Afghan Bombings May Be Shift in Tactics
20 Jan. Associated Press - Afghan Bombings May Be Shift in Tactics.
Quote:
... The U.S. military calls it a sign of desperation, but it's spooking other NATO countries as they prepare to deploy thousands of troops to the volatile south of the country to take over from American forces. Political opposition in The Netherlands is so strong it has led to a parliamentary debate on whether to approve the planned deployment and threatened to topple the government...
Suicide bombings used to be rare in Afghanistan. There were none in 2002, two in 2003, four in 2004 and four from January 2005 until late September, when the recent spate of 20 started, according to information provided by the U.S. military, NATO peacekeepers and Afghan officials...
U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said the recent attacks appear timed to intimidate the international community ahead of two key events: an aid donors' conference in London later this month and the switch by midyear from U.S. forces to NATO troops in the south...
Taliban Suicide Bombing Patterns
The Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor:
Cheney Attack Reveals Taliban Suicide Bombing Patterns
Quote:
...Iraqi suicide bombers from such jihadi groups as Ansar al-Sunnah and al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia frequently seek to inflict high casualty rates by attacking soft targets, such as crowded markets. Their objective is to cause as much bloodshed as possible, incite sectarian violence and destroy U.S. efforts to construct civil society in Iraq. Afghan suicide bombers, on the other hand, appear to have different objectives and have focused almost exclusively on hard targets (government, police, military). In 2007, for example, the Taliban have attacked foreign or Afghan military/police targets in 16 of their 22 bombings (in three cases the target was undetermined).
This in-depth analysis of 158 Afghan suicide bombings since 2001 shows that this is no anomaly and demonstrates an important point: in only eight of the 158 suicide attacks from 2001-2007 did civilians appear to be the direct target of Afghan bombers. Further scrutiny of these eight civilian attacks reveals an important fact. In two of these instances, the Taliban apologized for inflicting civilian casualties and in one case a Taliban spokesmen actually denied involvement. In four other cases the suicide bombers seem to have been targeting passing military convoys or governmental representatives in crowds; therefore, the high civilian casualties appear to have been unintended "collateral damage." In only two instances were civilians clearly the target of Afghan suicide bombers.
These findings tell us volumes about the Taliban's overall strategy in employing suicide bombing as a tactic. Far from imitating Iraqi insurgent tactics, the Taliban are trying to avoid losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by needlessly killing civilians....
Sectarian civil war in Afghanistan
The Taliban are religious bigots who imposed and would impose again an extreme form of Islam. While the resistance to their efforts may not have the same dynamic as the Sunni Shia divide in Iraq, it is hard to get away from the religious aspects of their efforts. They are murdering barbers and attacking people who shave based on some weird reading of the Koran. They are destroying schools that teach women, because of some weird religious belief. The government forces resisting them have a different take on what Islam requires, so I think it is fair to say it is a sectarian civil war.
Kabul Blast Shows Taliban Capability
18 June Washington Post - Kabul Blast Shows Taliban Capability by Griff Witte and Javed Hamdard.
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Since winter, the Taliban had been promising a spring offensive. It didn't come. Instead, NATO and U.S. forces have pounded the group's positions and killed its senior leadership.
But with summer well underway in Afghanistan, the radical Islamic movement showed on Sunday that it is still capable of mounting one of the most devastating insurgent strikes the country has seen.
In the single deadliest suicide attack since the Taliban was ousted from power in 2001, a bomber hopped on a packed bus in downtown Kabul and triggered his explosives, killing 24 to 35 people and wounding dozens more. A purported commander for the Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack...
Nato accuses Taliban of using children in suicide missions
Quote:
Children as young as six are being used by the Taliban in increasingly desperate suicide missions, coalition forces in Afghanistan claimed yesterday.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to which Britain contributes 5,000 troops in southern Afghanistan, revealed that soldiers defused an explosive vest which had been placed on a six-year-old who had been told to attack Afghan army forces in the east of the country.
The boy was spotted after appearing confused at a checkpoint. The vest was defused and no one was hurt.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanista...109574,00.html
Taliban ambush girls returning from school
This post has the story of the attack that killed two, a 10 year old and a 13 year old girl. Three others were wounded.
We probably have not yet mined the depths of depravity of the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Both this story and the one on the six year old human bomb attack came the same week the Taliban used children as human shields while provoking a bombing attack.
Bomber’s End: Flash of Terror, Humble Grave
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In Kabul, the burial of a suicide bomber occurs at a secret time in a secret place, the forgettable end to what most here consider an unforgivable act.
30 Jun 07 New York Times - World - Asia Pacific
Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Suicide Attacks in Afghanistan (2001-2007), 9 September 2007.
Quote:
This study presents the main findings of UNAMA’s comprehensive inquiry into the phenomenon of suicide attacks in Afghanistan. This study places suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the context of their occurrence in other countries and eras, identifying ways in which suicide attacks in Afghanistan differ from attacks elsewhere. It details available information about the backgrounds of the attackers and the sources of support they enjoy, both in Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan. This report describes the human cost borne by civilian victims and identifies several policy implications as well as mitigating strategies.
Full report here.
Afghan child bomber interviewed
Check the article on The Croissant, a French site specialising in North Africa, which has this short story:
http://thecroissant.com/sample_artic...article&id=466
Unable to comment on accuracy.