You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan
22 Die As Insurgents Battle Afghan Police
2003-08-18
Hundreds of insurgents in a convoy of trucks attacked a police headquarters in southeastern Afghanistan, triggering a gunbattle Sunday that killed 22 people, officials said. It was one of the largest shows of anti-government force in over a year. The assault began shortly before midnight Saturday when about 400 guerrillas traveling in trucks drove across the border from Pakistan and attacked the police headquarters in the province’s Barmal district, about 125 miles southeast of Kabul, said provincial Gov. Mohammed Ali Jalali. It wasn’t clear how he knew the men came from Pakistan.
Assuming they did, and I'm assuming they did, it's not at all clear how the Pak authorities missed four hundred beturbanned heroes, waving rocket launchers and howling at the moon as they raced for the border in a convoy of trucks. Now me, I notice things like that...
Firing rockets, heavy machine guns and grenades, the attackers easily took over the office. About 15 to 20 Afghan police were in the compound at the time and seven of them — including the district police chief — were killed, Jalali said. The rest, realizing they could put up little resistance, beat it fled. Jalali said between 15 to 20 insurgents were also killed. Provincial police chief Daulat Khan said the attackers retreated with the bodies. The insurgents held the police station until dawn Sunday before destroying the building, getting back in their vehicles and fleeing to Pakistan, five miles away, Jalali said. It was unclear why the attackers retreated, but Jalali said they likely did so because by daylight, word of the attack would have been passed on to the U.S.-led coalition, against which they would be little match. Coalition forces have air power at their disposal and routinely use it when insurgent positions are identified.
Besides, when daylight came there was no moon to howl at...
Previous battles between insurgents and government forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition have rarely involved more than 80 guerrilla fighters. Anti-government forces usually move around in small groups on foot. "For a large number of people in vehicles to cross the border in daylight requires some guts as well as some coordination," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. He said the issue would be discussed when Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri visits Kabul on Thursday, and Afghan authorities would press Pakistan to do more to police its side of the border.
I think that's one of those conversations that starts "What the hell is the matter with you people over there? Are you crazy?"
Jalali said the insurgents responsible for Sunday’s attack included Taliban and fighters loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister who heads Hezb-e-Islami, a faction that has called for attacks against foreigners in Afghanistan. He also blamed Pakistan’s intelligence service for playing a role in organizing the assault.
Posted by:Paul Moloney

#11  Slightly OT: Xinua reports that the Afghanistan economy grew 30% in FY ended March 20.
Posted by: Sharon in NYC   2003-8-18 1:51:09 PM  

#10  You have to keep in mind that most of the police are former soldiers.

I would bet that these cops are armed like SWAT teams here, except they also have RPG's and mortars in the bargain.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2003-8-18 12:16:51 PM  

#9  Right across the border from paktika is Waziristan, if you recall from earlier last week this is the province in pakistan that openly defied the weapons bans. It's also one of the provinces that was leaning towards sharia law for implimentation (much like the NWFP).

Paktika is the same province where Shikin is, anther hot spot as far as coaltion forces are concerned. This is definately the work of riled up Waziri's. I wouldn't be suprised if part of this has to do with a perceived american threat from afghanistan. (I know it sounds strange but the psychology is there). The Police stations are probably seen as collaborators in the "puppet karzai regime."

as for Steve's comments about afghan cops.. I've met enough of them and have worked closesly with a good deal of those that I met. You have to keep in mind that most of the police are former soldiers. Some of the chiefs have even fought against the russians when they were teenagers.

good guys, or at least the ones that I knew.

-DS
"the horns hold up the halo"
Posted by: DeviantSaint   2003-8-18 12:06:23 PM  

#8  nothing more about alleged taliban seizure of Zabul province? Looks like that was incorrect. Now they seem to be shifting to Paktia. Always make these attacks within a few miles of Pak border - still a good sign, they are not yet established near prov capital. Strat seems to be to scare away friendlies from border villages, then infiltrate there.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-8-18 11:43:33 AM  

#7  It happened again:
Just hours after a deadly raid on a police station killed 22 people, suspected Taliban fighters attacked another police compound in southeast Afghanistan, setting it ablaze and taking four policemen hostage, officials said Monday. The latest attack took place Sunday night at Tarway, a village in Paktika province a few miles from the Pakistan border, provincial police chief Daulat Khan said. Khan said there were several hundred assailants. "They set the police station on fire, took four of our men and fled to Pakistan," he said. It was not possible to independently confirm the attack. Other policemen who were in the police station in Tarway fled the scene and the remoteness of the area made it impossible to contact authorities. Nadir Khan Zadran, another police chief in the area, estimated there were 200 attackers and said they were members of the former Taliban regime, ousted in the U.S.-led war in 2001. It was unclear if they were the same group that carried out a similar assault earlier Sunday at Barmal, much farther to the north, but also in Paktika province.
Posted by: Steve   2003-8-18 11:38:51 AM  

#6  flash91, we didn't loose 20 people. Seven government police out of a force of 15-20 were killed in a battle with 200 to 400 Taliban (depending on the source) and the bad guys lost at least 15. Sounds like the cops put up a pretty good fight.
Posted by: Steve   2003-8-18 9:40:34 AM  

#5  good guys killed: 7 (all locals)
Bad guys killed:15-20

This is sustainaible for some time. So no need to go into Pakland now. And pakland with its huge population, its large number of raving loonies, its terrain, it complex politics, is not the place we want to go into while we still have issues in Iraq and elsewhere.

Afghanistan: Check
Iraq: Check, but not complete
Iran: Revolution in early stages.
PA: Regime change in early stages.
Saudi: Wait till more progress in Iraq, Iran, PA
Pakistan: Not till after all of the above, at earliest.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2003-8-18 9:36:43 AM  

#4  How about we equip these guys with a panic button so we dont have to loose 20 people?
Posted by: flash91   2003-8-18 9:17:16 AM  

#3  With success comes confidence. For these guys, confidence is closely followed by over-confidence. They'll try again, going for a bigger target with a bigger force. Put a Predator up with a AC-130 gunship, and they'll chop one of these jihadi convoys into little bloody chunks.
Posted by: Steve   2003-8-18 8:47:29 AM  

#2  If I had to wager a guess, I'd say this had as much to do with tribal in-fighting as anything. The easiest thing for an Afghan spokeman to say these days is "Taliban".
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2003-8-18 8:33:09 AM  

#1  I would say it is time to clean house,since Purev does not seem capable.If Karzi and the coalition does not strike with devasting force then they might as well fold thier tents and go home.
Posted by: raptor   2003-8-18 6:15:32 AM  

00:00