Afghanistan General

[eddo36 16]

How many were killed by Talibans ?

Don't know the exact number, but drone strike casualties haven't been minimal.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Eddo36

[oxmox 73]

Don't Ask Who's Being Killed by Drones In Afghanistan

This story comes to VICE News from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

"We only count that which we see," he told Bohannon. "You can do a tremendous amount of forensics… [but] seldom do we see the actual bodies."

https://news.vice.com/article/dont-ask-whos-being-killed-by-drones-in-afghanistan

Afghanistan civilian casualties 2009-2012 (stastics; also by none-government forces)

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics

Drone strikes in Pakistan

http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/

In one of the article I did post, just one page before it was described that in Afghanistan only children, women and elders count as civilians when it comes to targeted killings by NATO.

Edited December 30, 2014 by oxmox

[Xalteva 10]

Don't Ask Who's Being Killed by Drones In Afghanistan

This story comes to VICE News from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

"We only count that which we see," he told Bohannon. "You can do a tremendous amount of forensics… [but] seldom do we see the actual bodies."

https://news.vice.com/article/dont-ask-whos-being-killed-by-drones-in-afghanistan

Afghanistan civilian casualties 2009-2012 (stastics; also by none-government forces)

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics

Drone strikes in Pakistan

http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/

In one of the article I did post, just one page before it was described that in Afghanistan only children, women and elders count as civilians when it comes to targeted killings by NATO.

The most useless thing you can do in this offtopic section, is trying to to convince people with reports and all sort of links from here and there! people, in the end, just believe what they want to believe or have bad intentions :)

This doesn't mean i don't appreciate your researches.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Xalteva

[ProfTournesol 956]

The most useless thing you can do in this offtopic section, is trying to to convince people with reports and all sort of links from here and there! people, in the end, just believe what they want to believe or have bad intentions :)

Indeed, some prefers throwing random sentences such as "there was no war in Afghanistan" or "you think all afghans are Talibans", instead of trying to build educated and mature discussion.

[Xalteva 10]

Indeed, some prefers throwing random sentences such as "there was no war in Afghanistan" or "you think all afghans are Talibans", instead of trying to build educated and mature discussion.

Or accusing people of being conspiracy theory adepts as soon as they start criticizing the controlled media :)

And yes, that was not a war! a massive genocid in the open. No matter how good talibans were organized, a RPG launcher weighs nothing compared to a B52 with loads of 2Tons bombs. And yes, an Afghani citizen is meaningless to the world so nobody cared! And what for ? an ancient CIA agent hosted by an organization that was helped by the US once, and at the end they couldn't even bring him to justice, and threw him in the ocean instead ? well, it's not only a war, it was a huge failure and wasted hard working tax payers money ...

Edited December 31, 2014 by Xalteva

[oxmox 73]

The most useless thing you can do in this offtopic section, is trying to to convince people with reports and all sort of links from here and there! people, in the end, just believe what they want to believe or have bad intentions :)

This doesn't mean i don't appreciate your researches.

I saw people were talking about civilan victims in Afghanistan and also about drones, therefore I did post some interesting background infos some statistics. With what should I "convience" you, I did not even start talking about it. The headline of the vice report hits maybe the nail on the head, means it is difficult to talk about and count numbers.

[mistyronin 1181]

Yes, i get the point. I suppose the word "dominated" means "ruled" by Northerners,

If you have some time check this Vice News documentary from last year.

In min 31 aprox they explain the composition of the Army, that is still mainly formed by northerners ( of whatever ethnic ) the former Northern Alliance, and almost none southern Pashtun. Soldiers that considered civilians in the South enemies so they could do whatever they wanted to them ( raping, robbing, killing, etc. ).

[ProfTournesol 956]

If you have some time check this Vice News documentary from last year.

In min 31 aprox they explain the composition of the Army, that is still mainly formed by northerners ( of whatever ethnic ) the former Northern Alliance, and almost none southern Pashtun. Soldiers that considered civilians in the South enemies so they could do whatever they wanted to them ( raping, robbing, killing, etc. ).

It seems the sources may vastly differ on that subject. For example this article written by a guy who served two tours in Afghanistan :

Some of these concerns were voiced by Sen. Angus King, of Maine. “What’s the ethnic makeup of the Afghan army? One of the problems in Iraq appears to be the unequal distribution ethnically or sectarian, I suppose, if that’s a word, in Iraq. Is the ethnic, tribal makeup of the Afghanistan security forces representative of the country?â€

Dunford replied that the sectarian divisions that crippled the Iraqi security forces do not apply to the Afghan National Army. “The officer corps in the Afghan army is about 40% Tajik, 40% Pashtun. The NCO corps is about the same; the forces are about the same.â€

The professional officer corps of the regular Iraqi army and the militias that supported it under Hussein were almost exclusively Sunni. Many former officers of that regime contributed to the sectarian fighting, and still remain a factor to this day.

The Taliban has always had its base of support among the majority Pashtuns, based primarily in the South and East. Pashtun strongholds in Kandahar and Helmand have been reliable hotbeds of Taliban activity. The second largest group, the Tajiks who dominate the north of the country, have been historical rivals.

“That’s a slight overrepresentation of Tajiks in the sense that the Pashtun population is — represents some 40-plus percentage of the population, and about 27% of the population is Tajik. But, in general terms, we have the foundation of a national army in Afghanistan that is in fact representative not only of the various ethnic groups, but representative geographically,†Dunford said.

The truth is probably in between. It's also possible that troops sent in the South may differ from the overall ANA composition.

[ProfTournesol 956]

(BBC) Stray rocket kills 20 at Afghan wedding

At least 20 people have been killed in Afghanistan when a wedding party was hit by a stray rocket, officials say.

The incident happened on Wednesday during fierce fighting between Afghan soldiers and Taliban militants

[mistyronin 1181]

Medieval Europe, anyone?

(BBC) Afghan woman Farkhunda lynched in Kabul 'for speaking out'

Farkhunda, who was beaten to death by a Kabul mob last week, had been arguing with a mullah about his practice of selling charms to women at a shrine.

In the course of the argument she was accused of burning the Koran and a crowd overheard and beat her to death.