NATO razes IED-ed houses in Afghanistan
NATO forces in Afghanistan have been destroying hundreds of houses that are believed to contain booby traps in a campaign aimed at securing the area against both civilian and troop casualties.
The operation has been following a process of securing several districts of the Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, one of the most lawless regions of the country and among the main Taliban strongholds.
According to American military officials, the campaign has been launched after it became clear that Afghani insurgents had booby-trapped civilian houses and mined main road connections before going into hiding. NATO troops are now conducting a razing operation of the houses and shacks allegedly containing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) as well as building military roads to allow safe passage for vehicles.
Zalmai Ayubi, spokesperson for the Kandahar governor, Tooryalai Wesa, told the NY Times: “We don't know the accurate number of homes destroyed. It's the insurgents and the enemies of the country that are to blame for this destruction, because they have planted mines in civilian houses and main roads everywhere.”
The houses targeted are destroyed through the use of bulldozers, missiles, explosives and air strikes. No casualties among civilians have been recorded so far.
Military sources claim that the operation is being enacted in coordination with a monetary compensation for the owners of the houses destroyed.
“In some villages where only a few houses were contaminated by bombs, we called the owners and got their agreement to destroy them. In some villages that were completely empty and full of IEDs, we destroyed them without agreement because it was hard to find the people,” said Shah Muhammed Ahmadi, governor of the Arghandab district, to the NY Times.
Critics of the operation say it undermines General Patraeus's counterinsurgency strategy which, through the selective use of force and other tactics, aims at gaining the trust and support of the local population and, theoretically, dissuades new people from joining the insurgency.
Tribal leaders have said that many houses were destroyed even if they did not contain bombs. Another claim has been made that the compensation for the house-owners was inadequate compared to the fact that their houses had been levelled.
With the Afghan winter getting closer, those who had their homes razed may face extreme difficulties if they do not have another place to stay.
General David Patraeus, NATO's top commander of operations in Afghanistan, has recently said that, thanks to the 30,000 new troops that were deployed by the Obama administration earlier in the year, the insurgents have cleared from Kandahar.
Counterinsurgency has been widely implemented in Afghanistan recently, first by General Stanley McChrystal – who followed General Patraeus's tactic in Iraq – and now by the latter, who took over General McChrystal's role as commander of the operations.
General McChrystal resigned from his position as Afghanistan operations leader last July after a controversial article appeared in US magazine Rolling Stone in which he openly criticised senior White House officials.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
Oct 2010
The operation has been following a process of securing several districts of the Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, one of the most lawless regions of the country and among the main Taliban strongholds.
According to American military officials, the campaign has been launched after it became clear that Afghani insurgents had booby-trapped civilian houses and mined main road connections before going into hiding. NATO troops are now conducting a razing operation of the houses and shacks allegedly containing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) as well as building military roads to allow safe passage for vehicles.
Zalmai Ayubi, spokesperson for the Kandahar governor, Tooryalai Wesa, told the NY Times: “We don't know the accurate number of homes destroyed. It's the insurgents and the enemies of the country that are to blame for this destruction, because they have planted mines in civilian houses and main roads everywhere.”
The houses targeted are destroyed through the use of bulldozers, missiles, explosives and air strikes. No casualties among civilians have been recorded so far.
Military sources claim that the operation is being enacted in coordination with a monetary compensation for the owners of the houses destroyed.
“In some villages where only a few houses were contaminated by bombs, we called the owners and got their agreement to destroy them. In some villages that were completely empty and full of IEDs, we destroyed them without agreement because it was hard to find the people,” said Shah Muhammed Ahmadi, governor of the Arghandab district, to the NY Times.
Critics of the operation say it undermines General Patraeus's counterinsurgency strategy which, through the selective use of force and other tactics, aims at gaining the trust and support of the local population and, theoretically, dissuades new people from joining the insurgency.
Tribal leaders have said that many houses were destroyed even if they did not contain bombs. Another claim has been made that the compensation for the house-owners was inadequate compared to the fact that their houses had been levelled.
With the Afghan winter getting closer, those who had their homes razed may face extreme difficulties if they do not have another place to stay.
General David Patraeus, NATO's top commander of operations in Afghanistan, has recently said that, thanks to the 30,000 new troops that were deployed by the Obama administration earlier in the year, the insurgents have cleared from Kandahar.
Counterinsurgency has been widely implemented in Afghanistan recently, first by General Stanley McChrystal – who followed General Patraeus's tactic in Iraq – and now by the latter, who took over General McChrystal's role as commander of the operations.
General McChrystal resigned from his position as Afghanistan operations leader last July after a controversial article appeared in US magazine Rolling Stone in which he openly criticised senior White House officials.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
Oct 2010