Afghanistan's army is not ready to take control of the country's south, and it's difficult to tell when they will be despite reported successes coalition forces are having against the insurgency there, the US commander in the south said Friday.
"The Afghan nation army is a work in progress," said Army Colonel Kevin Owens, who is leading the force in the southern sector. He said that while the Afghan army is motivated and courageous, the command and control systems, along with their maintenance and logistical operations still need improvement. And he could not put a timeline on when they will be ready.
Owens commented after Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said airstrikes are no longer effective and there is not as great a need for foreign military operations there. But President George W. Bush said Thursday that the 18,000 US troops serving in the country have not yet finished their mission.
Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Owens said there are about 800 Taliban insurgents left in remote sections of southern Afghanistan where they have been able to hide. And while he acknowledged there has been more violence in the region in recent months, he said it has been due to attacks by his forces.
"We have had more contact with the enemy, we've certainly destroyed more enemy combatants in the last six months, but again, it is on our terms," he said. "We have put them on their heels. I believe the enemy is reeling from our recent operations."
He said the ongoing operations and the recent successful Afghanistan elections have eroded the enemy's ability to launch coordinated attacks, and have lessened its contact with the Afghan population.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese