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ISIS Captures Tora Bora, Once Bin Laden’s Afghan Fortress

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
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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
 
And here is the kick from emirat islami Afghanistan.

Emirat islami Afghanistan is enough for fighting this fitna khawarijeen and they will succeed inshallah.

 
Your national security advisers openly admits supporting and funding TTP and other terrorist organisation to bleed Pakistan and you claim here it's just imaginations?, yeah maybe in your Bollywood world but not the real one.


At a time when he wasnt in the loop

Yes we believes in you :D

there is not fear with Pakistan. In fact we are itching for an opportunity to attack Afghanistan and end this Terrorism menace once in for all.
If we have access to Afghanistan like we have in Swat North Waziristan South Waziristan Bajour Kurram etc There will not be a single ISIS Complex left in Afghanistan they will not even have safe heaven to run to like they do now.
Its fear for your forces only who can only counter Stone pelters and 25 year old college dropouts turned militants against oppression of your forces. Trust me neither you nor your forces cant even dream about the level of training these Uzbek Tajik Terrorists have and the first hand account of stories from our soldiers who have fought them. We have pushed them back and Saved the whole Subcontinent from this Mess be thankfull or not.
We are Veterans at Fighting and Defeating a highly trained Terrorist Organizations Like ISIS TTP Shit. And Eradicating them from the roots Just like we did in FATA and KPK.
Just let US of A leave this region your Assets will not stand a chance and will be pulled out in months. Only Pakistan can eradicate them bye deploying ground troops with support of Local Afghans and other major regional powers like Russia Iran and China.
These puny measures and Dirty Power Games taken by USA and India cannot defeat this beast of Terrorism.

Pak Army is very professional and trained in fighting counter insurgency .Against those terrorists you dont have to think twice .You have to think only about clear military ops.

But in Kashmir ,they are our misguided people .We wont kill them .They are not terrorists like IS or TTP.
They are doing all this money that come across the border .

But against terrorists we wont think twice .
Dealings with terrorists is actually easier than dealings with people.
 
The question should be, what can the US do about it?

There are not enough resource in the area to do anything meaningful. We can bomb the ISIS target in Afghanistan (Which we did), then what can the US do to try stem the ISIS attacks?

The problem is that we don't have enough soldier to secure the whole Afghan (even when we are on ISAF deployment) the fighting have to be done by the local force, and the afghan force is doing the best that they can on the ISIS people, unless you are calling for a full on Afghan invasion, supported by international force again, I cannot see how US can help in this situation.

It's never about how much firepower we had, but it's always about how much firepower we can use in a region, with troop dawn down from 125,000 to 11,000, what can the US do in this situation that they did not already had done it?

US is droning Pakistan constantly , at least they can put their resources on ISIS rather than attacking Haqqani in Pakistan, now ISIS is far greater threat than Haqqani's ..
what i believe how US would take two top TTP leaders statements that they been supported by India and NDS and TTP fraction is working with ISIS in Afghanistan, you think American have any knowledge of what and who is play the game ? i cant swallow that US has no knowledge about all that ..

I am really confuse about why India will support them.

To destabilize Pakistan, their existence depends on that..
 
As long as they are on the other side of the border, you're are safe. Wall the border and setup heavy machine guns, snipers . Limit the areas where crossing is permitted.
 
Such a dangerous situation for Pakistan and the morons ruling us are pulling each others legs to save their money.
 
US is droning Pakistan constantly , at least they can put their resources on ISIS rather than attacking Haqqani in Pakistan, now ISIS is far greater threat than Haqqani's ..
what i believe how US would take two top TTP leaders statements that they been supported by India and NDS and TTP fraction is working with ISIS in Afghanistan, you think American have any knowledge of what and who is play the game ? i cant swallow that US has no knowledge about all that ..



To destabilize Pakistan, their existence depends on that..

US has been, and still is, using drone strike on Afghanistan, problem is, drone, as well as Close Air Support, can only achieve so little unless they are backed by a ground offensive.

Drone strike cannot take care of the problem in Afghanistan, they can be used as priority targeting, but limited role on disruptive attacks. The US forces (or NATO forces) in Afghanistan is quite small at this point, not enough for a ground engagement, and if US were to capitalize their Drone and CAS effort, they need ground offensive, and that is something ANA/ANP not willing to do.

As for did US know who's behind what? That's not really easy to see, someone up there may have known, but that does not mean we can do anything about it. Especially not with Trump on the throne.
 
US has been, and still is, using drone strike on Afghanistan, problem is, drone, as well as Close Air Support, can only achieve so little unless they are backed by a ground offensive.

Drone strike cannot take care of the problem in Afghanistan, they can be used as priority targeting, but limited role on disruptive attacks. The US forces (or NATO forces) in Afghanistan is quite small at this point, not enough for a ground engagement, and if US were to capitalize their Drone and CAS effort, they need ground offensive, and that is something ANA/ANP not willing to do.

As for did US know who's behind what? That's not really easy to see, someone up there may have known, but that does not mean we can do anything about it. Especially not with Trump on the throne.

Do you think its very alarming Situation for both US and Pakistan that ISIS is advancing more than both countries anticipate .. Capturing tora bora is very symbolic move by them, and what i believe that only Afghan Taliban is a force that can counter the ISIS in Afghanistan .. with of course help with US targeting their leaders and Pakistan push them from our side of Border .. US does not have enough force but they have allies i personally think US should step up and talk with Afghans and Pakistan, or US role will become Shady
 
Do you think its very alarming Situation for both US and Pakistan that ISIS is advancing more than both countries anticipate .. Capturing tora bora is very symbolic move by them, and what i believe that only Afghan Taliban is a force that can counter the ISIS in Afghanistan .. with of course help with US targeting their leaders and Pakistan push them from our side of Border .. US does not have enough force but they have allies i personally think US should step up and talk with Afghans and Pakistan, or US role will become Shady

I do understand what you said, but the only way to contain ISIS operation in Afghanistan is to use local force, and the US will probably only be working with ANA/ANP. but not Taliban in this issue.

In fact, the US is caught up between a rock and a hard place, on one hand, the US past support on Kabul regime would mean they will be pro-Kabul Afghan government but the day the US/ISAF left, it basically put the Kabul Force into shamble, and the distrust between Taliban and the US would probably be sure that Taliban would not be supported by US in any way or form.

The situation is complicated, and even more so now trump is In charge, for me, Unless A.) Trump is gone B.) Afghan united into one force. There are no way ISIS can be eliminated in the region.
 
I do understand what you said, but the only way to contain ISIS operation in Afghanistan is to use local force, and the US will probably only be working with ANA/ANP. but not Taliban in this issue.

you were a Soldier in Afghanistan, What American Soldiers think of Taliban , do they have respect for them as their True Enemy ? cant we say the enemy of my enemy is my Friend .. ?

In fact, the US is caught up between a rock and a hard place, on one hand, the US past support on Kabul regime would mean they will be pro-Kabul Afghan government but the day the US/ISAF left, it basically put the Kabul Force into shamble, and the distrust between Taliban and the US would probably be sure that Taliban would not be supported by US in any way or form.

there is no need to Officially support them, but letting Afghan Taliban Fight ISIS will do the trick, Taliban and ISIS dead ..Kabul wont stand a year once US leave Afghanistan, isn't that right ? and Uniting Afghans is not Possible , not because of their Tribal and War lord culture ..

The situation is complicated, and even more so now trump is In charge, for me, Unless A.) Trump is gone B.) Afghan united into one force. There are no way ISIS can be eliminated in the region.

You don't Like Trump or you think he is not suitable to solve Afghanistan problem ? so far he has not shown any good leadership Qualities .. he is more busy in saving his face from the Controversies of Russia and Firing comey ..
 
you were a Soldier in Afghanistan, What American Soldiers think of Taliban , do they have respect for them as their True Enemy ? cant we say the enemy of my enemy is my Friend .. ?

Taliban is not someone we respect nor disrespect, they were the enemy, and for a soldier, it's a threat, and we would use any mean to eliminate the threat. The question you should ask is how the Kabul Regime see the Taliban.

Problem is, Taliban ruled Kabul for the last 30 some years, until we kick their butt out, the Kabul Regime is cocky about that threat, and they did not do much about anything to prepare for the eventual ISAF disengagement in 2015, and when that year came, they are neither prepare or ready for Taliban, and Taliban, on the other hand, being weaken by the US during the last 16 years, they too cannot totally roll over Kabul Regime, that is the reason why ISIS can rise up in Afghanistan.

Had the Kabul be more serious on their threat assessment, or had US not weaken Taliban that badly, either one fo them could have control the whole of Afghanistan, but in reality, the infighting between both party only benefit ISIS.

For the US, they don't really care about it now, 16 years ago, we all go red hot about Afghanistan because of 9/11, and now, OBL is gone, Taliban is gone, the general interest about Afghanistan weaned significantly. Unless there are another attack on American soil by either ISIS or Taliban, the US interest is not going to re-focus back on Afghanistan, as most American see that is the Afghan Problem, not American problem.

there is no need to Officially support them, but letting Afghan Taliban Fight ISIS will do the trick, Taliban and ISIS dead ..Kabul wont stand a year once US leave Afghanistan, isn't that right ? and Uniting Afghans is not Possible , not because of their Tribal and War lord culture ..

Short answer is, we are doing this now, long answer is that we cannot be shown to be "Pro-Taliban" not even ignoring them operating in Afghanistan, on the other hand Taliban is not just fighting ISIS, but their main rival is Kabul Regime as well, which complicate the problem.

And yes, a United Afghanistan is almost impossible to achieve, too many fraction holding too many different value.

You don't Like Trump or you think he is not suitable to solve Afghanistan problem ? so far he has not shown any good leadership Qualities .. he is more busy in saving his face from the Controversies of Russia and Firing comey ..

Both, to untangle the cluster fuk in Afghanistan would require a dedicated and brutal but efficient leader, Trump is a businessman, by that he is sneaky and unpredictable, and most of all, he is like a worm or a two headed snake, he will swing to whoever feed him more.
 

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