LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
September 5/06
Latest New from the Daily Star for September 5/2006
Commentary of the day : Roman
Liturgy
«The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me»
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 4,16-30.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a
scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where
it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to
proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." Rolling up the scroll, he handed it
back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked
intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in
your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words
that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" He
said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb, 'Physician, cure
yourself,' and say, 'Do here in your native place the things that we heard were
done in Capernaum.'" And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in
his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in
the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a
severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah
was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.Again, there
were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of
them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." When the people in the synagogue
heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the
town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to
hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Latest
New from the Daily Star for September 5/2006
Berri claims progress in campaign to open air, sea
routes
UNIFIL chief upbeat about Israeli withdrawal from South
Hizbullah, Israel agree to negotiate swap: Annan
Airliner lands in Beirut despite siege
Pakistani PM urges Israel to end siege
Nasrallah: from humble roots to Arab hero
Cabinet looks to UN Security Council for help ending blockade
Environmental group warns of autumn forest-fire threat
Cease-fire resolution favors Jewish state: Murr
British dignitary wanted to see war damage for herself
Breathing life back into Lebanon's environment
Jackson asks Hizbullah to prove Israeli troops are alive
Jewish state calls for bids to build 700 more homes in settlements
Reporting Lebanon: Look who's fair and balanced
-By Lawrence Pintak
Latest
New from Miscellaneous sources for September 5/2006
NATO Planes Accidentally Kill
Canadian Soldier
Annan to name mediator for release talks-AP
Qatari Plane Lands in Beirut Airport in Defiance of Israeli Blockade-Naharnet
Qatar Pledges Up to 300 Troops for UN Force in Lebanon-Naharnet
Syria's Assad Pledges to Rebuild 3 Southern Villages-Naharnet
Lebanese Oil Slick Reaches Syrian Shores-Naharnet
This war has taught us that Israel must revise its military-Guardian
Unlimited
Hezbollah Victory?me-ontarget.com -
Jerusalem,Israel
LEBANON: Despite war damage, hospitals meet patients' needs-Reuters
Qatar to send troops to Lebanon-Aljazeera.net
- Qatar
Italians bolster UN force in Lebanon-Boston
Globe - United States
Italy moves peacekeepers into southern Lebanon-Globe
and Mail - Canada
Fighting may be over, but Lebanon's tourist industry still -Seattle
Times
Al Jazeera: Qatar to send 200-300 peacekeepers to Lebanon-Ha'aretz
Israel rules out Syria talks-Jerusalem
Newswire
Finland's UN-unit to clear mines in Lebanon-International
Herald Tribune
Israel Helps Arab Unity, Gets Its Own House Divided-People's Democracy
First Large Foreign Unit Arrives for Lebanon-Israel Buffer Zone-New York Times -
United States
Lebanese leaders return to bitter acrimony-Taipei Times - Taiwan
Qatar Pledges Up to 300 Troops
for UN Force in Lebanon
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani pledged up to
300 troops for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon Monday making the gas-rich
emirate the first Arab state to contribute.
The troop pledge was intended to "tell the world that there is an Arab presence,
however small, and to say to Israel that we believe in this resolution and that
we want to implement it," Sheikh Hamad said referring to the UN Security Council
truce resolution that ended the fighting in Lebanon.
The Qatari contingent would comprise "between 200 and 300 men," he said. Sheikh
Hamad was speaking at a joint news conference with UN chief Kofi Annan who has
been on marathon Middle East tour to push for implementation of Resolution 1701
that went into force on August 14 after 34 days of devastating conflict between
Israel and Hizbullah. Annan said he appreciated the Qatari offer enormously as
it would help make the expanded UN force a truly international one. Qatar's
troop offer brings to 18 the number of countries that have promised
contributions -- 14 of them European and the other four Asian. Qatari Emir
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani visited Lebanon on August 21, becoming the
first foreign head of state to do so after the ceasefire went into effect. Qatar
is the only Arab country currently on the UN Security Council. During the debate
on Resolution 1701, its foreign minister expressed reservations about the text
saying it did not set out Israel's obligations clearly enough. But he added that
Qatar would support it nonetheless to end the bloodshed. A close US ally, the
tiny Gulf state has no diplomatic relations with Israel but has allowed a trade
mission in Doha since 1996 and visits by Israeli officials have become
relatively frequent.(AFP) Beirut, 04 Sep 06, 12:03
U.S. Rev. Jackson Calls on Hizbullah to Prove 2 Captured
Israeli Soldiers Are Alive
U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson on Monday met with Hizbullah officials in
Lebanon and called on them to show proof that the two captured Israel soldiers
are still alive. He said such a move could jump-start negotiations that might
lead to the soldiers' release.
Jackson said there were indications the two soldiers captured July 12 were
alive, and said their continued detention is "becoming a magnet to attract a
second round" of war. Hizbullah fighters seized the two Israelis and killed
three others in a cross-border raid that sparked a month of fighting and an
Israeli invasion. The war ended Aug. 14 with a shaky cease-fire and Israeli
troops still occupy positions in southern Lebanon while they wait for a
beefed-up U.N. peacekeeping force to deploy there. Jackson has been in the
Middle East for a week and half as head of a 10-member ecumenical delegation
representing Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic and Protestant groups. His mission
to gain the soldiers' release has taken him to Israel, Syria and to Lebanon
twice.
Jackson declined to name the Hizbullah officials he met with, but said he was
hoping for a response from them later Monday on his call to prove the soldiers
are alive, possibly with video evidence. "My impression is if Hizbullah shows a
sign of life or shows the soldiers, that it will trigger a response," Jackson
told The Associated Press on the terrace of a hotel overlooking Beirut's
skyline. "They ought to show signs of life, show video evidence, because it
would jump-start a framework to start talks." Hizbullah has said the two Israeli
soldiers captured on July 12 can be released only through a prisoner exchange
with Israel. But Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has not said what he wants in
return for releasing the prisoners.
Israel has refused calls to make a prisoner swap to get the soldiers back,
calling for their unconditional release. The two soldiers are Ehud Goldwasser
and Eldad Regev. Their capture followed the June 25 abduction of Cpl. Gilad
Shalit by Hamas-linked militants, an attack that sparked a major Israeli
offensive in Gaza. Jackson said among Hizbullah's demands were the release of
three Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Samir Kantar, Israel's longest-held Lebanese prisoner, has been imprisoned since
1979 for killing three Israelis. The other two are Nasim Nisr, a Lebanese-born
Israeli captured for having contacts with Hizbullah, and Yehia Skaff, who was
detained in 1978 while taking part in a Palestinian militant attack that killed
35 Israelis. Jackson said he did not know whether Israel was willing to release
the three, and said his goal was only to get the two sides, who refuse to meet
directly, to begin negotiating through a third party. During past prisoner
swaps, militants have returned dead soldiers to Israel, so proving the two are
alive has become a point of contention blocking negotiations, Jackson said. "The
overriding issue in Israel is to show us a sign of life. Verification. Hizbullah
seems to believe that if it shows a sign of life, it has given away a major
negotiating tool as it pursues some kind of swap or exchange," he said. In
Israel last week, Jackson met with top Israeli officials including Vice Premier
Shimon Peres and Ofer Dekel, who is overseeing efforts to bring back the two
soldiers. In Damascus, he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Jackson said Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora had told him the two Israeli
soldiers were alive, as had Hizbullah officials. But he warned the war could
resume if the prisoner issue was not resolved swiftly.
"These soldiers are becoming a magnet to attract a second round (of fighting),
Jackson said. "So long as the soldiers are here, it becomes a pretext to
re-ignite the war. There are those who really do want round two." Jackson has
had success several times in the past in negotiating the release of political
hostages. In 1984, he met with then-President Hafez Assad of Syria and arranged
the release of a Navy pilot whose plane had been shot down over Lebanon during
an American airstrike against a Syrian anti-aircraft position a month earlier.
Also that year, Jackson traveled to Cuba and persuaded Fidel Castro to release
48 American and Cuban political prisoners. In 1990, he helped win the release
from Iraq of more than 700 foreign women and children detained as human shields
after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. He also persuaded Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic in 1999 to free three Americans held prisoner.(AP photo shows veteran
U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, holding hands with Karnit
Goldwasser, wife of abducted Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, in Ben Gurion
airport, outside Tel Aviv) Beirut, 04 Sep 06, 16:16
U.N. to mediate Israel-Hezbollah dispute
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Monday he would appoint a
mediator for indirect talks between Israel and Hezbollah on the release of two
abducted Israeli soldiers, the first public word of negotiations between the
bitter enemies since fighting in Lebanon ended.
The announcement raised the possibility of a prisoner swap to win the soldiers'
release, an exchange which Israel has repeatedly rejected, at least in public.
Until now, Israel had insisted that it would not hold any contacts with
Hezbollah, but its government has been under increasing domestic pressure to
bring the two home. The agreement on the mediation effort could mark a
breakthrough on an issue that is crucial to preserving the fragile 3-week-old
cease-fire that ended 34 days of Israel-Hezbollah fighting. Israel mounted its
offensive in Lebanon after the Shiite guerrillas seized the two soldiers and
killed three others in a cross-border raid July 12. The U.N. cease-fire
resolution that ended the fighting on Aug. 14 urges the unconditional release of
the two soldiers. Hezbollah has said it would free them only in a swap for Arab
prisoners held by Israel.
"Both sides have accepted the good offices of the secretary-general to help
resolve this problem," Annan told a news conference in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea
port of Jiddah. "I will designate someone to work discreetly and quietly with
them to find a solution."
"The only thing that I insisted on is that if I'm going to use my good offices,
then my mediator should be the only mediator," he said. "There must be one
mediator and effective channel of communication." Annan said he would not
announce the mediator's name to allow him to work quietly.
Annan did not say whether a prisoner swap was on the agenda for the mediation
effort, and Israel on Monday repeated its stance demanding an unconditional
release of the soldiers.
Asked about the mediation effort, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said
that during Annan's visit to Israel last week, "we urged him to bring about the
full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which calls for
the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages. "
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah officials. Hezbollah has not said
how many Arab prisoners it is seeking in any swap. Israel was holding four
Lebanese before the conflict began and reported capturing several dozen
Hezbollah members during the fighting. Israel and the guerrillas have had
prisoner swaps in the past, the latest in 2004.
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson met with Hezbollah officials in
Lebanon on Monday and asked them to show proof that the two Israeli soldiers are
still alive, saying such a move could give a boost to negotiations. Jackson, who
has been in the region for the past 10 days, said the continued detention of the
soldiers is "becoming a magnet to attract a second round" of war.
Annan announced the mediation effort after talks with Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah in Jiddah, the latest stop in the U.N. chief's 11-day tour of the
Middle East aimed at getting all sides to implement and support the U.N.
cease-fire resolution. The resolution also calls for a 15,000-member U.N.
peacekeeping force to deploy in southern Lebanon to keep Hezbollah weapons away
from the border with Israel. Qatar on Monday became the first Arab nation to
announce it will contribute to the force, pledging 200 to 300 soldiers.
Pakistan's prime minister toured devastated south Beirut and considered a
similar offer.
An Israeli spokesman said his country had no objections to Qatari troops. Qatar
— like most other Arab states — does not recognize Israel, but the two countries
have low-level trade ties.
The U.S., Europe and Israel have been eager to have Muslim forces among the
peacekeepers, but Muslim states fear they could be perceived as opposing
Hezbollah, which gained considerable clout in the region for its fierce
resistance to the Israeli army. Qatar's troop offer came on the same day that
the country's national air carrier, Qatar Airways, landed a commercial flight at
Beirut airport, carrying 142 passengers, despite Israel's blockade of Lebanon —
the first of what the carrier said would be daily commercial flights.
An Israeli army spokesman said the flight was coordinated with Israel and was
the fourth Qatari flight to land with Israeli permission in Beirut since Friday
— an apparent reference to aid flights since this was the first known regularly
scheduled commercial flight from Qatar. But officials from the carrier and the
Lebanese authorities insisted that the plane had flown without Israeli
clearance.
On Saturday, Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, called on Arab nations
to send flights to break the blockade, which Lebanon has said is hampering its
reconstruction efforts. Israel has refused international pressure to lift the
blockade until it is guaranteed that weapons shipments to Hezbollah are halted.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said his country's troop
contribution to the international force was an attempt by the tiny Persian Gulf
nation "to tell the world of the Arab presence, even modestly, in this force and
to tell Israel that we believe in this decision and so we want to contribute in
implementing it." Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz — leader of another key
Muslim country — was considering a similar pledge as he toured the Dahiyah
district of south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold that was pounded to rubble by
Israeli missiles during the war. "If it helps the settlement of peace, Pakistan
may consider contributing troops to Lebanon, but such a decision has not been
made yet," the Anatolia news agency in Turkey quoted Aziz as saying. Under the
cease-fire plan, 15,000 Lebanese soldiers have begun deploying to assert control
over the Hezbollah stronghold south of the Litani River. They have been moving
into areas that Israeli troops have left. French Gen. Alain Pellegrini, who
commands the U.N. force, met with senior Israeli and Lebanese officers at a
border crossing Monday to coordinate Israel's pullout. "I think we are on the
right track in securing the full withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon and
finally ensuring that the Lebanese army will take control of the whole border
area in the south," Pellegrini said in a statement.
Israeli security officials say they expect their army to be out of Lebanese
territory within the next two weeks. By that time, they expect sufficient U.N.
forces will have arrived in south Lebanon to enforce the truce. More than 870
Italian soldiers reached Lebanon by Monday, with the remainder of a 1,000-strong
Italian contingent arriving in the next few days. They bring the total number of
U.N. forces in Lebanon to 3,250 — more than one-fifth of the target.
Berri claims progress in campaign to open air, sea routes
By Raed El Rafei -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday called on governments around the world to
pressure Israel to lift the blockade of Lebanon, as the Lebanese government
decided to file a complaint about the siege with the UN Security Council. In a
parliamentary session Monday morning - as the MPs' open-ended sit-in to protest
Israel's eight-week blockade entered its third day - Berri had urged MPs to file
the complaint without calling on the Security Council to convene. Later on in
the day, Lebanon's Cabinet agreed unanimously to issue an official complaint
regarding the siege.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said the government was delaying a call for the
Security Council to convene because of the US position in support of the
siege."We hold the US administration morally and politically responsible for the
blockade and its consequences," Aridi said.
Berri said that the last offer Lebanon got from the international community was
"the possibility of discussing the opening of the airport immediately and then
the seaports five or six days later." He said that the tentative plan resulted
from calls with the foreign ministers of Germany, the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
on Sunday evening. The speaker said that Lebanon did not have problems in
principle with German troops monitoring the sea - one possible avenue toward a
resolution of the sea blockade. Berri added that the Lebanese military was
equipped to control a stretch of 9 kilometers into the sea. Beyond this
distance, the military could get assistance from the UN peacekeeping forces but
would still be in charge, Berri said.
The speaker said that there was no difference now between Parliament's role and
that of the government. "The sit-in is starting to echo in the Arab world and
internationally," he said. The head of the Arab Parliament, Mohammad Jassem al-Saker,
is expected to arrive to Beirut on Tuesday as the first Arab parliamentarian to
visit Lebanon since the end of the Israeli bombardment.
Future Movement MP Mohammad Qabbani, who met earlier with the Russian
ambassador, Sergei Bukin, said that Russia was on Lebanon's side with respect to
the Israeli blockade. He said that the Russian foreign minister was expected to
arrive in Lebanon later in the week.
Earlier Monday, Qabbani predicted that the Israeli siege would be lifted off the
airport "in a few days."
"According to Geir Pedersen [the UN secretary general's representative in
Lebanon] the air blockade will be lifted soon," Qabbani told Voice of Lebanon.
Democratic Gathering MP Akram Chehayeb called on Lebanese expatriates to protest
in front of the parliaments of the countries where they live and wave Lebanese
flags. Chehayeb said Lebanon was losing $50 million daily due to the siege.
March 14 Forces MP Boutros Harb called for "strengthening the role of the
Foreign Ministry to seek support for Lebanon." Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim
Kenaan said Parliament should come up with its own reading of UN Resolution
1701.A new list of 11 MPs was scheduled to sleep at Parliament on Monday. The
list, with bloc affiliation, included: Mustafa Hussein, Serge Toursarkissian,
Hashem Alameddine and Riad Rahal (Future Movement); Antoine Khoury and Ali
Khreis (Liberation and Development); Salim Aoun, Nabil Nicolas, Edgar Maalouf
and Abbas Hashem (Free Patriotic Movement); and Hassan Yaacoub (Popular Bloc).
Three offices on the third floor of Parliament, in addition to the national
dialogue conference room, have equipped with cots to receive MPs.
Meanwhile, a delegation of MPs visited Bukin as part of a diplomatic effort to
end the blockade. Bukin later said Russia favored lifting the sea and air
blockade on Lebanon.
Hezbollah Victory?
Written by Yisrael Ne'eman
Monday, 04 September 2006
Since the end of the Hezbollah War, Israelis and Jews around the world are
trying to figure out who won. The right wing knee jerk reaction is to declare
Israel the big loser, citing civilian damages, loss of life and damage to
buildings, infrastructure, forests and nature reserves. Claims are made that
Israel’s deterrence is greatly weakened especially since the IDF did not advance
very far across the border in south Lebanon. On the other hand the Olmert
government is trying to squeeze out a “victory” by showing the blows suffered by
the Hezbollah.
In this battle there were two sides. So let’s take a look at the war from the
perspective of the Khomeinist Hezbollah operating within the faction ridden
Lebanese context. Prior to the war the Hezbollah was deeply entrenched,
socially, militarily and physically, in south Lebanon. They were the only armed
militia in the country, were stronger than the official army, intimidated all
Lebanese factions (Sunni, Maronite Catholic, Druze, etc.) and refused to allow
the Lebanese army to deploy along the border with Israel. With tens of miles of
tunnels underground in south Lebanese villages, 3000 launchers, between 12,000 –
15,000 katuyshas and other rockets and thousands of Iranian trained fighters -
Hezbollah Sec. Gen. Hassan Nasrallah and his patrons in Tehran were convinced
they were almost invincible. Syria may have been forced from Lebanon, but Iran
held on tenaciously, Cedar Revolution or not. Pro-western moves would be held in
check, even if Hezbollah was a minority. After all, Nasrallah held the weapons
and the key to war or peace.
On July 12 the Hezbollah killed 8 Israeli soldiers, abducted 2 and wounded
several others. Nasrallah was at the height of his power and arrogance. However,
just last week in an interview he claimed that had he known that Lebanon would
have suffered 1% of the damage done mainly by Israeli air and artillery strikes,
he would not have engaged in the cross border attack less than two months ago.
Something happened.
Hezbollah’s Beirut Dahiah command center (and Shi’ite neighborhood) was reduced
to rubble and Lebanon’s amazing 16 year economic recovery from its civil war
(1975 – 90) came screeching to a halt, tourists fled and the country continues
to live under an Israeli naval blockade. According to western reports, Hezbollah
fighters/terrorists no longer brandish their weapons openly, Nasrallah & Co. are
said to be living underground, the average Lebanese has the feeling that Round
Two is not far off and many are furious at the Hezbollah for starting a war that
has set back Lebanon’s development some 20 years. Nasrallah is a hero in the
Arab/Moslem world, but his standing and that of Hezbollah is plummeting in
Lebanon.
South Lebanon is a wreck. True, the Hezbollah held out in places like the
symbolic Bint J’bel but fled areas not far from Ras Nakura on the southwest
coast and elsewhere. Just last week they were seen dismantling positions in the
Hermon area as reported with footage by Israel TV (Channels 1 and 2). Whether
their villages were captured by Israel or not, south Lebanese Shi’ites mouth
pro-Hezbollah statements but prefer not to repeat the summer of 2006. There were
over 1 million Lebanese refugees, almost entirely from the militarized and
impoverished south and Shi’ite neighborhoods in Beirut and environs.
Hezbollah motivation is still high despite their loss of popularity and
responsibility for damages caused. But Nasrallah can no longer intimidate the
Lebanese government, army or populous as he did previously. Prior to July 12,
Nasrallah believed his rocket arsenal would deter Israel (or anyone else) from
ever taking action against his militia infrastructure.
UN Res. 1701 is not to his advantage as it calls for the disarming of all
militias in Lebanon. UNIFIL is being reinforced by some 7,000 troops, mainly
Europeans. True, they will most likely fail since an attack against them by
Hezbollah may well send them packing.
Fear of the Hezbollah and its influence has definitely waned since the outbreak
of hostilities. That does not mean the war is over or that Nasrallah cannot
bounce back. Let us recall the final objective of the Iran/Hezbollah alliance –
the spread of Khomeinist Shi’ism throughout Lebanon and the Middle East. The
destruction of Israel is just a station along the way. Within the Lebanese
spectrum Tehran and the Dakhiah suffered serious reversals this summer and are
certainly further away from their goals than they were two months ago.
To assert an Israeli “victory” in the war is stretching the definition. However,
for anyone to claim the Hezbollah secured a victory this past summer is either
cynical, ridiculous or both.
Canadian Soldier Dies in U.S. Air Raid in Afghanistan
Monday, September 04, 2006
•NATO Soldier Killed in Clash in Afghanistan •Coalition Troops Come Under Attack
in Afghanistan•Homicide Bomber in Afghanistan Kills 17•Insurgents Kill Coalition
Soldier in Afghanistan•Suicide Bomber Wounds Four NATO Soldiers in Afghanistan
•Violence in Southern Afghanistan Claims 85•4 U.S. Soldiers Die in 2 Attacks in
Afghanistan•Afghan Official: 10 Police Killed by U.S. Airstrike Were Not
Militants•Coalition Bomb Kills 10 Afghan Police
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — U.S. warplanes mistakenly strafed Canadian troops
fighting Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier and
seriously wounding five on Monday in an operation that NATO claims has also left
200 insurgents dead.
More than 20 others were killed across Afghanistan, including a British soldier
and four Afghans in a Kabul suicide bombing, amid a bloody contest between
resurgent Taliban militants and U.S. and NATO forces trying to end the deadliest
spate of violence since the pro-Al-Qaeda Taliban regime's 2001 ouster.
Monday's death took to five the number of Canadian soldiers killed since an
anti-Taliban campaign, dubbed Operation Medusa, was launched Saturday in
southern Kandahar province's Panjwayi district, long a hotbed of insurgent
activity. Some 32 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
CountryWatch: Afghanistan
NATO said the friendly fire incident happened after ground troops battling
Taliban militants requested air support.
"Two ISAF aircraft provided the support but regrettably engaged friendly forces
during a strafing run, using cannons," NATO said in a statement. NATO later
identified the planes as US A-10 Thunderbolts.
U.S. military spokesman Sgt. Chris Miller confirmed that U.S. planes were
involved.
Miller said the NATO force can request air support from the U.S.-led coalition.
NATO took over command of security in southern Afghanistan from the coalition
last month.
One Canadian soldier was killed, said NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy, while
five were seriously wounded and evacuated out of Afghanistan for medical
treatment. He did not say where they were taken. An investigation has been
launched.
"It is particularly distressing to us all when, despite the care and precautions
that are always applied, a tragedy like this happens," said NATO commander Lt.
Gen. David Richards.
A British soldier also attached to NATO was killed in Kabul early Monday by a
suicide bomber who detonated his explosives-ladened four-wheel drive alongside a
British armored military vehicle. Another three soldiers were wounded — one
seriously — and four Afghans killed in the attack, which also left the attacker
dead.
Britain's top army officer said his forces were only just able to cope with the
burden of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We are running hot, certainly running hot. Can we cope? I pause. I say,
'Just,"' Gen. Richard Dannatt, appointed Britain's chief of general staff last
week, told Britain's The Guardian newspaper.
His comments echo warnings from other senior defense officials, who said earlier
this year that the twin commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq had left Britain's
forces badly stretched. Thirty-seven British troops have been killed in
Afghanistan since November 2001.
The weekend's fatalities increased the total of foreign troops killed in
Afghanistan so far this year beyond the 130 who died during all of 2005 — an
indication of the escalation in violence stemming from the surge in Taliban
attacks.
NATO reported that more than 200 Taliban fighters had died in the first two days
of Operation Medusa, which began Saturday. The Afghan Defense Ministry, however,
reported 89 militants were killed. Some 80 other suspected Taliban were arrested
by Afghan police and a further 180 fled, NATO said.
NATO said its militant death toll was arrived at by reviewing information from
its surveillance and reconnaissance assets and reports from Afghan officials and
local people.
The top Taliban military commander for south and southeastern Afghanistan
rejected NATO's claims as propaganda and threatened that his fighters would
"kill" journalists who reported "wrong information" given by the U.S.-led
coalition or NATO.
"They are saying that they have killed 200 Taliban but they did not kill even
10," Mullah Dadullah told The Associated Press in a satellite phone call from an
undisclosed location.
"From today, I want to tell journalists that if in future they use wrong
information from coalition forces or NATO we will target those journalists and
media," Dadullah told the reporter, who has spoken to the Taliban leader in the
past and recognized his voice.
Dadullah also claimed that the Taliban had registered 500 Afghans ready to be
used as suicide bombers and that Mullah Omar — the Taliban's fugitive leader —
was still the movement's supreme commander.
In neighboring Helmand province, suspected Taliban militants attacked a district
headquarters in the town of Garmser, setting off fighting that killed 16
militants and three police, police said.
In Parwan province north of Kabul, militants shot dead two police including a
senior officer, in the third killing of a top district official in Afghanistan
in as many days, an official said Monday.
The intense fighting comes amid Afghanistan's deadliest spate of violence since
U.S.-led forces toppled the hardline Taliban regime for hosting Al Qaeda leader
Usama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.