British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew into Afghanistan yesterday to visit British troops who are members of a NATO force fighting Taliban insurgents, as well as to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Blair arrived at the Camp Bastion base in southern Helmand Province by military transport and paid tribute to the soldiers' commitment and bravery under difficult circumstances.
"Here on this extraordinary piece of desert is where the future of the security of the early 21st century is going to be played out," Blair told troops at the base.
He spent at least an hour talking to British soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force, who are battling militants in the volatile region.
As troops clamored to have photographs taken with Blair, one soldier, Sergeant Chris Hunter from the 42nd Commando, Royal Marines, told him: "I think a point that needs to be made back home is that the lads want to be here."
The British premier later flew to Kabul for talks with key "war on terror" ally Karzai, the first time Blair has stayed in the capital for a visit.
The prime minister last made a visit to Afghanistan in January 2002, meeting dignitaries in a disused aircraft hanger on the city's outskirts that was left over from the Russian occupation.
This time he will see developments in democratic government, women's rights, improved schooling, health care and sanitation and reconstruction work after more than a generation of conflict, officials said.
Blair's visit comes after a two-day trip to neighboring Pakistan, where his talks with President Pervez Musharraf focused heavily on countering Islamic extremism and solving Afghanistan's problems.
Pakistan's military leader called for massive investment in reconstruction and development in Afghanistan along the lines of the US Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II.
Britain has about 5,500 troops in Afghanistan -- the second-largest contingent in the 37-nation, 31,000-member security assistance force that was set up to bring stability to the war-torn country and help with reconstruction.
Of the 4,500 British troops stationed in the south, 3,000 are in Helmand Province -- where the Taliban resistance has been strongest -- with the remainder at camps elsewhere in the restive area. The rest are posted in the capital.
But Britain's involvement has come at a price: 41 British soldiers have died since the US-led operation against the Taliban began in October 2001.
Of those soldiers, 36 died this year, and 18 of them were killed since the deployment to the south began.
British Defense Secretary Des Browne has admitted the government underestimated the strength of Taliban resistance, while accusations that troops were overstretched, underequipped and had no clear strategy have mounted.
Blair's office, however, was keen to focus on the progress being made in the country. The international community pledged US$10.5 billion to the Afghan government for reconstruction at a conference in London in January.
Britain has spent more than £390 million on reconstruction and aid in Afghanistan since 2001 and committed to spending a further £500 million by 2009, the Department for International Development said.
But in addition to the resurgent Taliban, there are still concerns about the ability of Afghan security forces to contain violence while opium production reaches an all-time high.
Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium supply. Cultivation has jumped nearly 60 percent to a record 6,100 tonnes in the past year, the UN said in a September report.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS