Pentagon Chief: US 'Not Winning' in Afghanistan
In-Depth Coverage
By Carla Babb June 13, 2017
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told lawmakers Tuesday that the United States is not gaining in the fight to stabilize Afghanistan and vowed to present a strategy to Congress "by mid-July."
"We are not winning in Afghanistan right now, and we will correct this as soon possible," Mattis told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mattis acknowledged that the Trump administration was currently in a "strategy-free time" concerning Afghanistan, where American troops have fought for 16 years.
The defense secretary called on Congress to provide the Department of Defense with a budget, "not a continuing resolution," that is "passed on time," in order to push the U.S. military through readiness shortfalls while maintaining a support role in two wars.
Republican Senator John McCain, the chair of the committee, agreed that Congress needs to pass a budget but said lawmakers also needed to see an Afghanistan plan from the Pentagon on how to move forward.
"It makes it hard for us to support you when we don't have a strategy," McCain said.
The Arizona senator noted the last administration's plan in Afghanistan was simply "don't lose," which McCain said has not worked.
'Change in approach'
Secretary Mattis equated "winning" in Afghanistan with the Afghan government's ability to handle the enemy's level of violence, which he said will require a "residual force" of U.S. and allied forces to train Afghan troops and maintain high-end capabilities.
"It's going to take a change in approach," Mattis said.
But he said the United States cannot quit on Afghanistan because problems that threaten the U.S. and its economy arise out of "ungoverned spaces."
On Saturday, a uniformed member of the Afghan Special Forces turned his gun on U.S. military personnel, killing three American soldiers and wounding one other.
The U.S. Defense Department said 25-year-old Sgt. Eric M. Houck, 29-year-old Sgt. William M. Bays and 22-year-old Corporal Dillon C. Baldridge of the Army's 101st Airborne Division were killed during the attack in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.
Senator McCain highlighted the attack on Tuesday. He said that Congress and the Department of Defense should not ask the families of service members to "sacrifice any further" without an Afghanistan strategy in place.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milit...613-voa01.htm?_m=3n.002a.2038.nz0ao0axfl.1vib
Islamic State Militants Capture Tora Bora
In-Depth Coverage
By Ayesha Tanzeem June 14, 2017
Islamic State militants captured parts of Afghanistan's Tora Bora region Tuesday night, after days of heavy fighting with Afghan Taliban and pro-government militias.
The remote, mountainous area contains a complex set of caves bordering Pakistan. It became well-known because al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden was cornered there by an American-led team, a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S., but he escaped to Pakistan.
Intense fighting started in the region almost a week ago when IS militants attacked Taliban positions. Initially, the Taliban managed to repel the attack and pushed IS back. Local, pro-Afghan government militias, that would usually be opposed to the Taliban, also fought IS. It was not clear whether they fought with the Taliban or separately, and whether the two sides had a de-facto temporary truce while they fought their common enemy.
IS militants, however, have not just managed to defeat both to capture Tora Bora, they have started an assault against Pachiragam, one of the 22 districts in Nangarhar province. A VOA Pashto service reporter in the area, Zabihullah Ghazi, said the attack was intense and the district may be on the verge of collapse.
Ataullah Khogyani, the Nangarhar governor's spokesman, said the situation in Pachiragam was tense but refused to share more details.
No confirmation yet
Afghan Ministry of Defense spokesman General Dawlat Waziri, however, did not confirm the capture of Tora Bora.
"We have seen IS activity in Chaprahar and Pachiragam since yesterday, but our forces are aware of situation," he said, adding that he was confident the Afghan forces would "crush" IS there, just as they had previously done in the Achin district.
Achin is the same district where the United States military dropped its biggest non-nuclear explosive, commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs, in April.
Despite the assurances, local authorities severely criticized the central government, which they said failed to provide extra weapons to local militias despite promises. The VOA reporter said the Afghan government has little control on the ground in Tora Bora.
Local sources say both sides suffered heavy casualties in the fighting last week but journalists could not independently confirm any details due to lack of access caused by security concerns.
Locals flee
Hundreds of residents from Tora Bora had taken refuge in Pachiragam for fear of IS when the fighting started a week ago. With IS approaching Pachiragam, further internal displacement was expected.
The Islamic State Khorasan Province or ISKP, the chapter of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, initially emerged in early 2015 in eastern Afghanistan. VOA reporting on the origins of IS in eastern Afghanistan disclosed that most of the militants initially came to Afghanistan from the Orakzai Agency of Pakistan's tribal area of North Waziristan.
Initially they came with their families, pretending to be refugees displaced by a military operation launched by Pakistan in 2014. Locals told VOA they claimed to be from the Tirah Valley of North Waziristan and spoke with an Orakzai dialect.
General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February that most militants in ISKP were former Pakistani Taliban who moved into Nangarhar.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milit...614-voa01.htm?_m=3n.002a.2039.nz0ao0axfl.1vji
ISIS seizes territory around once-Bin Laden stronghold Tora Bora in Afghanistan
Published time: 15 Jun, 2017
View of the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan © Michael Luongo / Getty Images
Islamic State fighters have captured a giant cave stronghold from the Taliban which was once Osama bin Laden’s hideout in the early 2000s, Afghan officials have confirmed. The complex, called Tora Bora, still has strategic and symbolic importance.
Islamic State claimed its militants have already captured Tora Bora, AP
reported. An audio message broadcast on the jihadists’ Radio Khilafat late on Wednesday claimed that the battle is over.
Read more
ISIS leader in Afghanistan killed during US special forces raid, military confirms
Later in the day, Afghan officials acknowledged the seizure of Tora Bora.
"Those areas around Tora Bora were a Taliban stronghold, but now Daesh [IS]militants captured them during fighting," Shah Wali, a local police commander, told Reuters.
After capturing the nearby district of Achin, IS has been looking for a second stronghold, he added.
Meanwhile, the Taliban, which controlled the cave complex before the IS offensive, said the terrorist group had managed to gain control over adjacent villages, but denied the loss of Tora Bora.
Reuters also cited Abu Omar Khorasani, an Islamic State commander in Afghanistan, who told the news agency:
"We are in Tora Bora but this is not the end. The plan is to take more territory from the government and the Taliban."
Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) launched an assault on Tora Bora late on Tuesday night, Attahullah Khogyani, a provincial official in Nangarhar, told AP. Skirmishes with the Taliban and local villagers continued into the day, and the terrorist group had seized the vicinity around the mountain stronghold by Wednesday.
“I can confirm that the ISIS fighters occupied some areas around Tora Bora, but not Tora Bora itself,” said Khogyani. There has been no statement from the American command or the Kabul government so far.
At least 12 Taliban militants were killed in the firefight, Hazrat Ali, a Nangarhar lawmaker, confirmed.
“Based on our information from local people, hundreds of Isis fighters attacked Taliban militants in Tora Bora,” Ali said.
IS has also taken control of many hilltops overlooking Tora Bora, and even installed heavy artillery on their summits, said Shirin Agha Faqiri, a spokesman for the Afghan army corps stationed in eastern Nangarhar.
“People and the local villagers are fleeing to other parts of the province,” he added.
READ MORE: ‘Death to Daesh!’ Thousands protest against ISIS in western Afghanistan (PHOTOS)
Islamic State’s capture of the Tora Bora cave complex on Wednesday may be an important victory for the terrorist group in its fight against its Islamist rival, the Taliban.
Over the past years, Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan has gained ground in some of the country’s provinces, taking sizeable swaths of land from its Islamist foe, the Taliban.
Although the groups have made some minor attempts to agree on a truce, the negotiations have yielded little to no results. Experts believe IS has been more successful than the Taliban at attracting new recruits and followers. Michael Maloof, a former Pentagon analyst, told RT that an
“increase of the Taliban also joining ISIS” is a worrying trend.
“ISIS is rising as well in Afghanistan and an increasing number of Taliban commanders is swearing allegiance to ISIS,” he said last Sunday.
On Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani directed the country’s 201st army corps to move against Islamic State in the districts adjacent to the Tora Bora area, the
New York Times reported. The troops should start ground, air, and artillery strikes against the militants as soon as possible, said Alim Eshaqzai, the deputy governor of Nangarhar.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milit...614-voa01.htm?_m=3n.002a.2039.nz0ao0axfl.1vji