The ESL Free Press

Afghans Caught in Enemy Fire

An International Security Assistance Force patrol was fired on by rebels in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. Before the soldiers fired back, they noticed a man and a small child lying under a motorcycle. They went to help them. The enemy kept firing.

The man had been shot in the stomach. He died before soldiers could get him out. The child was badly injured and was taken to an ISAF hospital.

“I don’t understand what the insurgents think they are gaining by shooting a 2-year-old child," says Colonel Rafael Torres of the U.S. Army.

source

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Air Strike Against "Shadow Judge"

International Security Assistance Forces made an air raid on a Taliban meeting in Now Zad, Afghanistan, on Thursday.

The target was a Taliban leader who is said to judge people in a "shadow court". He is also accused of taking part in attacks on troops, and helping with roadside bombs.

The leader was meeting with others in a remote place. Local people told ISAF about this.

The raid killed three people and injured two. ISAF is not sure if the Taliban leader was one of them. The first reports say no civilians were harmed.

source

printable:Download Air Strike Against _Shadow Judge_.pdf (19.4K)

ISAF Says Rebels Kill Civilians

The International Security Assistance Force says rebel fighters in Afghanistan have killed more than 100 civilians (non-fighters) and injured more than 200 in the past month.

Although the Taliban says it protects civilians, Admiral Vic Beck of ISAF says, “Their message simply does not match the reality."

For example:

• Rebels killed a truck driver as he left an ISAF post.
• Eight children were killed and many people were injured when a bomb went off at a police checkpoint.
• Two religious leaders were killed in mosques.
• Ten civilians were killed and ten were hurt when they accidentally set off a roadside bomb.

source

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Air Raid on Motorcycle

The International Security Assistance Force attacked two enemy fighters from the air in Shah Wali Kot, Afghanistan, on Thursday.

The two men were riding a motorcycle. They had grenade launchers and automatic weapons.

Troops fired a missile from an aircraft. One man was killed and one was injured. Someone else on a motorcycle took away the injured man before the troops could get to him.

In Ghazni Province, Polish doctors treated an eight-year-old Afghan girl. Her brother took her to a military base and said she was injured when rebels fired at a group of cars. The doctors sent the girl to a field hospital by helicopter. U.S. doctors operated on her, and she is now getting better.

source

printable: Download Air Raid on Motorcycle.pdf (20.1K)

Afghan Police to be Ready by 2014

The Afghan National Police should be ready to do their job alone by 2014, says an officer helping to train them.

Major General Stuart Beare of the Canadian Forces says the training has come a long way in the past year. The number of officers has gone up from 95,000 to almost 120,000 in that time. The goal is 134,000 in the next year.

Afghans join the police to protect others, to have a career, and to learn, says the General.

To have a good police force, he says, the country must work on fighting corruption (officials using their power for themselves instead of doing their jobs). The police also need more trainers to teach them.

source:

printable:Download Afghan Police to be Ready by 2014.pdf (21.2K)

 

Rebel Weapons Factory Found and Destroyed

Soldiers on patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, found an enemy weapons factory on Monday.

The building had

• six large barrels of homemade explosives
• scales
• a boiler room
• a drying room.

The soldiers, who were both Afghan and foreign, took pictures. They made sure no one was within 300 meters of the building. Then it was hit with three rockets. The building and everything in it was destroyed.

source

printable:Download Rebel Weapons Factory Found and Destroyed.pdf (19.7K)

How Did Aid Worker Die?

Linda Norgrove, a British aid worker in Afghanistan, was kidnapped by rebels on September 26th. Last Friday, U.S. troops tried to rescue her -- but as they did, she died.

First reports said a kidnapper set off an explosion that killed Ms. Norgrove. But video of the rescue does not show this for sure. Neither do the reports of the troops.

General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has ordered an investigation. He did this after talking to the commander of the rescue mission, and to the British government.

source

printable:Download How Did Aid Worker Die_.pdf (18.5K)

Patrol in Kandahar Runs Into Trouble

A patrol made up of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force soldiers fought with rebels on Tuesday in Kandahar Province.

The patrol was clearing a road. They saw a group of "military-aged men" with guns, says ISAF. A team of soldiers went up to arrest two of the men, and a firefight began. The two were killed.

The patrol searched some tents in the area. They found and arrested a man in one of them. Next, a man fired at them and they fired back, killing him.

Another man was hiding on a hill. When soldiers tried to question him, he ran away and they chased him. The man pulled out a gun and the soldiers shot and killed him. The last attacker was also hiding and fired at the soldiers. He was also killed.

Three men were captured.

An Afghan woman said the men had demanded food and threatened her family.

source

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Afghan Policeman Freed

An Afghan police officer who had been kidnapped by the Taliban was rescued by soldiers in Marja District on Monday.

Afghan and coalition troops found the man chained in a locked room. He had been kidnapped at a checkpoint a week earlier. The man is a reserve police officer (a part-time member who serves when needed).

The soldiers captured two suspected Taliban members at the same time. They are still looking for the man who kidnapped the police officer. The kidnapper commands up to 20 enemy fighters.

source

printable:Download Afghan Policeman Freed.pdf (18.7K)

 

Afghan Boy Injured in Rebel Attack

A 10-year-old boy was injured by rebel fire in Qadis district, Afghanistan, on Friday.

Coalition soldiers saw several explosions near a village. This was a mortar attack by the enemy. The boy was hit by shrapnel (fragments). After the attack, his uncle took him to a military base. The boy was treated for his wounds and then taken to a hospital at another base.

source

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