Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

[High_Gravity]

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Six British soldiers were believed killed after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Wednesday. If confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of life for British forces in the country since a plane crash in 2006.

The soldiers were on patrol in Helmand province at the time of the blast Tuesday evening. Britain's defense secretary said efforts were under way to recover the vehicle and identify the soldiers.

The deaths were certain to fuel calls for the acceleration of a planned withdrawal of all U.S.-led coalition troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The war has become increasingly unpopular in the United States and among its NATO partners in Europe.

Washington has also grown frustrated with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, who has been making increasing demands of America in order to sign a deal that will allow some troops to remain past 2014, mainly in a counterterrorism and training role.

Helmand has been the deadliest province by far for coalition troops since the Afghan war started over a decade ago. Most of Britain's 9,500 soldiers are based there, and the province also has thousands of U.S. troops.

The Taliban have fought fiercely for control of Helmand because it accounts for about half of all poppy production in Afghanistan. Poppy is the main ingredient in making opium and has been a significant source of revenue for the militants.

So far this year, 54 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 38 from the United States and four from Britain.

Britain has lost more troops in Afghanistan – 398 until Wednesday – than any other country except for the United States, which has counted at least 1,780 deaths as a result of the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The AP count of U.S. deaths is six less than the Defense Department's tally. At least 1,484 U.S. military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

More than 2,800 troops from all nations have died since the start of the war in Afghanistan. There are about 130,000 troops from 50 countries serving with the international military coalition.

The Helmand deaths would be the biggest loss of life for Britain in a single incident in Afghanistan since a Nimrod aircraft crashed in 2006, killing 14 service members. It would also be the largest number of casualties in a ground operation for Britain in the country and the deadliest single incident for NATO since Jan. 19, when six U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash in Helmand province. Last August, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops.

The circumstances of the explosion that killed the six British troops were unclear.

"The six soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's, were on patrol in a Warrior armored fighting vehicle when it was caught in an explosion in the Task Force Helmand area of operations," said Lt. Colonel Gordon Mackenzie, a spokesman for the British Task Force in Helmand. The British defense ministry said the families of the British soldiers have been informed.

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

 

[Peach]

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Six British soldiers were believed killed after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Wednesday. If confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of life for British forces in the country since a plane crash in 2006.

The soldiers were on patrol in Helmand province at the time of the blast Tuesday evening. Britain's defense secretary said efforts were under way to recover the vehicle and identify the soldiers.

The deaths were certain to fuel calls for the acceleration of a planned withdrawal of all U.S.-led coalition troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The war has become increasingly unpopular in the United States and among its NATO partners in Europe.

Washington has also grown frustrated with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, who has been making increasing demands of America in order to sign a deal that will allow some troops to remain past 2014, mainly in a counterterrorism and training role.

Helmand has been the deadliest province by far for coalition troops since the Afghan war started over a decade ago. Most of Britain's 9,500 soldiers are based there, and the province also has thousands of U.S. troops.

The Taliban have fought fiercely for control of Helmand because it accounts for about half of all poppy production in Afghanistan. Poppy is the main ingredient in making opium and has been a significant source of revenue for the militants.

So far this year, 54 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 38 from the United States and four from Britain.

Britain has lost more troops in Afghanistan – 398 until Wednesday – than any other country except for the United States, which has counted at least 1,780 deaths as a result of the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The AP count of U.S. deaths is six less than the Defense Department's tally. At least 1,484 U.S. military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

More than 2,800 troops from all nations have died since the start of the war in Afghanistan. There are about 130,000 troops from 50 countries serving with the international military coalition.

The Helmand deaths would be the biggest loss of life for Britain in a single incident in Afghanistan since a Nimrod aircraft crashed in 2006, killing 14 service members. It would also be the largest number of casualties in a ground operation for Britain in the country and the deadliest single incident for NATO since Jan. 19, when six U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash in Helmand province. Last August, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops.

The circumstances of the explosion that killed the six British troops were unclear.

"The six soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's, were on patrol in a Warrior armored fighting vehicle when it was caught in an explosion in the Task Force Helmand area of operations," said Lt. Colonel Gordon Mackenzie, a spokesman for the British Task Force in Helmand. The British defense ministry said the families of the British soldiers have been informed.

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

We should have ended this war before the Iraq diversion. Saddam was a monster but not fundamentalist; he was MILITARY, wore military dress before the surge of radical Islam. We could have slipped money to foster the opposition. We ARE creating MORE Islamic "Republics".

 

[High_Gravity]

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Six British soldiers were believed killed after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Wednesday. If confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of life for British forces in the country since a plane crash in 2006.

The soldiers were on patrol in Helmand province at the time of the blast Tuesday evening. Britain's defense secretary said efforts were under way to recover the vehicle and identify the soldiers.

The deaths were certain to fuel calls for the acceleration of a planned withdrawal of all U.S.-led coalition troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The war has become increasingly unpopular in the United States and among its NATO partners in Europe.

Washington has also grown frustrated with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, who has been making increasing demands of America in order to sign a deal that will allow some troops to remain past 2014, mainly in a counterterrorism and training role.

Helmand has been the deadliest province by far for coalition troops since the Afghan war started over a decade ago. Most of Britain's 9,500 soldiers are based there, and the province also has thousands of U.S. troops.

The Taliban have fought fiercely for control of Helmand because it accounts for about half of all poppy production in Afghanistan. Poppy is the main ingredient in making opium and has been a significant source of revenue for the militants.

So far this year, 54 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan, including 38 from the United States and four from Britain.

Britain has lost more troops in Afghanistan – 398 until Wednesday – than any other country except for the United States, which has counted at least 1,780 deaths as a result of the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The AP count of U.S. deaths is six less than the Defense Department's tally. At least 1,484 U.S. military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

More than 2,800 troops from all nations have died since the start of the war in Afghanistan. There are about 130,000 troops from 50 countries serving with the international military coalition.

The Helmand deaths would be the biggest loss of life for Britain in a single incident in Afghanistan since a Nimrod aircraft crashed in 2006, killing 14 service members. It would also be the largest number of casualties in a ground operation for Britain in the country and the deadliest single incident for NATO since Jan. 19, when six U.S. Marines died in a helicopter crash in Helmand province. Last August, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops.

The circumstances of the explosion that killed the six British troops were unclear.

"The six soldiers, five from the 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's, were on patrol in a Warrior armored fighting vehicle when it was caught in an explosion in the Task Force Helmand area of operations," said Lt. Colonel Gordon Mackenzie, a spokesman for the British Task Force in Helmand. The British defense ministry said the families of the British soldiers have been informed.

Afghanistan War: UK Troops Missing, Believed Killed In Helmand 6

We should have ended this war before the Iraq diversion. Saddam was a monster but not fundamentalist; he was MILITARY, wore military dress before the surge of radical Islam. We could have slipped money to foster the opposition. We ARE creating MORE Islamic "Republics".

If we had stayed the course in Afghanistan and not diverted all our resources to Iraq this whole campaign would probably be done by now.

 

[waltky]

Corruption is costing Afghanistan the war against the Taliban...

As Helmand Risks Falling to the Taliban, Afghans Blame Graft
Oct 12, 2016 — For the past month, the Taliban have held control over most of Afghanistan's Helmand province, where the majority of the world's opium is grown — and as insurgent attacks intensify around the provincial capital, residents are blaming rampant government corruption for the rising militant threat.

At an international aid conference last week, Afghanistan's leaders raised $15 billion from their international backers and pledged to clamp down on graft. But corrupt officials have hollowed out the national security forces, selling weapons and even government buildings to the Taliban, and alienated local populations. One Afghan official said that Helmand residents were so angry at corruption that they were turning to the Taliban, despite memories of the extremist group's harsh rule. Afghanistan is consistently rated by the corruption watchdog Transparency International as one of the world's most corrupt countries, along with Somalia and North Korea. "It is estimated that an eighth of all the money that goes to Afghanistan is lost to corruption," it said in a report released ahead of the aid conference.

The U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, John Sopko, who is charged with tracing billions of dollars of American aid, estimates that while the United States pays salaries for 320,000 Afghan soldiers and police nationwide, the actual number of troops is just 120,000. The remainder are so-called "ghost soldiers." Corrupt commanders claim salaries and benefits for soldiers and police who either don't exist, have agreed to hand over part of their pay in exchange for not going to work, or who have been killed in battle. Of the 26,000 security force personnel officially assigned to Helmand, up to half are ghost soldiers, according to Sopko's most recent report.

Smoke rises from a building, where Taliban insurgents hide during a fire fight with Afghan security forces, in Helmand province, Afghanistan.​

Helmand is particularly afflicted by corruption, thanks in large part to its opium fields. The majority of the world's heroin originates in this southern province bordering Pakistan. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime last year valued the crop $3 billion a year, equivalent to around 20 percent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product. It helps fund the Taliban insurgency, and local officials and military leaders profit from the industry too. They receive bribes to turn a blind eye, and sell their military equipment to cash-rich militants. Local officials and residents say that corruption occurs at every level in the province and everything is for sale, from government jobs, to ammunition and weapons and state-owned buildings.

Across Helmand, soldiers and police regularly change sides and give up their vehicles and weapons rather than defend themselves against attack, said Attaullah, a member of the provincial council. "Some sell their weapons, their ammunition, even in some cases their buildings, to the insurgents," said Attaullah, who like many Afghans has only one name. "Sometimes they sell the soldiers, too, along with their equipment." A year ago, the government controlled 80 percent of the province. "Now, for at least the past month, more than 85 percent of Helmand territory is basically under the control of the Taliban and other terrorist groups," said Abdul Ahad Massomi, a former governor of Gereshk district, which has shifted between Taliban and government control for years.

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DOD Cracking Down on Payments to Afghan 'Ghost Soldiers'
Oct 09, 2016 | DoD said that Afghan soldiers and police are undergoing person-by-person verification and biometric registration.

The U.S. Defense Department has assured a watchdog agency that a number of efforts are being carried out to track Afghan active-duty security forces, so that American taxpayer dollars are not wasted on so-called ghost soldiers. In a letter to the Pentagon released Friday -- 15 years to the day since the United States invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban -- the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said it was worried about "significant gaps between the assigned force strength of the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] and the actual number of personnel serving."

SIGAR expressed particular unease about southern Helmand province, where Afghan forces have been struggling to fend off relentless Taliban offensives. Afghanistan's TOLOnews in June quoted Helmand's incoming police chief as saying that up to half of the roughly 26,000 soldiers and police officers assigned to the province did not exist. Officially, Afghan security forces -- which include the army and local and national police -- are said to number about 320,000, but The Associated Press reported earlier this year that there were likely fewer than half of that number.

A screen grab from the website of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).​

SIGAR said it was concerned that U.S. funds provided to the ANDSF could be pocketed by Afghan commanders under the guise of paying soldiers who have deserted, died or never existed. The watchdog group asked the DoD for an update on measures it previously pledged to implement to account for Afghan personnel. The DoD said several efforts were underway, including person-by-person verification and biometric registration. It said roughly 90 percent of police and 70-80 percent of soldiers have been biometrically enrolled. "When the initial inventorying is completed in July 2017, DoD and the Afghan (Defense Ministry) will have a more accurate representation of actual force strength," the Pentagon said.

Efforts at changing the way salaries are paid so that they go directly to employees should also be implemented by next year, DoD said. The United States has spent $68 billion since 2002 to help support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The NDSF, which has been hampered by demoralization and desertions for years, still struggles on its own to counter the Taliban and other militants. SIGAR has not yet said whether it believes DoD's efforts are satisfactory.

DOD Cracking Down on Payments to Afghan 'Ghost Soldiers' | Military.com