Saturday 13 December 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

CIA lied about torture, Senate report suggests

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- When CIA interrogators were torturing accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at a secret prison in Poland in March 2003, a top CIA analyst asked them to show him a photograph of an alleged terrorist named Majid Khan.The interrogators slapped Mohammed, denied him sleep, rehydrated him through his rectum, threatened to kill his children and waterboarded him 183 times. And he offered up details on Khan.The analyst later told the CIAs inspector general that Mohammeds information helped lead to Khans arrest, CIA records show. The watchdog included that as a success story in a 2004 report that became public and for many years stood as the most detailed accounting of the program.But the analyst, then deputy chief of the CIAs Osama bin Laden unit, knew that Khan already had been captured in Pakistan at the time Mohammed was asked about him, according to the 520-page Senate Intelligence Committees report on CIA interrogations that was released this past week.In other words, what she told the inspector general wasnt true.The Senate report has exposed years of such CIA misrepresentations that seem designed to boost the case for the effectiveness of brutal interrogations. The CIA acknowledges the misrepresentation about Khans arrest, while disputing most and playing down others.But the Senate investigation relied on the CIAs own records to document a pattern of an agency consistently understating the brutality of the techniques used on detainees and overstating the value of the information they produced.Youve decided to do something and now youve got to justify it, and you may even believe your justifications, said Cynthia Storer, a former CIA analyst whose work has been credited with helping locate bin Laden, and who opposed the torture.The CIA lied, Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, one of the agencys toughest critics, said in the Senate a few days ago.In its written response to the report, the CIA said it was dismayed that it had failed to meet its own standards for precision of language, and we acknowledge that this was unacceptable. But, the agency said, Even in those cases, we found that the actual impact of the information acquired from interrogations was significant and still supported.CIA officials insist that the treatment of Mohammed and other detainees yielded valuable intelligence, something the Senate report disputes. The CIA stands by 18 of the 20 cases in which the Senate says the agency failed to obtain uniquely valuable intelligence from detainees through harsh interrogation.The Senate report has exposed lies well beyond its pages.Former top CIA manager Jose Rodriguez wrote in his 2011 memoir, Hard Measures, that during waterboarding, our officers used far less water for far shorter periods of time than they were allowed.He suggested that the publics view had been swayed by a cartoon version in which detainees are practically being doused by a fire hose.CIA records cited in the report show that Rodriguez, who destroyed videotapes of some of the sessions, was not telling the truth.The waterboarding was far more intense and gruesome than the Justice Department had authorized, according to the records, which the CIA has not disputed.Waterboarding caused al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah to become completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth, while the procedure used on Mohammad evolved into a series of near drownings, with interrogators cupping a pool of water over his nose and mouth. The first waterboarding session of Mohamed lasted 10 minutes longer than the Justice Department allowed, the Senate report says.Rodriguez, who ran the CIA interrogation program, did not respond to requests for comment.CIA officials said they could not speak for Rodriguez, but they say the analysts assertion about Khans arrest was a one-time mistake.Senate investigators say the error was repeated many times to the inspector general and was used to bolster the case for Justice Department approval of brutal techniques. The misinformation was also sent to a CIA panel reviewing the interrogation program.The same analyst, who now holds a senior job in the CIAs Counter Terrorism Center, exaggerated other aspects of intelligence gained under torture to the inspector general, the report says. She played a pivotal role in the wrongful CIA kidnapping of German citizen Khaled el-Masri, who says he was tortured at the CIAs Salt Pit in Afghanistan.Another CIA misrepresentation, the Senate report says, was the assertion to the White House, the Justice Department, Congress, and later the public that Zubaydah, the first detainee to be waterboarded, told the CIA he believed the U.S. was weak and lacked resilience, and that he stopped cooperating under traditional interrogation techniques.In August 2006, a CIA al-Qaida expert wrote: We have no records that he declared that America was weak, and lacking in resilience ... Another al-Qaida expert wrote, I can find no reference to AZ being deifant (sic) and declaring America weak... in fact everything I have read indicated he used a non deifiant (sic) resistance strategy.Two others speculated how the exaggeration took hold. They refer to the senior analyst who gave the misinformation to the inspector general.Yes, believe so, an officer wrote. And agree, we shall pass over in silence.Years of such misinformation bubbled to the surface during the first briefing about interrogations to the full Senate Intelligence Committee, in 2007, by then-CIA Director Michael Hayden. He made so many factual misstatements about the program, the techniques, the number of detainees and the intelligence, that the Senate study devotes a 37-page appendix to fact-checking his testimony.I was describing the mature program that I was suggesting should go forward, Hayden said in an email this past week. I think a lot of the incidents they pointed out came from really early in the interrogation process.

Russia's Tuktamysheva wins Grand Prix Final

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BARCELONA, Spain: (AP) - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia won the Grand Prix Final after extending her lead with a personal best free skate on Saturday.The 17-year-old, who broke her foot in March, cruised through her program to finish with 136.06 points for a winning total of 203.58.When I was injured I understood I could not give up skating, Tuktamysheva said through a translator. I have this fighting spirit.Fifteen-year-old countrywoman Elena Radionova finished second with 198.74.American Ashley Wagner rebounded from her shaky short program with a score of 129.260.26 from her personal best free skate to repeat her third-place finish from last years final with 189.50 points.Today was huge for me, Wagner said. To come from last place and get on the podium is a great accomplishment, especially against the best girls in the world.European champion and Olympic team gold medalist Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia continued to struggle, falling twice to finish fifth of the six finalists.In pairs, Canadas Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford followed up their leading short programs with their own personal best free skate score of 146.22 points for a winning total of 220.72.Our goal coming here was to stand on the podium, so to win is a bonus, Duhamel said.Olympic and world silver medalists Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were second with 213.72, followed by Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China with 194.31.The mens and ice dance free programs were later at the temporary rink inside Barcelonas International Convention Center.

Dhawan, Warner, Kohli fined for Adelaide clashes

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DUBAI: (AFP) - Australias David Warner and India duo Shikhar Dhawan and stand-in skipper Virat Kohli were found guilty of breaching the ICC code of conduct and handed fines for bust-ups during the stormy first Test which ended in Adelaide on Saturday.Warner and Dhawan were fined 15 and 30 per cent of their match fees respectively for their roles in an incident that took place during the second session of play on Friday, while Kohli was also fined 30 per cent of his match fee for his involvement in a separate incident shortly before the close of play on the fourth day.Warner, who made a century in each innings, and Dhawan were both fined for their roles in events that followed after Varun Aarons delivery that bowled the Australian was called a no-ball after a video review. Warner, instead of walking directly back to his batting position, walked towards the bowler and made a provocative comment, said an ICC statement.After the next delivery, Dhawan came in from his fielding position and aggressively remonstrated with Warner, stopping the game in the process.Kohli, in a separate incident, stopped play to approach Australian batsman Steven Smith and remonstrate with him after an lbw appeal off the bowling of Rohit Sharma had been turned down.The three players admitted the offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Jeff Crowe. Both captains agreed that they will take the lead and the responsibility for setting the example. In particular, to stop any unacceptable aggression of any kind towards opposing players, said Crowe.Australia won the match by 48 runs after a gripping final day which had seen Kohli hit a majestic 141.

Hazard, Costa give Chelsea 2-0 win over Hull

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LONDON: (AP) - Eden Hazard and Diego Costa scored as Premier League leaders Chelsea responded to its first loss of the season with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Hull.Hazard scored his eighth goal of the season in the seventh minute, and Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone was dismissed on the hour after being shown a second yellow card for a reckless studs-up challenge on Filipe Luis.Hazard then turned provider in the 68th as Costa scored his first goal in five games to seal the win. It came a week after Chelseas unbeaten start to the season was ended by Newcastle.Chelsea remains three points ahead of Manchester City, which won 1-0 at Leicester.Less than seven minutes were on the clock when Chelsea opened the scoring. A clumsy challenge by John Obi Mikel on Sone Aluko was missed and play continued, with the ball sprayed out wide to Oscar whose cross was nodded home by Hazard.It was a bad start which soon got worse for Hull as injury forced Steve Bruce to bring on son Alex in place of the injured Michael Dawson.Hull responded fairly strongly considering those early blows, with Jake Livermore flashing a strike wide before Aluko missed the target in a move started by Mikel being dispossessed. But Hull midfielder David Meyler was booked after a comical attempt to hook a corner back into play with a hand, before Chelsea counterpart Willian was booked for taking a tumble as play became stretched.Epitomizing a scrappy first half, Chelsea defender Gary Cahill was also booked after a late lunge which saw Aluko requiring treatment.Chelseas sloppy performance continued in the second half, with Livermore firing just wide from the edge of the box after some intricate passing.Jos Mourinhos side was creating few chances and perhaps that was behind Cahills apparent dive in the box. Hull had expected Chris Foy to hand the center back a second booking, only to be incensed when the referee pointed for a goal kick.Hull players harangued Foy, who was soon under pressure from Chelsea after Alex Bruce smashed through Willian. Bruce was only given a booking the same punishment dished out to Costa for diving soon after, despite having clearly been caught by Huddlestone.One decision Foy definitely got right, though, was the red card shown to Huddlestone.With an extra man, Chelsea went further in front. Hazard followed a long run by playing a lovely one-two with Branislav Ivanovic, before putting through Costa to turn home.Oscar and Cahill saw efforts blocked in quick succession, before Ivanovic fired over. Substitute Andre Schurrle twice saw efforts blocked as the clock wound down.

Police arrest suspect in shooting near high school

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PORTLAND, Oregon: (AP) - Police in Portland say they have arrested a suspect in the shooting outside an alternative high school.Authorities say they stopped a vehicle around 1:30 a.m. Saturday at and arrested a 22-year-old man. A handgun was found in the vehicle.Police were searching an apartment about half an hour later as part of the investigation. The apartment is about five blocks east of the shooting near Rosemary Anderson High School.

Senate to take up USD 1.1T bill to keep US govt open

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WASHINGTON: (AP) - The Democratic-led Senate was on track to approve a massive spending bill by early next week that would prevent a U.S. government shutdown, despite strong objections from liberals to provisions rolling back bank regulations imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and conservatives upset about President Barack Obamas new immigration policy.The fight over the USD 1.1 trillion spending bill reflected the Republicans newly gained leverage after their sweeping victories in last months midterm elections.Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was forced to abandon plans to adjourn the Senate for the weekend after two ultraconservative Republican senators, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, demanded a vote Friday night on a proposal to cut funds from the spending bill that could be used to implement Obamas executive actions that would give millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally a temporary reprieve from deportation.That ended any chance the measure could clear the Senate and be sent to the White House with a minimum of fuss. Reid raised the possibility of a test vote on the spending bill shortly after midnight on Saturday.To give the Senate time to complete action, Obama signed a 48-hour law to keep the government funded through Saturday and prevent a shutdown that both parties have pledged to avoid. A second stop-gap bill was also in the wings, to make sure the government had funding through Wednesday.Many Democrats, including Obama, recognized that if the current bill fails, Republicans would pass an even more objectionable one when they take full control of Congress next month.This has led to an unusual alliance between Obama and Republican leaders, who narrowly pushed the bill through the House of Representatives on Thursday by a vote of 219-206, over the objections of the Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi normally a close Obama ally.Obama praised the bill, calling it a classic compromise produced by the divided government that the American people voted for.This legislation allows us to build on the economic progress and the national security progress thats important, Obama said. Still, he said, Had I been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any Republican votes I suspect itd be slightly different.House Republican leaders needed some Democratic votes to overcome the objections of their most conservative members, who wanted to use the bill to block Obamas plan to deport fewer immigrants.Similar splits have emerged in the Senate.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of the chambers most prominent liberals, blasted the measure in a Senate speech for the third straight day, saying it was a payoff to Citigroup, whose lobbyists helped write a provision that significantly weakens new regulations on derivatives trading by Wall Street banks.Enough is enough. Washington already works really well for the billionaires and the big corporations and the lawyers and the lobbyists, Warren said. But what about the families who lost their homes or their jobs or their retirement savings the last time Citi bet big on derivatives and lost?Another provision loathed by many Democrats though backed by the Democratic National Committee raises the amount of money that wealthy donors may contribute to political parties for national conventions, election recounts and headquarters buildings.Cruz, a champion of the ultra-conservative tea party movement, is incensed that the bill doesnt stop Obamas immigration plan.Senate Republican leaders have pledged to challenge Obamas immigration policy early in the new year, after Republicans take control of the Senate. But Cruz suggested they shouldnt be entirely trusted to keep their pledge.We will learn soon enough if those statements are genuine and sincere, he said, in a clear reference to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner.Cruz and Lee played a major role in events slightly more than a year ago that led to a partial government shutdown an event McConnell, Boehner and most Republicans have vowed to avoid repeating.But the expectations are that the Senates more centrist leaders, Reid and McConnell, will forge an alliance to push the spending bill through.The spending measure provides funding to keep nearly the entire government operating through the Sept. 30 end of the current budget year, awarding increases for health research, securities regulation and foreign aid.The sole exception is the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded only until Feb. 27. Republicans intend to try then to force the president to roll back the new immigration policy.

28,000 worth of chicken stolen in Puerto Rico

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: (AP) - Which came first, the chicken or the eggs? For thieves in Puerto Rico this week, it was the eggs.Days after police reported that thieves stole nearly half a million eggs from a north coast warehouse, authorities reported Saturday that someone stole 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) of chicken.The thieves made off with the poultry from a truck parked outside of a warehouse in the islands central region.Police said the chicken is worth $28,000. No one has been arrested.

Bayern routs Augsburg 4-0, Dortmund loses again

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BERLIN: (AP) - Arjen Robben scored twice as Bayern Munich routed third-place Augsburg 4-0 to provisionally increase its Bundesliga lead while Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.Robben claimed his first goal with a brilliant curling shot one minute after defender Mehdi Benatia broke the deadlock in the 58th. Robert Lewandowski sealed the result with a fine strike 10 minutes later, and Robben wrapped up the scoring two minutes after that.Hertha striker Julian Schieber returned to haunt Dortmund, scoring in the 40th to leave his former side back in the relegation zone.Also, Schalke lost 2-1 at home to promoted Cologne, Hannover drew 3-3 at Werder Bremen, and Freiburg and Hamburger SV played out a goalless draw.Mainz hosted bottom side Stuttgart late.

UN climate talks deadlocked over scope of pledges

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LIMA, Peru (AP) -- U.N. talks on a new global warming pact went into overtime Saturday as negotiators considered a draft agreement that environmentalists complain fails to clearly define the responsibilities countries are due to accept at a key summit in Paris next year.The two-week meeting of representatives from more than 190 nations was scheduled to close Friday, but the yearly climate gatherings have rarely ended on time.One of the most problematic issues left unresolved was deciding what information should go into the pledges due for a planned Paris agreement.Rich countries insisted the pledges focus on efforts to control emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases and were resisting demands that they include promises of financing to help poor countries absorb the effects of climate change, which the U.N. environment agency last week estimated will amount to at least $200 billion annually by 2050.Environmentalists complained that the draft that delegates were considering Saturday puts off decisions on financing.The current text is in my view the worst possible text, said Jan Kowalzig of Oxfam.Bolivias chief negotiator, Rene Orellana, on Friday accused rich countries, including the United States, of an attitude of shirking the responsibility of the provision of finance and technology transfer to poor nations.Meanwhile, top carbon polluter China and other major developing countries opposed plans for a review process that would allow the pledges to be compared against one another before Paris.Their reluctance angered some delegates from countries on the front lines of climate change.We are shocked that some of our colleagues would want to avoid a process to hold their proposed targets up to the light, said Tony de Brum, the foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, a Pacific nation of low-lying atolls at risk of being flooded by rising seas.Expectations had been relatively low for the Lima talks.This agreement papers over the toughest decisions, which are still to be made in the 12 months ahead of Paris, said Paul Bledsoe, climate specialist at the German Marshall Fund think tank.Though negotiating tactics always play a role, virtually all disputes in the U.N. talks reflect the wider issue of how to divide the burden of fixing the planetary warming that scientists say results from human activity, primarily the burning of oil, coal and natural gas.Historically, Western nations are the biggest emitters. Currently, most CO2 emissions are coming from developing countries as they grow their economies and lift millions of people out of poverty.During a brief stop in Lima on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said fixing the problem was everyones responsibility, because its the net amount of carbon that matters, not each countrys share.According to the U.N.s scientific panel on climate change, the world can pump out no more than about 1 trillion tons of carbon to have a likely chance of avoiding dangerous levels of warming. It already has spent more than half of that carbon budget as emissions continue to rise, driven by growth in China and other emerging economies.Scientific reports say climate impacts are already happening and include rising sea levels, intensifying heat waves and shifts in weather patterns causing floods in some areas and droughts in others.The U.N. weather agency said last week that 2014 could become the hottest year on record.

Pakistan beats India in Champions Trophy semi-final by 4-3

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BHUBANESWAR, India: (Web Desk) – Pakistan has defeated Indian by 4-3 in the semi-final of men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar, India. India was the first to score when Gurjinder slapped one into the nets in 11th minute. Pakistan failed to score only three minutes later on a penalty corner but succeeded to convert in the 16th minute of the game to level the match.The two sides remained even till the end of the first half but immediately after the game was restarted in the third quarter, Muhammad Waqas scored to put Pakistan in the lead. Indian were quick to respond as Dharamvir scored to level the match again.Irfan was the next to give Pakistan the lead and Nikkin was the next to level the scores yet again.However, when Qadir scored for the fourth time into the India net, it was the goal that decided the fate of the match in Pakistan’s favour as India failed to score the equalizer one minute later on penalty corner.Pakistan won the match by 4-3 and now will play the final of the tournament against Germany on Sunday.

Sweden: Another near-miss in Baltic skies

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COPENHAGEN (AP) Swedish authorities say a foreign military aircraft nearly collided above southern Sweden with a commercial passenger plane that had taken off from Copenhagen.Swedish Air Force chief, Maj. Gen. Micael Byden, said Saturday that the military aircrafts transponders, which make the plane visible to commercial radar, were shut off.Swedish fighter jets were sent up to identify the plane, but he declined to disclose its nationality.Byden said the Friday midday incident in international air space looked pretty serious, adding that the southern-bound commercial flight, which he didnt identify, was immediately ordered to change course.Byden said it was not as serious as in March when a Russian plane flying without transponders, came within 100 meters (300 feet) of an SAS plane that had taken off from Copenhagen.

7 more polio cases surface, toll rises to 283

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – As many as seven more polio cases have surfaced on Saturday taking the total number of cases registered in 2014 to at least 283 in the country.According to the Ministry for Health sources, a 13-year-old baby girl named Rehanfrom Swat have been diagnosed with the crippling virus of polio.Resident of South Waziristan, Eid Gul and Khyber Agency’s Ahtesham and Abdul Mateen have also been found out to be affected.Moreover, as many as two affectees belong to Peshawar and one more from Khyber Agency.In 2014, at least 173 cases have surfaced in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 63 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), 27 in Sindh, 3 in Punjab and from Balochistan as many as 17 cases have been registered.

UN still struggling to move aid into Syria

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.N.s decision in July to begin moving aid into war-torn Syria without the consent of President Bashar Assad was heralded as unprecedented. It was the first time that humanitarian need trumped a nations sovereignty.Five months later, aid workers are dismayed that more trucks loaded with U.N. aid arent moving into Syria, where civilians face bullets and barrel bombs in the crossfire of a war that has killed 200,000. Despite their disappointment, they still want the U.N. Security Council next week to renew a resolution that permits the U.N. aid to move through four border crossings two in Turkey, one in Jordan and one in Iraq without Assads blessing.The U.N. humanitarian office has said that if security allowed, U.N. aid trucked through the four crossings could reach 2.9 million people, complementing the much higher levels of cross-border aid that non-governmental organizations have been moving into the country for years. So far, the number of people who have benefited from aid delivered under terms of the resolution is in the hundreds of thousands, not millions.While some progress has been made, over 12 million people still urgently need help, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wrote late last month. Nearly 5 million of them live in areas that remain hard to reach despite the additional access granted through Resolution 2165, and only a portion are receiving humanitarian assistance.He said the resolution had enabled U.N. agencies and partners to reach more places where assistance is urgently needed. But needs continue to rise and the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate.Before the resolution was adopted, the U.N. and its partners were getting aid to 38 hard-to-reach areas a month. Since its adoption, an average of 66 of these areas are reached each month.Resolution 2165, which was approved for six months, is set to expire on Jan. 9. U.N. diplomats say they hope to vote on renewing it for a full year next week.A half dozen aid officials and workers told The Associated Press in interviews that the cross-border U.N. aid has been slowly increasing. They say it is hampered by fighting, militant roadblocks, bureaucratic and logistical delays, poor coordination and in some cases the aid communitys fear of angering the Syrian government because it needs its help with other projects in the country.The aid workers all spoke on condition of anonymity because they said speaking publicly would make them targets for extremist militants and potentially damage their working relationships with the U.N.One aid official, who coordinates work in several countries in the region, said that since the resolution was adopted, the U.N. had moved about 420 truckloads of aid through border crossings in Turkey and Jordan compared to the 688 truckloads of aid his organization had moved in the same time period through Turkey alone.The aid workers said northeast Syria was especially difficult to reach because roads from warehouses are controlled by armed militant groups. They spoke of problems with the road at the Jordanian crossing but said Saudi Arabia had financed improvements. They recounted situations where aid was stolen or resold by militants or government forces, hospitals and ambulances bombed and shipments stopped before they could ever reach their destinations.Many areas that are controlled by Islamic State militants or government forces remain impossible to penetrate or are too dangerous to visit. Sixty-nine humanitarian aid workers have been killed since 2011, including three who were beheaded by IS this year. Twenty-seven U.N. staff members are detained or missing.Before the civil war started in March 2011, an estimated 22 million people lived in Syria. Now, nearly half are displaced 7.6 million have fled their homes but still live inside Syria and more than 3.2 million have become refugees in other countries.The U.N. says parties to the conflict continue to restrict access to besieged areas. No more than two besieged areas have been reached in any month since the adoption of Resolution 2165, and only one location has been reached in each of the past two months.The moderate Syrian National Coalition doesnt want to see the resolution just renewed. It wants to see it strengthened to make sure the Assad government faces consequences for noncompliance.Abrahim Miro, the coalitions finance minister, said recently in Istanbul that Resolution 2165 was not solving the problem and aid still was not reaching areas held by forces fighting IS and the Assad government. He accused Assad of using humanitarian aid as a political tool and argued that better coordination with the opposition would allow more aid to flow into areas it holds.If some NGOs drop, lets say, 50 tons of flour in a certain city, the price of bread goes down for three days and then it goes up. This volatility is making people very tired, Miro said. We need people to have the aid as soon as possible, and that is unfortunately not happening at the time being.

Attackers of Parliament, PTV are making false claims of peace: Pervez Rashid

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid on Saturday has said that the people who attacked the Parliament and the Pakistan Television (PTV) are now making false claims of being peaceful.He expressed these views in a statement.He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has a policy of being aggressive in Lahore and taking it easy in Karachi due to pressure there.Rashid said that many people are witnesses of PTI’s attacks on the journalists.The minister said that the Prime Minister (PM) has had patience with the politics of violence of PTI for past six months and the attitude of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is in favour of democracy.Rashid also said that they respect all the political powers in the country and that they do not want to resolve the issues with the use of force but with peace.

Day of insurgent violence kills 19 in Afghanistan

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Three separate Taliban attacks killed at least 19 people in Afghanistan on Saturday, including a senior judicial official and personnel working to clear one of the most heavily mined regions of the world.The attacks came amid a spike in violence just weeks before the international military mission in Afghanistan comes to an end on Dec. 31., 13 years after the September 11 attacks sparked a U.S.-led invasion to rid Afghanistan of the Talibans extremist regime.As the Taliban insurgency vows to maintain its current campaign against government, military and foreign targets, the attacks have sparked tight security in Kabul and concerns among Afghans that the situation can only worsen after foreign forces have transitioned to a support role from Jan. 1.The U.S. and NATO will leave around 13,000 troops in the country, with sliding reductions over the coming two years. With the end of NATOs International Security Assistance Force, the residual troops are meant to offer training and support to Afghan security forces that have been leading the anti-insurgency fight while suffering record casualties since the middle of last year.President Ashraf Ghani made it clear during recent overseas trips that he believes Afghanistan needs ongoing financial and military support as the insurgency intensifies and spreads.We are not yet able to do everything alone. Your continued support will, therefore, be key in ensuring that our collective gains of the 13 years will be enduring, Ghani told NATO foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this month.U.S. President Barack Obamas decision to extend the remit of the U.S. troops remaining in the Afghanistan, allowing them to conduct anti-terrorist operations against the Taliban as well as al Qaeda, and to provide combat support as necessary, also tacitly acknowledges the security challenges the country faces.The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Saturday attacks, as well as one late Friday in which two American soldiers were killed, according to an international military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as the information wasnt authorized for release. The soldiers died when a suicide bomber targeted their convoy near the Bagram air base, outside Kabul in Parwan province.Their deaths took to 65 the total number of international troops to die in Afghanistan this year, 50 of them Americans. Some 3,500 foreign forces, including at least 2,210 American soldiers, have been killed since the war began in 2001. By comparison, Afghan security casualties spiked 6.5 percent this year, with 4,634 killed in action by the end of September.Maj. Gen. Afzal Aman, chief of operations at the Defense Ministry, said that six Afghan soldiers died when a suicide bomber attacked a bus taking them home late Saturday afternoon.He said the attack was most likely carried out by a suicide bomber on foot. Eyewitnesses said the bus was a totally destroyed by fire.Hashmat Stanekzai, spokesman for the Kabul police, said a total of 18 people were wounded, soldiers and civilians.Early Saturday, gunmen shot dead Atiqullah Rawoofi, the head of the courts secretariat in Kabuls northwestern suburbs, said Farid Afzali, chief of the Kabul police criminal investigation unit. Rawoofi was walking from his home to his car on his way to work when he was shot dead by militants, he said.Hours later Taliban fighters shot dead at least 12 workers clearing mines in southern Afghanistan, authorities said.The attack targeting the mine-clearing operation struck southern Helmand province between its Nad Ali and Washir districts, police spokesman Farid Ahmad Obaid said. He said Taliban militants killed at least 12 workers and wounded another 12. Afghan soldiers later began a firefight with the insurgents, he said.Obaid identified the company working on the project as Star Link. An employee of Star Link, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said that the number of dead could be higher.Mohammad Din, a Star Link manager, separately said 81 workers were at the site when the gunmen arrived.Afghanistan, which has suffered decades of continuous war, is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. The nonprofit Halo Trust estimates some 640,000 mines have been laid there since 1979 and at least 20,500 people have been killed and wounded by such ordinance since.Those working on projects to clear mines are often targeted by the Taliban and other insurgents in the country. In April, Taliban fighters killed 12 people working on a mine-clearing project in Logar province, south of Kabul.Ghani condemned the attack on the mine-clearing personnel, calling it inhuman and un-Islamic. Its the work of the enemies of Afghanistan, he said in a statement.The president has rarely made public comments about the violence though he is often pictured visiting the wounded and bereaved in the aftermath of deadly attacks.He has been criticized for referring to the Taliban as political opponents and is pursuing a foreign policy strategy aimed at pressuring Pakistan to curtail its support of insurgent groups that enjoy the protection of its intelligence services.His decision to sign bilateral security agreements with Washington and NATO, allowing an enduring military presence, has been identified as one reason for the aggravated violence, angering insurgents and their sponsors who had hoped to see an end to foreign participation in the war as it drags on for at least another two years.
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