Saturday, December 24, 2011

Amnesty international teams blogging from the ground


You can help stop the killing
The Sudanese authorities are bombing civilians in Southern Kordofan, the Sudanese state bordering the newly independent South Sudan. Unarmed men, women and children are killed or displaced. You can help stop the killing.
Above: A man in Kurchi watches an Antonov flying overhead, August 2011. More than 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes for fear of aerial bombardments by the Sudanese Armed Forces. © Carsten Stormer
CourtesyAmnesty International 

Friday, December 23, 2011

2012 as a time to build on gains


Soldiers in Afghanistan Focused on Allen's 2012 Objectives
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 23, 2011 - As the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan looks to 2012 as a time to build on gains made and extend the security zone east of Kabul, the soldiers of Regional Command East know they have a vital role to play in making that possible.
Click photo for screen-resolution image
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta thanks troops from the 172nd Infantry Brigade on Forward Operating Base Sharana in Afghanistan, for helping to reach a turning point in the conflict, Dec. 14, 2011. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo 
Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of U.S. and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan, told reporters traveling here last week with Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta he hopes to consolidate gains made in Afghanistan's north, south and west over the next year.
And as "significant counterinsurgency operations" continue in the east, Allen said his goal is to push the security zone east of Kabul.
In addition, he cited an evolution toward an advisory mission in Afghanistan to enhance capability within the Afghan security forces as the United States looks toward scaling back its combat mission there.
Army Col. Edward T. Bohnemann, commander of the 172nd Infantry Brigade, recognizes the emphasis that puts on his soldiers in remote but strategically important Paktika province.
Bohnemann's brigade is deployed from Grafenwoehr, Germany, with its headquarters just 30 miles from the Pakistan border at Forward Operating Base Sharana. Among his combat outposts sprinkled through the province, some are directly west of the border.
Paktika province is home to historic transitory routes between the two countries. It's also an infiltration point for fighters, munitions and weapons filtering into Afghanistan bound for Kabul, Kandahar and the northern regions.
Bohnemann noted the challenge of stretching his soldiers and their Afghan counterparts to cover such a vast region. "There are too many small goat trails [and] small dirt roads to say I am going to have a hard stop at the border," he said. "It's too big of a border."
Some of the border areas are so remote that when an incident occurs, "trying to get there rapidly becomes problematic," he said.
So Bohnemann and his soldiers concentrate on improving the trends and making the most effective use of the capabilities they have. "I focus my soldiers on, how do we interdict, neutralize, slow the flow so that other places can build capacity [and] build on the security gains they have seen throughout the areas of Afghanistan," he said.
Choking that flow, he recognizes, will be critical to Allen's goal of expanding the security zone around Kabul. "My piece of that is ... to stem the flow of weapons [and] fighters to the security zone," he said.
Exacerbating the challenge, he acknowledged, is Pakistan's decision to scale back cross-border coordination following the Nov. 24 border incident that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
"There is not a whole lot of cross-border coordination right now," he lamented. "I would love to see the lines of operation open up."
On the positive side, Bohnemann told reporters he's seen enemy attacks drop significantly during the five months since his brigade arrived here.
He expressed growing confidence in the capability of Afghan security forces in his area of responsibility, and in the work his troops have done to establish conditions for their long-term success.
"Every day, when you look at the Afghan security forces, they are in the lead," he said, noting that Afghans are independently leading two-third to three-quarters of operations here.
"The Afghans are in charge in Paktika province," he said. "And they are doing more and more every day."
Based on their growing capability, Bohnemann said he believes, "there is no insurgent force in Paktika that is going to overwhelm the Afghan security forces out there."
"They have had some fights, [and] the Afghan security forces have stayed and held their ground," he said. "On occasion, they have called for us for support," particularly when they need to evacuate a wounded or fallen comrade. "But they are holding their ground."
Bohnemann said he anticipates a natural progression as his soldiers transition toward an advisory role with the Afghan security forces.
He acknowledged areas where the Afghans still need assistance, including logistics and the systems to make the supply train more efficient. "What I am focused on is: Are they tactically sufficient to maintain security in the province? Can they support themselves?" he said. "My mission, my focus is getting the Afghans ready for the future."
Bohnemann said he's confident he has "the right soldiers in the right units" on the ground to support that mission.
Looking to the future, he said he expects the U.S. and ISAF drawdowns to maintain that balance, based on conditions on the ground and "not on a particular glide path to zero."
During his visit here last week, Panetta told Bohnemann's troops he believes the effort in Afghanistan has reached a turning point, thanks to the work they and other coalition and Afghan forces are doing.
"I really think that for all the sacrifice that you're doing, the reality is that it is paying off," he told them. "We're moving in the right direction. And we're winning this very tough conflict in Afghanistan." 
Biographies:
Leon E. Panetta
Marine Gen. John R. Allen
Related Sites:
172nd Infantry Brigade
Related Articles:
Allen Cites Time of Optimism in Afghanistan
Panetta Thanks Front-line Troops for Successes in Afghanistan

Monday, December 19, 2011

CPI pays homage Ashfaqullah Khan,


Ram Prasad Bismil and Roshan Singh Thakur


A rally was organized at the Jagraon Bridge to pay homage to the freedom fighters, Ashfaqullah Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil and Roshan Singh Thakur who were hanged by the British on 19th December and Rajinder Lahiri who was hanged on 17th December 1927  in the Kakori case. Participants  garlanded the Photographs of the martyrs  and then held a rally. Various speakers, while reminding the struggle waged by the great people, who did not refrain from laying down their lives for the cause of the country, said that they had dreamt of free secular, democratic India where all people enjoyed equity, justice  and human rights without any linguistic, regional or gender bias and have access to  necessities of life including health and education. But unfortunately this has not happened in the last 64 yrs of independence. Whereas we have grown in terms of technology and wealth, the gains of this development have gone to a few. India has gone further down to 132nd  position in the Human Development Index as per the report published by  the United Nations Development Programme. Economic policies have to be reviewed and changed to pro people if dreams of the martyrs have to be fulfilled.
As regards situation in Punjab the Akali –BJP combine and Congress are looting the state in turn. The state is in as serious debt crisis. This has to be stopped. Sanjha Morcha is a new light and we appeal to the people to elect the candidates of the morcha.
Those who addressed the rally include Com Kartar singh Bowani-Secretary CPI district Ludhiana, Dr Arun Mitra-Assistant Secretary CPI Ludhiana, Com Ramadhar Singh, Com Anod Kumar, Com Ramchand, Com Kameshwar, Com Buta Singh.  

"The act of violence was highly condemnable"


Chhina condemns attack,demand police action
Gajinder Singh King
Amritsar18 December, 2011: 
Khalsa College Governing Council, Honorary Secretary, S. Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina today strongly condemned the life threatening attack on Dainik Jagran reporter Mohinder Pal Singh. He said the act of violence in which Mohinder Pal was shot at an injured badly while he was returning home from his office duty was highly condemnable. He demanded immediate police action against those goonda elements who were behind the assault. He said the Khalsa College educational institutions respect the journalist and the right to speech and they stand by the journalist community of Amritsar who are fighting the right cause to protect the journalist. Khalsa College Governing Council, President, Satyajit Singh Majithia, Vice-President, S. Charanjit Singh Chadha, Joint Secretary (Finance), S. Gunbir Singh, Joint Secretary (Legal and Property), S. Ajmer Singh etc. also condemned the attack on the journalist.
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