan engagement
Berlin (AFP) March 6, 2010 - A senior German general criticised in remarks published Saturday Germany's failure to engage more deeply in Afghanistan, warning it could cost Berlin the command of the country's north. Germany has around 4,500 troops in Afghanistan, based mainly in the north where international soldiers in several provinces are under German command in a larger NATO-led force. The troops focus largely on development and training Afghan security forces, while soldiers in the more violent south and east are engaged in heavy combat against Taliban and other insurgents. "The Germans operate in Afghanistan under the motto: wash my fur but do not wet me," General Egon Ramms said in the Der Spiegel weekly, using a German expression of reluctance to become too involved in an activity.

"If the Germans persist with this position, they are soon going to loose the command of operations in the north," warned Ramms, commander of NATO's Joint Forces Command based in Brunssum in The Netherlands. German Brigadier General Frank Leidenberger announced last month that the United States was sending around 2,000 troops to northern Afghanistan to help German soldiers there. The German press said the reinforcement showed US intention to take the command of the north from Germany, but this was denied by the US ambassador in Berlin, Philip Murphy. Northern Afghanistan has not seen the same level of violence as the south, but insurgent activity has picked up there in recent months. Germany's parliament decided last month to send up to 850 more troops to Afghanistan and extend the unpopular mission by a year, although Berlin has said it wants to start withdrawing in 2011.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 4, 2010
NATO officers are planning a new US-led military command in southern Afghanistan to prepare for a major offensive against the Taliban bastion of Kandahar, officials said Thursday.

The new command would oversee military operations in Helmand province where an allied offensive has taken on Taliban forces in Marjah, while an existing NATO command under British leadership would be freed up to focus on the pivotal campaign planned for Kandahar, defense officials told AFP.

The proposal was "working its way" through the North Atlantic Council, the political arm of the NATO alliance, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But the plan was "politically sensitive" and still had to win final approval from US allies, another official said.

General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, favored the reorganization to handle an influx of troops into the southern region that has become a vital focus for the war.

US military officers and officials have made clear coalition forces will soon shift their focus to Kandahar City, a Taliban stronghold, as an offensive in Marjah in Helmand province winds down.

An administration official last week called the assault in Marjah launched on February 13 a "tactical prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations later this year in Kandahar City."

There was no date set yet for when the new command arrangement would start and the timing "may hang on how long the Marjah offensive lasts," a second defense official said.

The plan for a new command was first reported in the Wall Street Journal late Wednesday.

Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of US Marines in southern Afghanistan, told reporters on Thursday by video link there was a "lot of discussion about Regional Command Southwest, but certainly I'm not sure that a decision has been announced."

More than 20,000 US troops are deployed in the south, including about 15,000 Marines and an army combat brigade, with more due to arrive under President Barack Obama's plan to surge forces into the area to turn the tide in the war.

About 121,000 US and NATO troops are deployed in Afghanistan, with the number set to rise to 150,000 by August -- with most deployed to the south as the new battle plan rolls out in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar.

Coalition operations across the south are currently managed under a single command, Regional Command South, led by British Major General Nick Carter.

Under the plan, the new headquarters for Helmand would be called "Regional Command Southwest" and be led by a two-star US Marine general, while the existing command in Kandahar would be renamed "Regional Command Southeast," officials said.

Helmand and Kandahar have been the main hotspots of the insurgency launched after the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime.

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