wombatphil Posted August 28, 2012 Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) 17 beheaded at Afgan party AFP Updated August 28, 2012, 4:17 am AFP © Enlarge photoKANDAHAR (AFP) - Taliban Islamist insurgents beheaded 17 party-goers, 10 Afghan soldiers were killed and two NATO troops shot dead in a new insider attack in a bloody day across Afghanistan, officials said Monday.The party-goers, including two women, were holding a gathering with music in a southern Afghanistan village."I can confirm that this is the work of the Taliban," the Helmand provincial governor's spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP. "Two women and 15 men were beheaded. They were partying with music in an area under the control of the Taliban."The hardliners were notorious during their rule for public executions and the suppression of music and parties.Nematullah Khan, the Musa Qala district chief, confirmed that the villagers had organised a party with music, and a local official said he suspected that the two women had been dancing. Secret parties with dancing women from a gypsy-type tribe are common across southern Afghanistan.During their 1996-2001 rule in Afghanistan the Taliban, now waging a fierce insurgency against the NATO-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, also tried to stop the mixing of men and women who were not related."This callous act clearly demonstrates the insurgents' willingness to stop at nothing in terrorising civilians," said General John Allen, commander of NATO'S International Security Assistance Force.He pledged the assistance of NATO troops "to help bring these criminals to swift and sure justice", while the US embassy in Kabul condemned the killings as "a shameful act".The UN mission in Afghanistan said: "This criminal act is unjustifiable and totally disregards the sanctity of human life."UNAMA has repeatedly stated that the killing of civilians is a clear violation of international humanitarian and human rights laws and has called for the perpetrators of such reprehensible acts to be brought to justice."Britain too joined in condemning the killings "in the strongest terms".Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said: "I am appalled at the cruel killing of 17 people at a party.... The facts are still being established but early indications are that the Taliban were responsible."The insurgents have in the past been blamed for beheading local villagers, mostly over charges of spying for Afghan and US-led NATO forces.Haji Musa Khan, a tribal elder in Musa Qala district, said the region had seen a surge in such killings in recent months."We had three people beheaded during the month of Ramadan. Another person, the son of a tribal elder, was beheaded recently," he said.Khan said the killings followed major military operations by Afghan and NATO troops in the area.Hours after the beheadings, Taliban insurgents overran an Afghan army post in the same province in a pre-dawn attack on Monday, killing 10 troops, authorities said.Four soldiers were wounded and six others were missing following the attack in Helmand's Washir district, senior regional police officer Colonel Mohammad Ismael Hotak told AFP.Helmand spokesman Ahmadi confirmed the incident and said the attack was an "insider plot" in which some army soldiers helped the rebels attack the post.If it is confirmed that the attack was facilitated by soldiers it will mark a new escalation in a string of insider attacks on Afghan and NATO security forces.Two NATO soldiers were also killed Monday when an Afghan army soldier turned his weapon against them in a "green-on-blue" attack in eastern Laghman province, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said."ISAF soldiers returned fire and killed the attacker," ISAF said.The latest NATO deaths take the toll from insider attacks this month alone to 12 and to a total of 42 this year, making up around 13 percent of all NATO deaths in 2012.NATO, which has about 130,000 troops in Afghanistan, has struggled to stem the attacks and they have become a major issue in the Afghan war, eroding trust between the two forces.Taliban insurgents claim responsibility for many of the attacks, but NATO attributes most to cultural differences, stress and personal animosity between Afghan troops and their international allies.ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Gunter Katz told reporters Monday that the attacks would not lead to less cooperation with Afghan troops as NATO prepares to pull out from the war in 2014."Let me clearly say, we are not going to reduce the close relationship with our Afghan partners. We assess that closer cooperation results in stronger bonds and increasing trust and friendship," he said."These incidents will not affect our operation. The campaign is on track, we effectively fight the insurgency and most importantly we continue to fight alongside our partners from the Afghan security forces." Edited August 29, 2012 by Jollygoodfellow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post earthdome Posted August 28, 2012 Popular Post Posted August 28, 2012 I knew one of the recent casualties in Afghanistan. He had worked at the convenience store closest to my home. He was all excited about joining the Army and serving his country. I did a little bit of subtle counter recruitment. This summer, a year after he joined the army he came home from Afghanistan in a body bag. His parents lived just a block down the street from me. I felt so sad about his death. First because I knew him as a nice young man and tried to talk him out of joining. Second because in the end his death will mean nothing. After the US and NATO leave Afghanistan it will revert back to what it was 11 years ago. Rarely can you give people their freedom using the barrel of a gun. People in other parts of the world have to want freedom and work for it themselves. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiger31 Posted August 28, 2012 Posted August 28, 2012 200 years of history will tell you that these people will never be defeated ,its such a pointless waste of american british and the rest of the nations lives to get involved there .they will keep on breeding and spewing the same crap for ever and ever.and for the politicians to come out with quotes like we have made things better in afghanistan is complete bullsh&t because once all foreign forces have left the taliban will come right back in .so back to square one was it worth it no it was not worth one life of our brave men . we should get out and stay out for good . 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Peterson Posted August 28, 2012 Posted August 28, 2012 quotes like we have made things better in Afghanistan I was deployed 3 times in 5 years in Afghanistan. Each time I returned, it was worse than when I left. I totally agree, Pointless exercise but they (Governments) will continue to uphold their decision. (not to loose face) Then, when they loose power, they will blame the new government. This also is a historical Fact. :unsure: Politicians have never and will never, learn from any war anywhere, :angry: especially when it is not their war. :tiphat: JP. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i am bob Posted August 28, 2012 Posted August 28, 2012 Many of us are ex-military. And many of us understand that it this is not a war that can be won by our fighting it. It can only be won if the people who live there all stand up and reject the oppression being forced upon them by those who don't want to abide by the desires of the majority. Throughout our past history, it was well known that religion was the cause of most wars and the people who initiated the actions were the people in power. The Crusades were known as some of the deadliest times in history! Even communism consisted of the religion of rejecting the idea of a higher power other than the man with the most power. War will never be eradicated until everyone believes more in the power of respecting others more than the "Might is Right" attitude. Don't think I"ll ever see that... Will you? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call me bubba Posted August 29, 2012 Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) when the wars are fought or decided by Those ARMCHAIR WARRIORS or far from reality, thats the 1st problem, 2nd you must have the people behind you for most ARMED Conflicts(military actions) The Russians and the WW2 german army KNEW how to Solve the issue without the PC issues. in the late 1970/s Rhodesia had the SELOUS SCOUTS, THIS UNIT could kick.... :buttkick: n the 26th January 1973, a Special Branch Superintendent, Tommy Peterson, was given permission to establish a pseudo team which would incorporate former terrorists who had been "turned". The idea of using these captured turned terrorists as the core of a pseudo team was developed The progress of these experimental teams was closely monitored and by November 1973 it had been decided to form a regiment of pseudo operator groups who would be deployed clandestinely on both internal and external operations http://www.theselous...com/history.php Rhodesia's crack Selous Scouts, a tough and highly selected band of men, White and Black, who are said to be possibly the best and toughest bush fighters in the world, have been branded as a bunch of demented killers by terrorists and their Marxist henchmen who have never hesitated to twist the truth to suit their own sinister ends. that by March 1977 conservative estimates were that the Selous Scouts had accounted for 1205 terrorist kills, losing a mere 10 of their own men. By any means a remarkable record. Communist strategy seldom differs and another case in point concerns the German Battalion in former French Indochina. Consisting of men who escaped possible war crimes trials in Europe after World War II, they joined the French Foreign Legion and shot, bombed, tortured and bayonetted their way into the Viet Minh. Theirs was a war of reprisals and vicious counter-reprisals, of criminal violence on both sides, of outrages against humanity, of war at its rawest, cruellest and most gruesome. Stumped by veterans who gave even more than they received, the treacherous Viet Minh embarked on a systematic campaign of denigration, using the Communist press and some Western media. The French were rebuked for using their erstwhile enemies to further their "imperialistic designs" and henceforth the German Battalion ceased to exist. The "Battalion of the Damned" as they preferred to call themselves had lived exactly 1,243 days. during which it destroyed 7,466 guerillas by body count, 221 Viet Minh bases, supply dumps, and camps; it liberated 311 military and civilian prisoners from terrorist captivity and covered roughly 11,000 kilometres on foot. They lost 515 men - to them a very heavy loss indeed. The Viet Minh had scored a resounding victory, to be followed 700 days later by the tragedy of Dien Bien Phu, the ultimate French humiliation. http://www.rhodesia.nl/sscouts.htm these Troops were tough and had a great success rate, perhaps a new band of Selous scouts (2012 redux) could be used on the other wars against those who oppress the people Edited August 29, 2012 by Call me Bubba 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i am bob Posted August 29, 2012 Posted August 29, 2012 The art of war (for lack of a better term) is quickly changing from large military actions to a more covert design. Some say it is in response to how the "enemy" operates. Other blame it on cinema and movies such as "The Expendables" - as silly as it sounds, there is truth to both sides. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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