Sgt. Stephen M. New

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Stephen M. New, 29, of Bartlett, Tenn., died July 28, in Bagram, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by small arms fire in the Sarobi District of Kabul Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Jackson, Miss.

For more information, media may contact the United States Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) public affairs office at 910-908-3947 or 910-689-6187.

Samangan Development Conference set for July 2

Afghan Government Media and Information Center | KABUL, Afghanistan - Samangan Provincial Governor’s Office jointly with IDLG and UNDP/ASGP will organize a ‎one-day Conference “Samangan Development Conference” in Kabul to publicize the Samangan Provincial Development Plan and let the donor community and ministries know the priorities of Samangan and see how provincial objectives are placed in the framework of National goals and commitments. Lobby for financial and technical assistance from line ministries and donors to ‎implement the provincial development plan.‎

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Nowhere Is Safe: Taliban Launch Strike on President Karzai's Presidential Palace

Militants say targeting of Presidential Palace would not affect reconciliation process

Kim Sengupta | The Independent | Tuesday 25 June 2013 | Taliban fighters carried out an audacious suicide attack in the heavily fortified heart of Kabul, with the Presidential Palace and the headquarters of the CIA as apparent targets.

The gunmen had been dressed in military uniform and fake badges and passes for Land Cruisers of the type used by security forces to get into the diplomatic enclave in Afghanistan's capital before opening fire in a gun battle which lasted for 90 minute and left four of the attackers and three guards dead.

Among those caught up in the fighting were a group of journalists who had been waiting for an interview with Hamid Karzai about talks organised by the Americans with the Taliban in Qatar. The US administration had maintained that recent statements made by senior members of the insurgency showed that they were seeking a peaceful end to the conflict.

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Taliban Attack CIA Compound in Latest Afghanistan Violence

Rezwan Natiq and Jay Price | McClatchy Foreign Staff | KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades opened fire on the Kabul offices of the CIA early Tuesday in a coordinated attack in one of the capital’s most heavily fortified neighborhoods, which is also home to Afghanistan’s presidential place and the main headquarters for the U.S.-led international military coalition.

There was no word on damages to the CIA offices or casualties to its guard force, and it was uncertain whether the CIA had been the main target of the attack. The Taliban, claiming responsibility for the attack, said in a statement that the CIA building had been one of its primary objectives, but the presidential palace is also nearby. Three presidential guards died in the attack.

Reporters who were waiting to enter the presidential palace when the attack took place at 6:30 a.m. said the attackers fired at the CIA offices, and smoke could be seen rising from the building, a former hotel, from miles away.

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A Reporter's Eyewitness Account of Taliban Attack

RAHIM FAIEZ | Associated Press | KABUL, Afghanistan — One moment I was standing in a quiet, secure and heavily guarded area and the next it had turned into a battlefield. It was 6:30 a.m., and I waiting with about 20 other journalists for an escort into the palace for a speech by President Hamid Karzai. It was a routine assignment for Kabul journalists, and the presidential compound is a scenic and peaceful oasis lined with pine trees in my chaotic hometown.

Suddenly I saw the four armed men jump out of their vehicle. They kneeled [sic] down and started shooting. Two of them fired at presidential palace security guards stationed at a checkpoint. The two others aimed their weapons at the Ariana Hotel, where the CIA is known to have an office.  READ MORE

Is Afghanistan ready to Defend Itself?

Evidence is mixed as to the readiness of Afghanistan's Army and National Police to assume the lead in planning and fighting – with the summer combat season likely to be the first big test. 

Howard LaFranchi | Christian Science Monitor | Kabul, Afghanistan | The expression on the face of the Afghan National Army sergeant makes this much clear: He couldn't be prouder of the spanking-new, million-dollar, gun-mounted vehicle that NATO trainers are teaching him to operate.

"My main goal is to learn very well the operation of these vehicles and their guns so I can defeat our enemy," says Sgt. Nezamuddin Stanekzai as he leans out its door frame, his maroon beret adjusted to sit on his head just so. "I am ready to defend my country!" he declares, signaling two thumbs up.

Stanekzai, radiating confidence as he trained recently at the sprawling Pol-e-Charkhi army base outside Kabul, probably is ready. He is among those Afghans who tested high enough to land in the nascent Mobile Strike Force unit – a $1 billion program designed to leave Afghanistan with a top-notch rapid-reaction force

Afghan Taliban Assault in Kabul Secure Zone

| Prison Planet |Tuesday 25th June, 2013 | Afghan security forces have put down a militant gun and bomb attack near the presidential palace, in one of the most secure areas of Kabul. Officials say four insurgents and three security guards died. The Taliban say they carried out the attack. President Hamid Karzai was in the palace, but the target appears to have been the nearby Ariana hotel, which houses a CIA station. This is the latest in a string of attacks on Kabul in recent months.
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Taliban Political Office Raises Alarm Bells In Kabul

Frud Bezhan | Radio Free Europe | It was heralded as a significant step toward reaching a negotiated peace with the Taliban, so why has the opening of a modest political office in Qatar been met with such fierce opposition by the Afghan government?

For Afghan President Hamid Karzai, it's because the Taliban's Doha office stands as a threat to unravel everything his government has worked for over the past 12 years. "[Afghan officials in Kabul] will see the Americans negotiating with the Taliban, while they're left on the sidelines with no central role," says Anatol Lieven, a professor and Afghanistan expert at King's College London.
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Afghan Diplomats Defect as Western Withdrawal Nears

By Hasnain Kazim | Spiegel Online | The situation in Afghanistan is becoming so precarious that Afghan diplomats no longer want to return to their homeland. Up to 100 foreign service employees set for rotation back to Kabul from assignments abroad have now defected.

A total of 105 Afghan diplomats were meant to report for duty at the Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Saturday. They were being rotated out of their foreign postings as scheduled, and it was time to return to headquarters. Yet just five of them have resurfaced. The others have apparently remained in the countries where they had been posted, among them several employees of the Afghan Embassy in Berlin.

Sources at the Afghan Foreign Ministry have informed SPIEGEL ONLINE that embassy staff members have said they would apply for asylum in their respective host countries or at least apply for an extension of their service until the presidential election in spring 2014. "They are hoping that there is more clarity about the future of our country by that point," said an employee of the ministry. "I feel as though there has been an exodus. No one wants to return to Afghanistan," said the employee, who added that they couldn't be faulted for wanting to stay away from"the situation in the country."According to recent surveys, most Afghans believe the country will sink into chaos and violence and expect that civil war will break out once Western forces withdraw at the end of 2014. For months, the Taliban and various other ethnic groups have been arming themselves in preparation for a fight for power in the country.

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Wounded Afghan Spy Chief Returns From United States

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan | 03 April 2013 | Kabul - Afghanistan's intelligence chief, who was wounded by a suicide bomber, has returned home after four months of medical treatment in the United States. Asadullah Khalid, the head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), arrived in Kabul on April 3. (READ MORE)

Afghan pilot kills 8 ISAF troops, contractor in Kabul attack

From The Long War Journal by Bill Roggio -

An Afghan pilot opened fire on NATO soldiers at an airbase in Kabul, killing eight foreign troops and a contractor. The attack is the latest setback for Afghan security forces.

The International Security Assistance Force confirmed the attack, but did not release the names or nationalities of those killed.

"At 10:25 a.m. local Kabul time this morning authorities received notification of small arms fire at North Kabul International Airport," ISAF stated in a press release. "A quick reaction force responded to the incident. Eight International Security Assistance Force troops and a contractor were killed in the incident." Pajhwok Afghan News claimed the attack took place during a meeting at a "command centre."

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