The human toll
NATO
airstrikes yesterday reportedly killed over two dozen Afghan civilians
in two separate incidents in the eastern province of Nangarhar, after a
helicopter struck a car carrying a flood victim and his family, and an
airstrike hit a compound from which NATO forces were reportedly taking
fire (LAT, AFP, BBC, AP, AJE, NYT, VOA).
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered an investigation into the
deaths, which occurred less than a day after ISAF Commander Gen. David
Petraeus issued rules restricting the use of airstrikes against
structures (Reuters). And in Nangarhar's capital Jalalabad, many music stores are shutting down after a stepped-up Taliban intimidation campaign (Guardian).
A suicide bomber struck a joint Afghan police-NATO convoy in Kunduz, reportedly killing at least 11 Afghans (NYT, AP).
And Germany announced that it would pay 100 Afghan families $5,000 each
as compensation for the deaths of civilians killed in a German-ordered
airstrike on a fuel tanker in Kunduz (Canadian Press).
A failure to communicate
Saying
that the release last week of tens of thousands of sensitive documents
had endangered U.S. troops, U.S. allies, and Afghan civilians, Pentagon
spokesman Geoff Morrell yesterday demanded that WikiLeaks delete the
over 75,000 documents on the Afghan war they have already published and
return the 15,000 documents they have temporarily withheld (AFP, Guardian, NYT).
A team of 80 federal agents has reportedly been poring over the
documents since their release, in a search for potentially threatening
or compromising material, and taking unidentified steps to warn and
protect Afghans whose names were mentioned in the collection.
Karen
DeYoung today has a must-read on the possible consequences of a brewing
fight between Karzai and the U.S. government over Karzai's attempt to
rein in two major anti-corruption bodies that have investigated and
arrested close Karzai aides (Wash Post).
And at a Tehran "summit" between Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad urged greater cooperation between
the three countries, saying "[t]he issue of Afghanistan should be solved
in the region. Others cannot solve it. They could not do it in Iraq" (AP, AFP).
Renewed threat
The
U.S. State Department released its 2009 "Country Reports on Terrorism,"
which found that despite setbacks and losses of leadership, al Qaeda's
core in Pakistan posed the greatest threat to the United States (AJE, AP, BBC).
There were approximately 11,000 terrorist attacks worldwide which
caused approximately 15,000 deaths in 83 countries, the lowest number of
attacks in five years. The report found that for the first time more
terrorist attacks in South Asia than the Middle East, but also warned
about the growing strength of al Qaeda affiliates in North Africa, Yemen
and Somalia, as well as the growing threat of Americans joining
terrorist groups (VOA, CNN, AFP).
Pakistan's
flooding has killed 1,600 people and affected up to 4.5 million, as
increased flooding in Punjab and a threat to dikes in the southern Sindh
province led Pakistani authorities to evacuate 500,000 residents in
both provinces (Dawn, VOA, CNN, Dawn, BBC, AJE, Guardian, Tel, ET).
U.S. helicopters flew relief and rescue missions in northwest Pakistan
as the U.S. government pledged an additional $25 million to help flood
victims yesterday (Wash Post, Daily Times, NYT).
However, this effort pales in comparison to that of Falah-i-Insaniat,
the organization formerly known as Jamaat-ud-Dawa (banned for its links
to Lashkar-e-Taiba), which has set up refugee and medical camps in
Pakistan's hardest-hit areas, and is reportedly distributing food and
medical aid to 20,000 people every day (Tel, RFE/RL).
While
some parts of Karachi drifted towards calm for the first time since
Monday, killings in other parts of the city brought the death toll to at
least 92 (ET, Dawn).
The Pakistani government rebuffed calls to have the army take control
of security in the city but allegedly gave the paramilitary Rangers a
"shoot-on-sight" order, but did not identify the target (Daily Times, Dawn).
And Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had an informal dinner with
British Prime Minister David Cameron, with formal talks on Pakistan's
flood and counterterrorism policy scheduled for today (Guardian, Bloomberg, Independent, Reuters, AFP).
United in suffering
Flash
floods struck both sides of the Line of Control separating Pakistani
and Indian Kashmir, as at least 88 were killed in floods in
Indian-administered Kashmir, while in Pakistani-administered Kashmir a
bus careened into a flood-swollen river, potentially killing up to 50
people (AP, BBC, Dawn, CNN).
And Indian security forces are still having trouble establishing order
in Indian-administered Kashmir as protests there continue to grow (VOA).
Paper trail
Pakistan's
Higher Education Commission (HEC) has found that a further 47 lawmakers
across the country possess fake degrees, out of 293 degrees checked (Daily Times). The HEC still has 816 degrees to investigate.
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