Afghanistan/ Terrorism: Further insurgent attacks towards government officials

Afghan Officials reported that an Afghan district governor was killed by insurgents in an ambush while driving his car in the northern Baghlan Province. This is the sixth politician who has been reported killed in the country in the last couple of weeks.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) launched an air strike that killed an unspecified number of Taleban insurgents in the area of southern Kandahar on Monday, according to U.S. Military Sources. The same sources reported that insurgents killed three afghan children and wounded five in an attack on an ISAF combat outpost in southeastern Paktika Province on Monday. Lastly four Afghan government workers were reported kidnapped by suspected insurgents while travelling in eastern Kunar Province on Monday.

Meanwhile, NATO officials said that U.S. and NATO commanders in Afghanistan officially put in a request on Monday for another 2000 troops for the foreign ISAF force. The number of foreign troops killed this year has reached at least 500, compared with 521 in all of 2009, according to an independent monitoring site on Monday and a Reuters tally.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Taleban threatens to disrupt the upcoming election

International Media reported on Sunday that the Afghanistan Taleban vowed in a threat to derail the election this month and warned Afghans to boycott the vote. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid further told the news agency Reuters that the Islamists first target would be foreign forces and next the Afghan ones.

The current situation in Afghanistan has been reported as the most violent since the start of the war in 2001. Security is a major concern ahead of the vote, with four candidates killed already in recent weeks, according to the United Nations officials. Furthermore, one election candidate was wounded, and 10 of his campaign workers killed, in an air strike in northern Takhar Province on Friday.

Several scores of small attacks against last year’s presidential poll were carried out by the Taleban without disrupting the process significantly.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Another attack targets parliamentary candidate in the south

Sources of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced that another candidate for the parliamentary polls scheduled to take place in September was the target of an attack in southern Afghanistan on Thursday.

Reportedly, the parliamentary candidate Moulana Abdul Rahman and a civilian were wounded when a grenade was launched against the Governor’s compounds in the city of Ghazni. 

As a reminder, at least four candidates have been killed and at least 15 campaign workers and supporters have been wounded in recent weeks, raising strong concerns over the security and transparence of the upcoming elections.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Two Afghan aid workers killed by roadside bomb

Afghan Officials stated that at least two employees of the aid organisation Oxfam were killed in a roadside bomb on Wednesday.

The incident happened in Badakhstan Provincein Northern Afghanistan, the same region where 10 Western aid workers were shot and killed last month. Badakhshan has historically been one of the most peaceful areas since the war began. This has now changed when the Taliban started to make inroads across the province.

Mohammed Amin Suhul, a spokesman for Badakhshan’s governor, blamed the Taliban for the attack, saying they were offering large payments to kill government and aid workers.

Afghanistan/ Terrorism: Four U.S. soldiers killed in roadside bombs in Afghanistan

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force stated on Tuesday that four American service members were killed by roadside bombs in eastern Afghanistan. NATO spokesman James Judge said that the soldiers were killed by an improvised explosion devise (IED), one of the main weapons used by the taleban insurgents.

Three of the soldiers were killed by a large blast that hit their convoy on Highway 1 south of Kandahar. It was not known precisely where the second bombing, that killed the fourth soldier, took place. Officials declined to specify whether the victims were American Marines or Army soldiers. Both are operating in the area.

The deaths come only a day after eight NATO troops, seven of them American, were killed in similar bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan. Eighteen American service members have been killed in Afghanistan since Saturday.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad, a district governor was killed by a car bomb. The bomb exploded outside the Jalalabad governors office and also left four of the security guards wounded.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Taleban terrorists target high-profile politicians ahead of the September election

Media reported on Monday that a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the residence of Nangarhar’s Governor Gul Agha Sherazi in Jalalabad during the morning rush hour, killing at least one person. However, the governor escaped unhurt from the incident.

Separately, a candidate for the parliamentary September polls in the western province of Herat, Abdul Manan, was shot dead by suspected Taleban terrorists on Saturday, thus raising fears of further attacks being carried in order to disrupt the vote.

This comes as authorities have also found the bodies of five of the ten persons working for candidate Fawzya Galani’s campaign who had been kidnapped earlier. Authorities do not posses any information regarding the fate of the other five persons.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan also announced that a series of attacks carried during the weekend in the country’s violent south-east have claimed the life of seven US soldiers.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Ten people campaigning for a parliamentary candidate abducted in Herat

Media reported on Thursday that ten people, working in the campaign of Fawzia Gilani, a candidate to Afghanistan’s forthcoming parliamentary election had been kidnapped in the western province of Herat.

Reportedly, the group was traveling between the districts of Adraskan and Farsi when armed men abducted them.

According to police sources, it was not clear if the kidnappers were members of the Taleban or political rivals of Gilani.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Eight killed in Taleban attack on police post

Media reported that eight police officers had been killed in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan when Taleban terrorists attacked their post on Thursday.

Reportedly, only one officer from those who were at the post at the moment of the attack survived, but he was also injured.

It is worth mentioning that according to police reports, the attack occurred in a city where terrorist groups had been quasi-absent until 2 years ago.

Afghanistan/Civil Unrest: Protesters try to storm a NATO base in Badghis province

Media reported that thousands of protesters tried to storm and set fire to one part of a NATO-led base in Qalay-e Naw, capital of the north-western province of Badghis on Wednesday.

Reportedly, at least 18 protesters were wounded when troops inside the base fired on them.

It is worth mentioning that the outburst of violence followed allegations that a member of the foreign force had shot and killed an Afghan soldier.

Reports concerning the earlier incident showed that one Afghan policeman was indeed killed by the security forces, but only as a response after he had killed two Spanish officers and an interpreter of Spanish nationality during a weapons training exercise at the respective military base.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: One NATO soldier killed by Taleban terrorists in the south

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced on Tuesday that a soldier of the international forces was killed in clashes with Taleban terrorists in the south of Afghanistan, but has not revealed the nationality of the victim so far.

It is worth mentioning that this latest incident comes as two French soldiers, one American and one Hungarian had been killed on Monday in separate locations across the country. 

Meanwhile, it has been reported that some 40 Taleban terrorists had been killed during operations carried by the Afghan and international security forces in the eastern part of Kabul since Friday, ahead of the legislative elections set for September.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Four foreign troops killed in roadside bomb blasts

The Hungarian Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that a Hungarian soldier was killed when his convoy was hit by a blast and then attacked with gunfire near the Pul-e Khumri town in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan.

Reportedly, other three soldiers were wounded in this attack.

Separately, roadside bombs killed other three members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, including one American.

No information has been released regarding the nationalities of the other two victims.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: 30 security guards killed in Taleban attack in Helmand

Media reported on Friday that 30 security guards were killed and some 15 others were injured in a Taleban attack in the restive southern province of Helmand on Thursday.

According to the statements of Daoud Ahmadi, spokesperson of the Helmand Governorate, violent clashes erupted between the guards assuring the security of the workers on the construction site of a highway in Sangin district and Taleban terrorists.

Reportedly, a spokesperson for the Taleban, Zabihullah Mujahed, claimed responsibility for the attack and said that terrorists had taken control over 30 checkpoints on the highway.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: NATO soldier killed in roadside bomb explosion in the south

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced on Thursday that a soldier of the international forces had been killed in a roadside bomb explosion – the hallmark of the Taleban terrorists – in the southern part of the country.

The nationality of the victim had not been revealed so far.

Meanwhile, a suicide car bomb attack killed 15 people and wounded 26 others in the southern city of Kandahar.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: 12 Taleban terrorists killed in raid in Logar

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced on Thursday that Afghan and coalition troops had killed 12 Taleban terrorists, including the commander of the respective cell, during a raid carried in Logar province on Wednesday.

Reportedly, an operation was launched in order to hunt down Commander Qari Muir and an exchange of fire erupted when Taleban terrorists tried to attack the coalition forces.

It is worth mentioning that Muir has held several positions in the past under the Taleban rule, including that of military commander and chief of intelligence services in the province of Logar.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Provincial official and wife killed by Taleban terrorists in Zabul

Media reported on Wednesday that Atta Jan Kajrwal, the Zabul Province Director of Border and Tribal Affairs was killed along with his wife on Tuesday night in Shahjoy district, when Taleban terrorists broke into their home.

Reportedly, another person in the house was injured in this latest case of a series of attacks that often target those with links to the government or international forces.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people blocked a highway between Kabul and the city of Jalalabad as a protest against the death of two people during a night raid on Tuesday.

Reportedly, the protesters claim that the two victims were innocent civilians while NATO issued contradictory statements that its forces had killed two terrorists.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Two soldiers killed in a road-side explosion

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced on Tuesday that two soldiers belonging to the international forces have been killed in the eastern part of the country in the explosion of a roadside bomb - the hallmark of the Taleban terrorists.

The nationality of the two victims has not been, however made public in the statement.

It is worth mentioning that this latest incident occurs as the total number of foreign soldiers killed in the war in Afghanistan since 2001 has overcome the symbolic threshold of 2,000 on Sunday.

Uzbekistan/Pakistan/Terrorism: Al-Qaeda-linked IMU leader confirmed dead

The Uzbek-language website Furqun of the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) has announced on Monday the death of their leader, Tahir Yuldashev, referring to him as “Shaheed”, which is a term used by Islamist groups to describe martyrs who are killed in combat.

It is worth mentioning that Yuldashev was first reported to have been killed on August 27, 2009 during an air strike carried by the US forces in Kanigoram, a town in South Waziristan, Pakistan, when eight Taleban and Uzbek fighters were also reported dead. However, controversy concerning his death soon emerged given the contradictory statements of a Pakistani Taleban leader, Pakistan’s Intelligence Services and a man who identified himself as Yuldashev’s bodyguard.

Yuldashev took command of the IMU – closely allied with Al-Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) - in November 2001 as the group has been carrying operations at the Afgan-Pakistani border after being hounded by Uzbek Intelligence.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Al-Qaeda cell leader killed in the north

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced on Monday that two terrorists, including an Al-Qaeda cell leader, have been killed in an air strike carried in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz during the weekend.

Reportedly, the Al-Qaeda cell leader was identified as Abu Baqir and has been allegedly training suicide bombers for the Taleban in Afghanistan.

It is worth mentioning that the air strike that resulted in the killing of the two terrorists was launched after an attack was carried against a police station in the Aliabad district.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Taleban terrorists kill seven soldiers in an ambush in Laghman province 

Official Sources announced on Friday that seven soldiers had been killed and 14 others were injured during a major confrontation between troops of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Taleban terrorists in a remote and mountainous area in the eastern province of Laghman.

Reportedly, the Afghan troops were ambushed by Taleban fighters while carrying a routine “mopping up” operation – initially run independently of NATO forces - in the Bad Pakh Valley, close to the border with Nuristan and Kunar provinces, an area known as being a Taleban and Al-Qaeda stronghold.

After the ambush, NATO troops and air support have joined the fighting and at least 12 of the terrorists have been killed, including the commander responsible for the attack and his deputy.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: 20 Taleban fighters killed in NATO joint operation

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan announced on Thursday that at least 20 terrorists have been killed in the southeastern part of the country in an operation launched against the Haqqani network, a pro-Taleban group.

According to ISAF, air strikes were called in after Afghan and ISAF troops came under the attack of some 20 terrorists firing with Rocket-propelled Grenades (RPG) and small arms.

Reportedly, the NATO and Afghan troops had been deployed in the respective mountainous area of Zadran district in Paktia, not far from the Pakistan border, to check the insurgency mounted by the Haqqani network.