Dutch troops leaving Afghanistan ..[ 1562 ]

Dutch troops end Afghanistan deployment

 

Dutch troops pioneered techniques held up as a model for other foreign forces

BBC., 1 August 2010 Last updated at 09:08 GMT

The Netherlands has ended its military mission in Afghanistan, after four years in which its 1,950 troops have won praise for their effectiveness.

Dutch military chief Gen Peter van Uhm said security had improved in Uruzgan province during the Dutch deployment.

But he acknowledged that "a lot still has to happen" after the withdrawal.

Nato has played down its significance, but analysts say this is a sensitive time for the alliance, with growing casualties and doubts about strategy.

Dutch command was formally handed over to the US and Australia at a small ceremony at the main military base in Uruzgan - where most Dutch soldiers have been deployed.

"Dutch forces have served with distinction in Uruzgan, and we honour their sacrifice and that of their Afghan counterparts during the Netherlands' tenure in the province," said a statement from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Nato had wanted the Netherlands to extend its mission, but the request triggered a political row which brought down the country's coalition government in February.

This sent shock waves through other European countries, particularly Germany, where public opposition to the war is growing.

3D warfare

 More than 145,000 foreign troops currently operate under US and Nato command in Afghanistan and are supporting its Western-backed government against a Taliban-led insurgency that has gained strength.

We have achieved tangible results of which the Netherlands can be proud”

End Quote Gen Peter van Uhm Chief of the Dutch Defence Staff

Having supplied just a small percentage of Nato forces, the Dutch pull out will not make a significant military difference, says the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul, but it will have a symbolic impact far beyond the troop numbers themselves.

Analysts say the Dutch contingent has pioneered techniques which have since been held up as a model for other foreign forces in Afghanistan.

These include the "3D" policy - defence, diplomacy and development - which involved fighting the Taliban while at the same time building close contacts with local tribal elders and setting up development programmes.

"We offer the majority of the population relatively safe living conditions and advancements in health care, education and trade," Gen Van Uhm told a news conference on Wednesday.

"We have achieved tangible results of which the Netherlands can be proud."

Finite commitments

Uruzgan is a poor mountainous region north of Helmand and Kandahar, and the Dutch lost far fewer troops than the UK, US and Canada, the main forces further south.

 

More than 145,000 foreign troops operate under US and Nato command in Afghanistan

Gen Van Uhm said 24 Dutch troops died during the four-year mission and 140 were wounded. His 23-year-old was killed by a roadside bomb in April 2008.

A Taliban spokesman told the Volksrant newspaper that the group wanted to "wholeheartedly congratulate the citizens and government of the Netherlands" for pulling out its troops and urged others to follow suit.

Officials in Brussels insist the rest of the military alliance remains solid and note that the decision of the Dutch to go ahead with the withdrawal did not produce a chain reaction of other announcements about pull-outs.

But Canada is still expected to withdraw its forces next year, Poland in 2012, and the UK in 2014 or 2015.

With increasing focus on the process - if not the exact timetable - for handing over security to the Afghans, analysts say there is a growing sense that commitments are finite, analysts say

Los Angeles wildfire..[ 1561 ]

Disasters

Fire crews beat back wildfire in high desert north of Los Angeles; homes no longer threatened

Published July 31, 2010

| Associated Press

A tanker drop fire retardant the crest of the Hauser Peak in Palmdale, Calif, on Friday, July 30, 2010. Aircraft and hundreds of firefighters are concentrating on protecting the densely populated Palmdale area a few miles away and a cluster of power transmission lines that provide electricity to much of Southern California. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

PALMDALE, Calif.

Fire crews working through the night beat back flames and built containment lines around a two-day old wildfire that charred nearly 22 square miles of brush in the high desert north of Los Angeles.

The blaze was 62 percent contained Saturday morning and no structures were threatened, according to Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Sam Padilla.

Crews hoped to close the fire's south flank near Portal Ridge, Rancho Vista and Ana Verde before temperatures rise into the high 90s and dry winds whip up again as expected Saturday.

"We're getting a handle on it," Padilla said. "As soon as we contain that south end we'll be in better shape."

Padilla said there were no open flames — just smoldering embers — which has significantly slowed the fire's spread.

"The way you work embers is by using hoses on the ground, so we're relying on our foot soldiers today," County Fire Inspector Don Kunitomi said. "It's important to clean up those embers because one hot gust of wind can start a spot fire."

Some 1,300 firefighters were assigned to the blaze Saturday.

Officials were prepared to again activate water-dropping aircraft, which helped hold back the fire late Friday when flames jumped an aqueduct and menaced power lines that deliver electricity to Southern California.

Winds apparently carried embers across the wide concrete channel, with flames rapidly spreading to backyard fences at the edge of Palmdale. Plumes of smoke streamed across the city of 139,000 as winds picked up.

Two giant airtankers swooped into the Antelope Valley to drop red flame retardant around the perimeter while helicopters hovered over the aqueduct to suck up water and release it quickly on top of the smoldering hotspots.

"They make a big difference but it's a coordinated aggressive attack with firefighters laying hose, doing structure protection and perimeter control," said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Frederic Stowers. "It's a tough situation but we're steadily taking chunks out of this fire, protecting the infrastructure — power lines, roads and the like."

Fire officials expect low humidity and high temperatures again on Saturday with winds gusts of up to 50 mph in the foothills in the evening.

As many as 2,300 structures were threatened at the height of the fire late Thursday. Evacuation orders were lifted Friday morning, but some roads remained closed.

One house and three mobile home residences were destroyed, another house had roof damage and various other outbuildings and garages were lost in the horse country region, authorities said.

Most of the homes closer to Palmdale, however, are of recent construction with fire resistant roofs, stucco walls, boxed eaves and landscaped with fire-resistant vegetation, fire officials said.

Maria Norton, 19, expected to be home Friday evening preparing for Saturday's Miss Antelope Valley pageant.

Instead, this year's Miss Leona Valley is in a motel, worrying about her horse, Sally, after fire destroyed her family's stable on Thursday.

"It's kind of all a big nightmare," Norton said.

Sheriff's deputies told her family there was no time to load the horse into a trailer so the college sophomore packed her purple pageant dress and fled, freeing Sally just before flames engulfed the barn.

A few hours later, Norton learned that animal rescuers had taken the horse to local fairgrounds where large animals were being sheltered during the fire.

The fire broke out near a state highway that snakes through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting Los Angeles to the high desert.

Deputy Fire Chief Michael Bryant said an investigation into the cause of the fire is centering on workers who were hammering on some bolts to remove a tire rim. The workers were cooperating with the investigation.

The blaze spread rapidly after breaking out at midafternoon Thursday, triggering overnight evacuations of about 2,000 homes.

Elsewhere, good weather in neighboring Kern County helped firefighters build containment lines around two wildfires that destroyed homes in remote mountain communities earlier in the week.

Officials said a fire near Tehachapi was 85 percent contained Saturday. Damage assessment teams counted 23 homes that were destroyed and eight that were damaged by a fire that sped through about 2½ square miles of heavy brush starting Tuesday afternoon. Crews expected to have the blaze fully contained by Sunday.

To the north, a fire that destroyed eight residences and six outbuildings as it spread across about 26 square miles of the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada was 81 percent contained.

Associated Press Writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Afghanistan,BritishOperation "Black Prince" ...[ 1560 ]

British troops advance in Operation Black Prince

British troops in Afghanistan faced sporadic gunfire and hidden home made bombs on the second day of a push to seize the town of Saidabad as Taliban militants increased their resistance to the operation.

By Ben Farmer in Nad-e-Ali
Published: 3:40PM BST 31 Jul 2010

Foot patrols pushed down flanks of the road from Patrol Base Takhta and leapfrogged from compound to compound as they covered the engineers labouring in heat nearing 50 degrees Celsius.
Taliban fighters who had not attacked on the first day, began firing at the base from four separate compounds on Saturday, prompting British soldiers to fire back using sniper rifles and eventually a Javelin missile.

Troops airlifted south of the town before dawn on Friday morning said they were continuing to meet little resistance.
Major Andy Garner, officer in charge of Corunna Company, 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, said: "This sort of harassing fire is what we were expecting. I expect it will continue until we get into the town, when perhaps they will change their tactics."
Saidabad is considered to be the last town of the Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand Province outside Afghan government control, and has become a haven for up to 180 fighters.

Operation Tor Shezada, or Black Prince, aims to push the militants from the irrigated green zone into the desert and kill or capture their commanders.
Bomb disposal engineers found several bombs on the main road to Saidabad in the first 24 hours, including a 25-kilogram bomb targeting armoured vehicles which had been dug in for at least six weeks just 150 yards from Patrol Base Takhta.
Sapper Scott Jones, 19, of 101 Engineer Regiment, who found the bomb while searching on foot, said: "It was just different coloured earth and it looked a bit weird."

Eleven bombs were found south of the town on the first day.
While troops were able to patrol more freely across the farmland on either side of the road bomb disposal engineers made cautious progress along the route despite working from dusk to dawn.
The town may have been seeded with defensive belts of bombs, said commanders.

Chief Tech Dave Lowe, an RAF bomb disposal expert said: "It's hard to say what is waiting. It's highly possible they have pre-empted us and there will be belts of them.
"On this operation we are working all the hours of light we can get so it's 14 hour days. There are easier jobs."

Kingsman Rory Bebbington, 18, of Corunna Company, stepped on a pressure plate bomb while leading his patrol through an irrigation ditch, but only the detonator exploded.
He said: "The ground was dead boggy, I moved forward and stepped on something and it went pop.
"I thought someone had fired accidentally and then there was lots of smoke and the bottom of my trousers started burning with chemicals. I'm alive and it just shows how lucky I have been."

Hugo Chavez has deployed troops to the Colombian border...[ 1559 ]

Chavez sending troops to Colombian border

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has deployed troops to the Colombian border.

From Gustavo Valdes, CNN

July 31, 2010 -- Updated 1722 GMT (0122 HKT)

 

(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has deployed troops to areas near the Colombian border and says he is reviewing plans for a potential war as tension between the two nations rises.

"Three nights ago I told the vice-president. It makes me sad, I confess, that I'm reviewing war plans," he said during a phone interview on the state-run VTV network.

Special forces are moving to 10 districts near the Colombian border to be prepared in case Colombian President Alvaro Uribe issues an invasion order before he leaves office August 7, Chavez said Friday.

Colombia and Venezuela are at odds over accusations that leftist rebels have found refuge in Venezuela.

Colombia says it has photographic evidence of camps belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by its Spanish abbreviation, FARC -- in Venezuela. Colombia made its case before the Organization of American States earlier this month and asked for international observers to be allowed into Venezuela to verify the presence of the guerrilla group.

Venezuela denied the accusations, and in response broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia.

On Friday, Chavez told VTV that the Colombian government's accusations "have become a threat against our sovereignty, [against] our people and against the revolution."

Chavez said surveys by the Venezuelan National Guard have proven that rebel camps do not exist within the country's borders.

He accused Colombian officials and right-wing paramilitary units of plotting his assassination, while the Colombian government has accused Chavez of supporting the rebels.

Despite the escalating tensions, the Venezuelan leader on Friday also expressed hope of restoring relations as soon as Colombian president-elect Juan Manuel Santos takes office. He told VTV that he hoped to meet with Santos as soon as possible, but stressed that in the meantime, "we won't be sucked into a war that is not ours."

Pakistan floods ' 800 killed , a million affected'..[ 1558 ]

Pakistan floods 'kill 800' people and affect a million

BBC., 31 July 2010 Last updated at 14:58 GMT 

The UN's Manuel Bessler in Pakistan says many areas are cut off

The worst monsoon floods in living memory have killed at least 800 people and affected one million in north-west Pakistan, a local official has said.

Rescuers are struggling to reach inundated areas where transport and communication are down.

Peshawar, the area's largest city with a 3m-strong population, is cut off.

At least 60 people have died across the border in Afghanistan where floods affected four provinces.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier) province, announced the latest death toll. Earlier, he described the floods as the province's worst ever.

Manuel Bessler, the head of the UN's Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) in Pakistan, told the BBC about 1m people's lives had been disrupted.

He could not say with certainty the full scale of the emergency in Pakistan, as he was having trouble reaching his own offices in some of the worst-affected areas.

UN aid workers were helping to co-ordinate efforts to provide shelter, health care, drinking water and ready-to-eat food rations, he said.

There was concern, he added, that swollen rivers running south would carry the floods to provinces like Sindh where heavy rain was forecast in coming days.

Washed away

The government declared a state of emergency as Pakistan's meteorological department said 312mm (12in) of rain had fallen over the last 36 hours in the north-west - the largest amount for decades.

Lyse Doucet BBC News, Khyber- Pakhtoonkhwa province

---

Whole areas are cut off from electricity, from telephones, from roads. We simply do not know what is happening behind these barricades that have been created by these walls of water.
I am standing at the end of a highway which is now a sea of water. I can see a truck towing an ambulance through the water.
I can see a family barefoot beside me, a grandfather and grandmother carrying children on their heads, the mother and father carrying bundles on their heads.
People are using whatever means they can to try to get to high ground.

The districts of Swat and Shangla have been inaccessible with people left homeless and helpless after several rivers burst their banks, washing away villages, roads and bridges. Some 45 bridges were washed away in Swat alone.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who is travelling through some of the worst-hit areas, says at least half a million people remain marooned on islands of high ground, while others have taken refuge in mosques and schools.

TV footage taken from helicopters flying over the flooded landscape showed people clinging to roof-tops as raging torrents swept through the streets.

Military and rescue workers have been using helicopters to deliver essential supplies to areas that have had transport and communication links cut off.

Some 17 helicopters were in action to airlift people out of the worst affected areas on Friday and more were being deployed over the weekend.

Swathes of farmland have been inundated, and some power supplies have been cut after people were electrocuted by the water-borne current.

Many of those hit hardest by the flooding are the rural poor who live in flood-prone areas because they cannot afford safer land.

Pakistan has not made a formal request for international aid, but it is understood that it has appealed to donors to help it respond to this disaster.

Afghan effort

In Afghanistan, the national army said it had rescued 5,000 people over the past three days, using helicopters, vehicles and bulldozers.

 

The provinces of Laghman, Nangarhar, Kunar and Logar have all been hit by the bad weather.

There were plans to deliver food and medicine on Monday but the mountainous terrain was hindering the effort.

In Eastern Logar province, a provincial spokesman told the BBC that 10 people had been killed overnight. Nomad communities had lost tents and livestock, he added.

In Kama, Nangarhar, local resident Haji Baqi told the BBC: ''We lost all of our food.

"I lost three wheat harvests, our bridges have been destroyed. We want the government to come and help. What will people eat for the rest of the year? Where is the government? When are they going to help us.''