Pak Army Convening Complaint Council?

Following their public verbal smack down by the US, top Pakistani army commanders are meeting among themselves. The problem is...? The ISI doesn't work for the Army. So we'll see what they can actually do about the problem.

Pakistan's army chief will convene a special meeting of senior commanders Sunday following U.S. allegations that the military's spy agency helped militants attack American targets in Afghanistan, the army said.
Senior Pakistani officials have lashed out against the allegations of support for the Haqqani militant network, accusing the U.S. of trying to make Pakistan a scapegoat for its troubled war in Afghanistan. The public spat has plunged the troubled U.S.-Pakistan alliance to new lows.
Pakistan's leaders have shown no indication that they plan to act on renewed American demands to attack the Haqqani network in their main base in Pakistan, even at the risk of further conflict with Washington, which has given the country billions of dollars in military and economic aid.
The top U.S. military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency Thursday of supporting Haqqani insurgents in planning and executing a 22-hour assault on the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan on Sept. 13 and a truck bomb that wounded 77 American soldiers days earlier.
Kayani, widely considered the most powerful man in Pakistan, has dismissed the allegations, saying the charges were baseless and part of a public "blame game" detrimental to peace in Afghanistan.

By: Brant

Afghan Forces Now Responsible For Bamiyan Province

Only time will tell how well prepared Afghan forces are to battle the Taliban on their own.

Nato has handed over control of the central Afghan province of Bamiyan to Afghan security forces.

It is the first of seven areas to be passed to local troops under a plan announced by President Karzai in March.

Bamiyan is one of the country's most secure provinces but it is a poor region, heavily reliant on foreign aid.

The handover is seen as a critical step in a transition of power before foreign troops end combat operations in 2014.

Senior Afghan ministers and foreign ambassadors flew down from the capital, Kabul to take part in a transition ceremony that for security reasons was not announced in advance and was not broadcast live.

International forces from New Zealand will remain in the area for the time being, but they will be under Afghan control.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Recce Team Lands In Malta

Canada appears to be taking a proactive stance in response to the crisis in Libya.

The Canadian military has sent a reconnaissance team and medics to Malta in what could be a signal of deeper military involvement in the crisis in Libya.

The 13-member team arrived on the Mediterranean island on Monday along with two of the air force's new C-130J cargo planes and two giant C-17 transports, which will be used for further evacuations of foreign nationals from the chaotic North African country.

The high-readiness team, much like its previous deployment in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, evaluates the situation and often lays the groundwork for military forces that follow.

Defence sources also tell The Canadian Press that special forces teams are preparing to deploy -- something the military won't confirm.

The British have used commandos to accompany their C-130 Hercules transports into Libya and to protect the aircraft when on the ground.

By: Shelldrake

Canada In Action: Road Construction In Zangabad, Afghanistan

The various elements involved in building the new road: A LAV III (left) takes up its position at the south end of the construction site while a convoy of American demining vehicles (centre) finishes flailing the route, a bulldozer (right) moves to its work area, and a soldier (foreground) makes his way through the dust to his guard post.

Photo by Cpl Étienne Leprohon

By: Shelldrake

Decorated WWII Canadian Tank Officer Dies

Rest in peace BGen (retired) Ned Amy.

One of Canada’s highest decorated and respected tank officers of the Second World War has died.

Retired brigadier-general Ned Amy, 94, died Wednesday in the Camp Hill hospital, said several members of the military.

[snip...]

Amy received the following awards during his military career:

•Distinguished Service Order during the Second World War from Canada for his part in the liberation of the Netherlands.

•The Military Cross during the Second World War from Canada for determined and gallant leadership while holding a vital bridgehead over the Moro River when he was serving in Italy.

•The Order of the British Empire for his service during the Korean War.

•The United States Bronze Star for his service in Korea.

In July 2007, Amy received the highest order France bestows, the Legion d’honneur, for helping liberate that country during the Second World War.

Amy retired from active service in 1972.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Sniffer Dogs Protect Troops From IEDs

Canine units deployed to Aghanistan protect Canadian soldiers by detecting concealed IEDs.

The Canadian Army has been employing sniffer dogs to detect mines and improvised explosive devices (IED) not only along routes, but also in buildings and vehicles.

“We work with canine teams nearly every day, and the dogs form an integral part of our teams and sections,” explained Sergeant Alexandre Murgia, commander of a combat-engineer section of the 1st Battalion Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group (1 R22eR BG).

“The dogs provide us with an added measure of security during our operations, and it’s our role to protect them from the insurgents while they’re doing their job.”

The vast majority of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan have been killed by explosions. The Canadian Forces have therefore been progressively stepping up the employment of sniffer dogs in Afghanistan since 2005. Most of these dogs are German or Belgian shepherds.

The sniffer dogs represent an indispensable asset highly appreciated by the soldiers, given their ability to sense sources of danger well before humans.

“Humans are not infallible and can’t see or detect everything. When they’re with us, we feel better and we feel safer,” added Sgt Murgia.

By: Shelldrake

German Mission To Afghanistan Extended

The BBC reports that German troops will remain in Afghanistan for another year. In addition, contingent of Dutch personnel will be involved in police training.

The German parliament has voted to extend the military mission in Afghanistan by one year despite polls suggesting its unpopularity at home.

Germany currently has 4,860 service personnel deployed in Afghanistan as part of the international peacekeeping force Isaf.

Extending the mandate to 31 January 2012, parliament set the maximum troop number at 5,350.

Meanwhile, Dutch MPs approved a police training mission for Afghanistan.

Germany's mission extension was passed by a large majority in the Bundestag in Berlin - 420 votes in favour, 116 against and 23 abstentions.

[snip...]

Germany is the third-biggest troop contributor to Isaf after the US and UK.

Opinion polls suggest the deployment, which has seen the deaths of 45 German soldiers since 2002, is deeply unpopular with the German public.

In The Hague, the Dutch parliament approved a 545-strong police training force for Afghanistan, after the minority Liberal-Christian Democrat government won backing from three small opposition parties.

By: Shelldrake

Victoria Cross Awarded To Australian Soldier

Australia's highest military honour has been awarded to Cpl Benjamin Roberts-Smith (Australian Special Air Service Regiment) for conspicuous gallantry in action against the Taliban.

Cpl Benjamin Roberts-Smith, 32, was given the medal for single-handedly overpowering Taleban machine-gunners attacking his platoon last June.

"You went to Afghanistan a soldier, you came back a hero," Australian PM Julia Gillard said at the awards ceremony.

[snip...]

On 11 June 2010, Cpl Roberts-Smith was leading a mission in the volatile Kandahar province when his men came under machine-gun fire from fortified Taliban positions. He decided to draw their fire away from his men, who were unable to move under the hail of bullets. The corporal deliberately revealed his position to the insurgents, shooting dead one insurgent and then overpowering two others.

"He will always know, as we know now, that in the heat of the battle he did not fail when mateship and duty called," Ms Gillard said.

Cpl Roberts-Smith is the second person to have received the Victoria Cross for Australia, which was created in 1991 and is a separate award from the British VC.

Read the official citation here.

By: Shelldrake

"Blast Boxers" Protect Family Jewels

These kevlar-based boxers are proving popular with UK troops and are now available in Canada.

A U.K. company has developed a product called “Blast Boxers” — protective military clothing the company claims can reduce severe and sometimes deadly groin injuries caused by mine blasts.

The boxers, which look a little like two-toned bike shorts, are made of a woven Kevlar fabric and are meant to protect the groin, upper leg and body-cavity from blast and fragment injuries from IEDs.

A pair costs about C$85 and BCB International said they’ve proven popular with both UK troops, their wives and their girlfriends.

Esprit de Corps publisher Scott Taylor, who served as a professional soldier and has spent time in war zones, said he could see the product taking off in Canada because soldiers fret about the genital injuries caused by land mines.

“That’s every guy’s worst nightmare and if they could find anything to (protect themselves) they would do it,” he said Friday in an interview from his Ottawa office.

Soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq will sit on their Kevlar vests to protect their genitals from explosions, Taylor said, noting soldiers in World War II would sometimes sit on their helmets when they knew there were landmines around.

“They were more afraid of losing their balls than of a head wound,” he said.

According to statistics provided by the Armed Forces, 7.5% of Canadian casualties showed trauma to the uro-genital system. As of 2009, 1,442 Canadian soldiers had been wounded in the Afghan mission.

U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have also struggled with injuries to the groin area and, last year, the U.S. Congress introduced legislation designed to address uro-trauma in its troops, which was deemed “a growing concern among active military personnel. “

A Canadian Forces spokesperson said Friday the army was aware of the product but wasn’t currently considering purchasing them for their soldiers.

Still, Taylor doesn’t think that will stop soldiers from ordering a pair before heading to war.

“The military might end up buying them but in the short term I think guys would see that as an investment,” he said.

By: Shelldrake

Canada In Action: Royal 22e Regt. Sniper Team

Looking out for trouble from a hilltop observation post above the Afghan village of Khenjakak, members of the 1st Battalion Royal 22e Regiment battle group keep watch as their comrades conduct patrols below.

Photo by an embedded reporter

By: Shelldrake

Q & A Session With JTF2 Commander

The Globe and Mail has published a revealing Q & A session with the commander of Canada's secretive JTF2.

Communication between Brigadier-General Michael Day, the former JTF 2 soldier who now heads Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, and a Globe and Mail journalist.

Subject “on the road” somewhere outside the country.

Date: Sept. 30, 2010

Time: Unknown

You've had 17 years to watch JTF 2 grow. Has terrorism changed?
There is this phrase. It's called VUCA. Volatile. Uncertain. Chaotic. Asymmetric. That describes the threat we think we are facing. So therefore when you say, ‘You guys do hostage rescue but there haven't been any hostage rescues,' there is no way to safely predict that's going to be the event that happens in Canada, right?

Is there is a profile of a JTF 2 assaulter?
You would never notice him in a crowd. We actually select people who do not really want to stand out. The average age is close to, if not over, 30. They are married. They have kids. They are typical Canadians. They are hockey dads. I managed my boy's hockey team for a couple of years. I can't tell you the number of guys on the teams that I saw across the bench.

In terms of “black” operations, Canada is not the U.S.
What is a “black” operation? Besides Call of Duty on my boy's Xbox 360, I have to tell you I've been in the community on and off for 18 years, and never heard that term used. An operation is an operation, right?

How about clandestine commando operations, then? Do Canadians have the stomach for that?
We have no commandos. Commandos is not a Canadian term. I don't talk about my operations in Afghanistan, but my sense is Canadians are pretty happy that we're going out and protecting other Canadian soldiers.

But remove the war context and it gets more murky.
It's an interesting question. I'm sure John Wright from Ipsos Reid could probably give you a take. I don't actually spend a lot of time worrying about that. Governments and the chain of command determine what we do and what we don't do.

There's nothing you're doing that the Prime Minister wouldn't know about, right?
All the senior leaders hear what we're doing. This idea that nobody knows – it's [expletive].

By: Shelldrake

Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle RFP

This excerpt from the draft request for proposals outlines the roles for Canada's new Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle.

TAPV Tactical Operations

Protected transport, tactical reconnaissance and patrol tasks shall be required on all missions from peace support to full combat, and shall be a factor everywhere on the battlefield. The mix of light, medium and heavy force support shall depend on the force makeup and tasks. The TAPV could be assigned to all sections, platoons, patrols and troops conducting tactical operations.

The TAPV Project shall deliver two base configurations:

a. General Utility; and
b. Reconnaissance.

It is envisioned that the TAPV output shall include/contribute to:

a. Situational awareness of the battle space through observation and data collection;
b. Support to command and control (C2) through the development and maintenance of shared SA;
c. Net-Centric Operations support through information transport as nodes and knowledge sharing;
d. Protection against conventional weapons, terrorists and support to recovery;
e. Tactical operations support, including the conduct of operational manoeuvre, defensive operations, recce and surveillance tasks and control of territory, populations, and resources;
f. Support to operations related to POWs, refugees and internally displaced personnel;
g. Support to and protection of logistics operational requirements (convoy escort);
h. Support to specific operations, such as direct action, counterterrorism, civil-military operations (CIMIC), and psychological operations (PSYOPs);
i. Stability Operations, such as Peace Support Operations (PSO) and Humanitarian Assistance;
j. Domestic Operations, such disaster relief and critical infrastructure protection;
k. Military Assistance to Civil Authorities and Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies and Aid to Civil Power; and
l. Full spectrum operations including conventional warfare and COIN operations.

It shall be operated as a stand-alone single-type vehicle (in a convoy for instance) up to a sub-unit strength. Force protection is paramount to its conception, but cross-country mobility shall be maintained to fulfill its functions, especially that of recce. The TAPV shall provide sufficient levels of deployability and mobility to support the expeditionary forces it conducts operations with.

The TAPV shall provide mobile protected recce, surveillance and patrol task support to allow deployed lightweight assets to conduct tactical operations in the full spectrum of conflict.

The TAPV shall be employed in the conduct of, but not limited to recce, surveillance, patrolling, and command and liaison tasks. Additionally, the vehicle shall provide for protected transport of troops and VIPs in theatre. Primary users shall be:

m. Armoured Recce Squadrons - Recce Troops;
n. Light Infantry Companies - Light Infantry Recce Platoon and Sniper Section;
o. Light Infantry Companies - Light Infantry patrols; and
p. Deployed Task Force Support - Patrol vehicles primarily for National Support Elements (NSE), Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT); and secondly for Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), Military Policy (MP), Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC), Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) and other command support tasks (e.g. liaison officers).

Roles stated in Paragraphs a. and b. will be conducted using the Recce configuration, while roles for Paragraphs c. and d. will be conducted using the General Utility configuration.

Drivers and maintainers shall require a detailed knowledge of their vehicle and its equipment properties. Drivers and equipment operator shall also be familiar with field repairs and maintenance, to ensure that continued functional qualities of the system are maintained. Maintenance personnel shall be able to conduct first line maintenance and repairs as well as being able to determine the effectiveness of damaged and repaired vehicles.

Commanders at all levels shall be responsible for risk assessments when recce and patrol operations are required in high threat conditions. In particular, commanders shall understand the capabilities and limitations of these vehicles.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Helicopter Deals - Old And New

There has been yet another delay in the process to replace the Canadian Navy's elderly Sea King helicopters.

There has been a third delay in the delivery of new navy helicopters slated to replace a fleet of decades-old Sea Kings, the federal government said Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose says U.S.-based Sikorsky has informed the federal government it won’t meet a Nov. 30 deadline for delivery of early versions of the Cyclone helicopters used for testing and evaluation.

Rebecca Thompson said Sikorsky considers the delay "excusable" under its contract but Public Works will determine if any penalties should be applied. Thompson said if Ottawa rejects Sikorsky’s argument, the department could implement a fine of $45,000 a day, up to a maximum of 120 days, the delivery of the choppers is late.

"When we sign a contract, we expect a contractor to deliver on time," Thompson said in an email. "This case is no different."

The federal government originally ordered 28 of the Cyclones in 2004 with a delivery date of November 2008, but it has announced delays in the more than $5-billion contract on at least two previous occasions.

In her Oct. 26 report, federal auditor general Sheila Fraser slammed the project for huge cost overruns and delays. She said the total cost of buying all of the helicopters, which operate off the decks of navy frigates and are intended to replace the aging Sea King fleet, would likely top $5.7 billion and come in seven years late.

Thompson said she did not know when the training and evaluation helicopters would be available, but added that Sikorsky said it is sticking to its plan to begin delivering the fully-equipped, final version of the helicopters by June 2012.

The Canadian military apparently needs more helicopters for its Afghanistan mission and has quietly leased at least 4 Mi-17 helicopters.

The Defence Department has quietly acquired a new fleet of helicopters for combat missions in Afghanistan, but is refusing to provide details about how much the deal cost taxpayers or how many aircraft are operating.

The lease of the Russian-designed Mi-17s helicopters for use in Kandahar province is shrouded in secrecy.

The Defence Department says the lease was the result of a competitive contract, but military sources say the details were kept off the MERX web-site, which formally lists government procurement competitions, and no news release was issued about the new choppers, which have been in use since the spring.

Sources say the helicopters are among tens of millions of dollars of purchases of equipment for the Afghanistan mission that the Defence Department has kept secret.
The department will not release the number of helicopters, the cost, nor the name of the company providing the aircraft since it says that information could help Afghan insurgents. Sources say at least four helicopters are being used.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Training Mission To Involve As Many As 950 Soldiers

The Canadian government has agreed to replace departing combat troops with trainers for the Afghan National Army.

The Conservative government will announce on Tuesday that it will send up to 950 troops to Afghanistan next year for a post-2011 training mission, government sources say.

A government official said that all of the soldiers, including trainers and others sent in support roles, will be posted outside of Kandahar province, the tough, war-scarred area in Afghanistan’s south where most Canadian troops are now concentrated.

However, not all will be in the relatively safe capital of Kabul, as some will be posted in other Afghan cities, the source said, without giving the specific locations. NATO has asked allies for army and police trainers in several locations across Afghanistan, including some where Taliban insurgents are more active than in Kabul, such as Mehtar Lam and Jalalabad, an eastern city where six insurgents were killed on Saturday when they tried to attack a coalition base.

Most of Canada’s training mission will be devoted to training soldiers in the Afghan National Army, but none of the troops will be posted in mentoring operations that would require them to accompany Afghan army personnel on combat operations, the sources said. A smaller portion of the Canadian training contingent will work with Afghan police.

Government sources insisted that the training mission will stay within two key restrictions set by Parliament when it voted two years ago to withdraw Canadian combat forces in 2011: none of the soldiers in the post-2011 mission will be in combat, and none will be in Kandahar.

By: Shelldrake

Pakistani Army Clashes With Militants In Swat Valley

The Taliban-led insurgency in the Swat Valley region continues to plague Pakistan. Recent attacks on Pakistani security forces and suicide bombings have raised concerns that militant activity is once again on the rise.

Pakistani security forces killed six militants in clashes in the Swat Valley, a northwest region where the military has largely routed the Taliban but where sporadic violence persists, an army spokesman said Sunday.

The militants attacked a security checkpoint near Shakar Dara on Saturday night, Maj. Mushtaq Ahmed said. Authorities imposed a curfew as they searched for the assailants. Clashes during the search operation killed six militants and wounded one soldier in the Matta area.

The Pakistani army launched a major anti-Taliban offensive in 2009 in Swat, a one-time tourist haven largely overrun by militants beginning in 2007.

Though the months-long offensive was hailed a success, militant activity is still reported in the picturesque region and concerns are growing that the insurgents could rise again unless redevelopment efforts move faster.

Also Sunday, a suicide bomber apparently targeting a militant commander from a rival faction attacked a vegetable market in a region along the Afghan border, wounding nine people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The attack occurred in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal area that is also the focus of an army offensive against the Pakistani Taliban, a network that is focused on attacking the Pakistani state. However, the bomber struck territory controlled by Maulvi Nazir, a militant commander whose focus is the war in Afghanistan and who has been left alone by the Pakistani army.

One of Nazir's deputies, Tahsil Khan, was sitting in a restaurant at the market in Shakai town during the attack, said the two intelligence officials. The bomber was heading toward the restaurant but Khan's bodyguards opened fire on him, which detonated his explosives.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media on the record, said they suspect the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack as part of a turf war with Nazir.

By: Shelldrake

Japanese Troops To Deploy To East China Sea Island

Recent strained relations between China and Japan and Japanese concern over China's increased assertiveness have resulted in plans to station Japanese soldiers on Yonaguni Island.

Tokyo will send around 100 soldiers to a remote Japanese island in the East China Sea, a report said Thursday, amid growing anxiety over China's naval activities.

The ground troops will be deployed on Yonaguni island, Japan's westernmost point, to carry out coastal patrols and surveillance of Chinese naval vessels, Jiji news agency quoted defense officials as saying.

Tokyo eventually plans to double the number of troops stationed on Yonaguni, which is roughly 60 miles east of Taiwan, the report said.

Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa Nov. 11 stressed the importance of boosting defense in island areas, including Yonaguni, to a security committee meeting at the House of Representatives, Jiji reported.

The defense ministry has applied for 30 million yen ($365,000) from next year's budget for "preparatory research" on the issue, it said.

The Japanese military regularly sends patrol aircraft to the region but has no permanent monitoring facility on Yonaguni, a remote but populated rocky outcrop.

Increased Chinese naval activity has sparked a defense rethink in which Japan has mulled sending more forces to its scattered southern islands and away from Cold War-era bases in the north near Russia.

In an incident in April this year, a large Chinese flotilla approached a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea and sent out a helicopter that buzzed Japanese navy ships monitoring their movement.

The area is a frequent flashpoint for troubles between Japan and China.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Military May Remain In Afghanistan As "Trainers"

Although the Canadian government is holding firm on the decision to end the military's combat role in 2011, it is possible that a smaller number of troops will remain in Afghanistan as "trainers".

Canadian troops could remain “behind the wire” in Afghanistan involved in training local troops after their combat mission ends next summer, the Star has learned.

While the Conservative government is holding firm that the combat mission will end in 2011, one of three options emerging is that some soldiers could remain in the troubled nation, well away from combat zones, as trainers.

The other two potential roles on the table are aid and development, a senior government official told the Star.

There are roughly 3,000 soldiers involved in Canada's Afghan mission. The size of the training contingent would be “much smaller” and would be away from Kandahar, a hotbed of the insurgency, the official said.

Canada's future presence in Afghanistan will likely involve all three elements as it looks to put renewed emphasis on rebuilding the country's institutions and assisting its impoverished population.

Despite diplomatic pressure from NATO allies to extend its military mission in Kandahar, Canada is making it clear that a continued combat role is one option that's not up for negotiation.

By: Shelldrake

Canadian Casualties In Afghanistan

Unlike the UK and US militaries, the Canadian military has a policy of restricting information on the number of soldiers wounded or injured while serving in Aghanistan.

The policy of releasing the number of injured soldiers only once a year — on Dec. 31 — has obscured the intensity of fight facing Canadian soldiers, as well as the nature of the sometimes life-altering injuries. It has also given Canadians back home a mental buffer against the numbing realities of war — soldiers who fight hard also get hurt.

Over seven months, 52 soldiers were wounded in action and another 24 suffered “non-battle injuries.” Seventeen soldiers died in combat and two others are listed only as “deaths,” language typically used in the case of suicides or when the cause of death is undetermined. The good news in the numbers is that 34 of the 52 soldiers wounded in action were able to return to duty.

The normally secret records, which are produced in Afghanistan and circulated throughout the defence department, show the pace of war is relentless. In just over one week at the end of May 2008, one soldier is injured when a Light Armoured Vehicle rolls over; four are injured when a suicide bomber blows up his car; one soldier takes ill; two others suffered unspecified “non-battle injuries;” three are hurt in a “probable” mine strike and one suffers a gunshot wound.

[snip...]

The fact that injuries are kept out of the public eye illustrates how unaware Canadians are of the price being paid by soldiers in Afghanistan, said Senator Colin Kenny.

“In death, you hope it’s fast and very little suffering. But the suffering of the wounded goes on and on and on,” said Kenny, the former chair of the Senate defence committee.

“All you have to do is go out to the hospital to meet them. You’re looking at people with half their face gone or their mouth is wired up and their ankles are broken because of the force of the IED,” he said.

In addition, some soldiers complain that hiding the wounded prevents them from being recognized and celebrated for their physical sacrifices on behalf of Canada. In hospitals across the country, they are suffering and recovering alone and in silence, something that can contribute to their frustration, breed resentment and lead to mental health problems.

Defence officials defend the secrecy, saying it’s vital to safeguard operational security and keep insurgents in the dark about the toll their attacks are taking on Canadian troops.

But critics mock that reasoning, noting that allies like Britain and the United States, release their own tallies of wounded troops on a more timely basis — sometimes weekly.

“The lack of transparency here is something that I simply don’t understand,” Kenny said.

By: Shelldrake

Van Doos Deploy To Afghanistan For Last Mission

With Canada's mission to Afghanistan due to end in 2011, the famed Royal 22e Regiment is shipping out on its last seven month mission to the Panjway district.

Families and friends bade farewell at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier Wednesday to 145 Quebec-based soldiers deployed to Afghanistan as part of the last combat rotation before the Canadian mission ends next summer.

"It's so hard," said Krystal Siokalo, wiping away tears.

Her husband Cpl. Adam Siokalo is taking part in his first mission abroad.

[snip...]

Siokalo, who lives in Gagetown with his family, was torn between the excitement of travelling overseas for his first mission and the sadness of leaving his loved ones behind.

"It's a lot of mixed emotions," he said, noting his focus as second in command of the tank squadron with the Battle Group of the Royal 22nd Regiment will be on bringing security to a part of the Panjway district.

"Because we're the last tour, we're going in hoping to make the one last big push to try and make a difference there. I know there's going to be a lot of effort put into security and development to better the Afghan people's lives," the 29 year-old said.

Over the course of the month, a total of 1,900 soldiers from CFB Valcartier, known as the Van Doo, will be deployed to the war-torn country for a seven-month mission.

By: Shelldrake

Afghan Militia Fighters Train Australian Soldiers

In a surprising and controversial bit of role reversal, Afghan militia fighters are reported to be training Australian special forces troops who are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.

Six senior fighters reportedly loyal to influential warlord Matiullah Khan, the most powerful figure in Uruzgan province, were flown to Australian bases last week to help strengthen military operations against insurgents.

Air Marshall Angus Houston, the head of the Australian Defence Force, said that the men would be "fighting side by side with our special forces when we do the next deployment."

His department said that the men were members of the Afghan National Police Provisional Response Company, which reports to the Afghan Ministry of Police. He did not comment on reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that they also reported to Khan, a contentious figure in Afghanistan.

"They are brought over here to do the final part of preparations for the next deployment," Mr Houston said.

"The important thing everybody needs to understand is this makes the operating environment safer for the Australian troops who are going to deploy."

The fighters were shown combat training displays at bases in South Australia and outer Sydney. News of the unlikely alliance has prompted concern.

While US forces have worked with Khan for years Dutch forces have refused to do the same and blocked his appointment as local police chief because he has been accused of murder and extortion, both of which he denies. Khan is also suspected of sponsoring Taliban activity in Uruzgan in an attempt to tighten his control over the region.

William Maley, director of the Australian National University's Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, warned that Khan was a questionable ally.

"Muttiallah is a classic example of the wisdom of the old warning that those who sup with the devil should use a long spoon," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Very often it's all too easy to be seduced by the charms or the apparent skills of a particular tribal actor without properly absorbing the extent to which this then reshapes the wider environment in which one is working in an undesirable direction."

Retired Major General Jim Molan, an Australian who was the US-led international forces' chief of operations in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, said training with Khan's militia was a calculated risk.

"It's not confirmed that they're worse than the Taliban and if you can do a greater good, then I think morally you've got to take a risk," he told the ABC.

By: Shelldrake