Three Civilian Contractors, Police Trainers, killed in Green on Blue Herat Afghanistan Unknown Number Wounded
US identifies contractors killed in Afghanistan
The victims were Benjamin Monsivais, a former US Border Patrol and retired Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent; Joseph Perez, a retired US Customs and Border Protection port director; and retired British customs officer David Chamberlain, DHS said in a statement.
Dave Chamberlain was killed in western Afghanistan alongside two American colleagues by a gunman who turned his weapon against the US military coalition, sources have said.
Mr Chamberlain, who was in his 40s and from Westgate-on-Sea, was working for the Border Management Task Force, which trains and mentors former Afghan customs officers and border policemen, when he and his colleagues were killed on Sunday, a source said.
He said another American national had been taken to hospital with severe injuries and that an Afghan interpreter had also been injured during the shooting.
KABUL — Three foreign civilian contractors working for NATO as trainers were killed Sunday when a man in an Afghan security force uniform turned his weapon against them, NATO and Afghan officials said.
The shooter was killed in the incident in the west of the country, the International Security Assistance Force said in a statement, without giving further details or naming the nationalities of the victims.
An Afghan official who requested anonymity said he knew two Americans had been killed in the attack and they had been shot by an Afghan man in a police uniform in a military training centre near the Herat airport.
HERAT (Reuters) – July 22, 2012
A gunman wearing an Afghan uniform turned his weapon against foreign trainers working for NATO in the western province of Herat on Sunday, killing three, in a grim 24 hours for the coalition which also saw five NATO soldiers killed.
The latest rogue shooting by an Afghan in a police or army uniform happened at a regional training center in the relatively peaceful western province near Afghanistan’s border with Iran, which is normally patrolled by Italian forces.
“An individual wearing an Afghan National Security Force uniform turned his weapon against ISAF contracted civilian employees in western Afghanistan today, killing three,” a spokesman for the NATO-led coalition said, adding that an unknown number of other people had been wounded.
US not reporting all Afghan attacks
Last week the military was reluctant to announce the name of the SpecOps soldier who was killed by an Afghan SpecOps soldier. The family reported this and the military then had to.
Another American killed by man in Afghan Army Uniform, Andrew Brittonmihalo Green Beret
Andrew Brittonmihalo
Associated Press at Yahoo News
WASHINGTON (AP) — The military is under-reporting the number of times that Afghan soldiers and police open fire on American and other foreign troops.
The U.S.-led coalition routinely reports each time an American or other foreign soldier is killed by an Afghan in uniform. But The Associated Press has learned it does not report insider attacks in which the Afghan wounds — or misses — his U.S. or allied target. It also doesn’t report the wounding of troops who were attacked alongside those who were killed.
Such attacks reveal a level of mistrust and ill will between the U.S.-led coalition and its Afghan counterparts in an increasingly unpopular war. The U.S. and its military partners are working more closely with Afghan troops in preparation for handing off security responsibility to them by the end of 2014.
In recent weeks an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of American soldiers but missed the group entirely. The Americans quickly shot him to death. Not a word about this was reported by the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, as the coalition is formally known. It was disclosed to the AP by a U.S. official who was granted anonymity in order to give a fuller picture of the “insider” problem.
ISAF also said nothing about last week’s attack in which two Afghan policemen in Kandahar province fired on U.S. soldiers, wounding two. Reporters learned of it from Afghan officials and from U.S. officials in Washington. The two Afghan policemen were shot to death by the Americans present.
Africans in Afghanistan: When War Zones Become Lands of Opportunity
Thousands of skilled workers from Africa are willingly facing danger in remote areas of Afghanistan for high-paying jobs supporting coalition troops.
Think Africa Press April 26, 2012
Beyond the primal beauty of the Southern Afghanistan desert lies the unknown for newcomers, military and civilians alike. Sand and rocks spread further across that vast sea of sparsely inhabited nothingness than the eye can see. For the troops stationed in the Helmand province, the unknown coupled with the deserted surroundings speak danger.
This infamous province – a Taliban stronghold and site of frequent fighting between insurgents and NATO troops during the now 10-year-old Afghan War – has been welcoming a new breed of visitors: former soldiers turned personnel security providers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, engineers, cashiers, information technology experts, mine specialists, or finance and administration officers. Many are Africans, who constitute the bulk of migrant workers in the area, along with civilian personnel from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia), and Asia (India, Philippines).
Outsourced wars, outsourced workers
The increased military presence of the US, EU and other countries involved in the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force after 2009 resulted in a major shift in roles. As the overextended military focused on taming a local insurgency, tasks that were once the exclusive domain of trained military personnel started to be offered to civilian skilled workers. Civilians contractors came to provide the workforces necessary to maintain and run dining facilities, Morale Welfare and Recreation centres, military berthing, and equipment repair and replenishment shops.
Ethiopian Henok Tessema, 33, now lodging in the civilian section of a Helmand Province military installation, made his way to Afghanistan following a routine online job search. Tessema had been juggling four part-time positions working as a financial administrator and accountant in Harar, and saw the vacancy at the Central Asia Development Group as an opportunity to consolidate four part-time positions into a single one.
No arms conduit, green signal for non-lethal Nato supplies
DAWN April 13, 2012
ISLAMABAD: In a hard-won consensus, parliament recommended to the government on Thursday to no more let Pakistan serve as conduit of arms to Afghanistan, but gave a green signal for a resumption of non-lethal Nato supplies to the war-ravaged country.
And before the joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate unanimously adopted revised recommendations of a bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani assured the house that his government would implement its landmark guidelines “in letter and spirit”.
“Pakistani territory including its airspace shall not be used for transportation of arms and ammunition to Afghanistan,” said the committee’s revised report, which dropped clauses of a previous report containing conditions for resuming transportation of supplies through Pakistani land routes for US forces, Nato and a Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, effectively leaving the matter to administrative decisions of the Pakistani government.
However, the committee reiterated its earlier call for an “immediate cessation” of US drone attacks aimed at suspected militant hideouts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, ignoring suggestions made from some lawmakers during a protracted debate to make such a halt a precondition for allowing Nato supplies
Afghan in army uniform kills NATO soldiers
BY DION NISSENBAUM AND ZIAULHAQ SULTANI WSJ Update
KABUL, Afghanistan—An Afghan soldier opened fire on Western forces in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing two British troops at the gate of their base in the capital of Helmand province, Afghan and coalition officials said.
Hours later, a man believed to be a member of the Afghan Local Police opened fire on coalition forces as they approached a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, killing one, according to coalition officials.
Al Jazeera March 26, 2012
A gunman in an Afghan army uniform has killed two NATO soldiers at a base in southern Afghanistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has said.
Monday’s late morning attack in the capital of southern Helmand province took place at the main entrance to a base
housing military and civilian reconstruction teams, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.
Afghan and Western security sources identified the two NATO soldiers as British troops. An Afghan soldier was also shot dead and one Briton was wounded in the attack according to a Western security source speaking on condition of anonymity to the AFP news agency.
12 Turkish Soldiers Killed in Afghan Crash, 2 Girls Killed on Ground
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Turkish military helicopter crashed into a house near the Afghan capital Friday, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board and two girls on the ground, Turkish and Afghan officials said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the helicopter was one of two that took off on Friday.
“Unfortunately, the one in front came down for an unknown reason,” he said.
He said there were officers and noncommissioned officers on board.
VOA March 16, 2011
Turkey’s military says one of its helicopters has crashed into a house on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing 12 Turkish soldiers.
Authorities say the Sikorsky helicopter crashed into the house Friday in the Bagrami district.
The Turkish military said the aircraft belonged to the Turkish armed forces and was part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
In eastern Afghanistan, NATO says one of its service members died Thursday in a bomb blast.
Nine killed in Afghanistan military airport suicide bomb blast
Nineteen Afghan civilians and law enforcement officers and four NATO soldiers were wounded in the blast, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, said.
By Hamid Shalizi and Amie Ferris-Rotman at The National February 27, 2012
KABUL — A suicide car bomber killed nine people in an attack on a military airport in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, the latest bloodshed since copies of the Koran were burned at a NATO base last week.
There was no official indication the explosion at the gates of Jalalabad airport was linked to the deadly protests, but the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as “revenge” for the Koran burnings
Jalalabad airport is almost exclusively used by NATO and the U.S. military.
2 American Officers Killed In Afghan Ministry
Lieutenant Colonel John Darin Loftis of the 866th Air Expeditionary Squad
KABUL (CNN) February 24, 2012
–The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack Saturday inside the Afghan interior ministry that killed at least two American officers.
NATO and Afghan officials reported the deaths of two American officers inside the ministry in Kabul.
According to the International Security Assistance Force, initial reports indicated that “an individual” turned his weapon against NATO service members.
The agency did not provide the nationalities of the victims, but an Afghan police official confirmed they were American
2 NATO Troops (American) Killed by Afghan Soldier
MSNBC February 23, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two foreign soldiers were killed by a man dressed in an Afghan National Army uniform on Thursday, as anger over the burning of copies of the Quran at the country’s main NATO air base sparked violent protests for a third day.
A statement by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force did not give the exact location of the deadly attack on its troops, but said it took place in the east of the country.
“An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in eastern Afghanistan today, killing two service members,” the ISAF statement said. “It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.”
However, CBS News reported on its Twitter feed that both service members were Americans, citing unidentified sources.
NATO looking into reports of chopper crash in Afghanistan
ISAF Chopper Crashes in Afghanistan
Kabul—An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)helicopter crashed in the Sarobi district of central Kabul province on Saturday, an official said.
Official sources said that the incident took place around noon in the Uzbin Mountains near the Baad Pakh district of neighbouring Laghman province.
Further details would be revealed after an investigation into the crash was completed, officials said, adding a team had been sent to the scene. There was no immediate report of casualties in the crash that happened at around 10:30am, said a resident of the area, Sahar.
The site was cordoned off by foreign troops. ISAF has so far issued no comment on the chopper crash.—AP
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — A local official reported a NATO helicopter crashed Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, though there was no immediate confirmation from coalition forces.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, Capt. Justin Brockhoff, said ISAF officials are looking into the reported incident but have no indications that any ISAF aircraft have been lost.
Abdul Rahman Sarjang, the chief of police in eastern Laghman province, said it was an American helicopter that crashed, but he had no other details
Truth, lies and Afghanistan
I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. Over the course of 12 months, I covered more than 9,000 miles and talked, traveled and patrolled with troops in Kandahar, Kunar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Kunduz, Balkh, Nangarhar and other provinces.
What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground.
Entering this deployment, I was sincerely hoping to learn that the claims were true: that conditions in Afghanistan were improving, that the local government and military were progressing toward self-sufficiency. I did not need to witness dramatic improvements to be reassured, but merely hoped to see evidence of positive trends, to see companies or battalions produce even minimal but sustainable progress.
U.S.-Led Coalition Attacked 46 Times by Supposed Afghan Allies
Bloomberg February 1, 2012
Afghan army and police forces or civilian contractors have attacked U.S.-led coalition forces at least 46 times since May 2007, including an attack today in which an Afghan soldier shot and killed a U.S. Marine in the southern province of Helmand.
The Afghan army soldier opened fire at close range as he and the Marine guarded a joint operating base at about 12:30 a.m. today, General Sayed Malook, a corps commander based in Helmand, said by phone. The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, confirmed that one of its soldiers was shot dead by an individual wearing an Afghan uniform.
Malook said the Afghan soldier had been taken into custody and told investigators that the killing wasn’t deliberate.
While the Taliban have claimed in the past to have infiltrated Afghan forces to carry out attacks on international troops or government officials, U.S. Defense Department data indicate that the majority, or 58 percent, of the attacks were motivated by personal matters and weren’t the result of insurgent activity.
In testimony prepared for a hearing today before the House Armed Services Committee, the department said 42 insider attacks from May 2007 through last year involved personnel of the Afghan National Security Forces, and three were carried out by Afghan contract employees of private security companies.
The attacks resulted in deaths of about 70 coalition personnel and the wounding of about 110, according to the testimony prepared by Pentagon officials including David Sedney, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan,Pakistan and Central Asia
France suspends Afghan mission after attack on troops
“The French army is in Afghanistan at the service of the Afghans against terrorism and against the Taliban. The French army is not in Afghanistan so that Afghan soldiers can shoot at them,” Sarkozy said
France 24 January 20, 2012
France will temporarily suspend all training and combat operations in Afghanistan following a fatal attack on its troops, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced after four French soldiers died Friday in an attack by an Afghan army soldier.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed the death, which brings to 82 the number of French troops killed in the Afghan campaign.
“From now on, all the operations of training and combat help by the French army are suspended,” Sarkozy said in Paris
Two French Soldiers shot dead by rogue Afghan soldier
Reuters Paris Thursday December 29, 2011
Two French soldiers were killed on Thursday when an Afghan army soldier shot at them deliberately while their unit was engaged in a support mission for Afghanistan’s forces in the Tagab valley, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said.
The shooting was the latest in a string of attacks by “rogue” soldiers and police, or by insurgents who had infiltrated security forces, that have killed dozens of foreign soldiers.
It was also the second such incident in a week, after a December 24 attack in western Farah province in which an Afghan army spokesman said four Americans were wounded. The shooter, who had spent 14 months in the army, was killed on the spot, he added.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said an Afghan soldier had turned his weapon on ISAF forces on December 24, but declined further comment.
Such attacks are especially damaging as the Afghan National Army (ANA) tries to win public trust before Afghan forces take full responsibility for security nationwide. Foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
Two Americans- (1Contractor?) killed in Afghanistan
Contractor Killed in Iraq Saturday (possibly this incident)
Associated Press at The Washington Post
Afghan guard shoots dead NATO soldier, civilian working with coalition in northern province
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan guard opened fire at a NATO-escorted reconstruction convoy after an argument Saturday, killing a service member and a civilian working for the coalition before being killed by return fire, a provincial police chief said.
The convoy was traveling in the northern Panjshir province, about 62 miles (99 kilometers) north of the capital, Kabul, when it came under attack, according to provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh.
The Afghan guard, who goes by the name Amanullah, was standing outside his home when the convoy passed by, the police chief said.
The guard stopped the convoy, started arguing with the NATO troops and then opened fire, killing the service member and the civilian, Jangalbagh said. A third coalition service member was wounded in the shooting, the police chief added, and another NATO service member fired back, killing Amanullah.
Amanullah worked as a bodyguard for the second-ranking official in Afghanistan’s intelligence service — Gen. Assam Din Assam, the deputy director for National Directorate for Security, the police chief said. Read more at WAPO
(CNN) — July 9, 2011
An Afghan and two Americans were killed during an exchange of fire in northeastern Afghanistan on Saturday, the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said.
The intelligence agency said those killed were Americans were working for a provincial reconstruction team in Panjshir province and an Afghan “shooter.”
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force press office called the Panjshir incident an attack and confirmed that an ISAF service member and an ISAF civilian were killed.
The alliance would not disclose their nationalities per ISAF policy “to defer to the host casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.”
Authorities are investigating an argument that broke out when a NATO vehicle was stopped by the intelligence agency in Darah district, said Gen. Qassim Genghal Bogh, police chief of Panjshir province. He said the intelligence agency staff opened fire.
“We don’t know what was the main reason of the argument,” Bogh said
Overseas Civilian Contractors
CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR CASUALTIES
THE BEST KEPT SECRET OF THE WARS
At Least 59 Civilian Contractor Deaths Filed on in Second Quarter of 2012
At Least 49 Civilian Contractor Deaths Filed on in First Quarter of 2012
At Least 418 Civilian Contractor Deaths in 2011
Our Fallen Contractors Memorial
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A United Nations Mine Action Employee has filed a lawsuit against
for negligence after stepping on a landmine resulting in an immediate below the knee amputation in an area previously cleared by and certified clear of landmines by Ronco Consulting.
The United Nations board of inquiry found that Ronco failed to find the mine that injured Mr Fartham as well as three other mines.
The complaint states that Ronco Consulting, acting through it’s agents and/or employee’s, breached it’s professional duty of care to Fantham and did not exercise the reasonable care and skill expected of professional mine clearance companies.
Ronco Settles Negligence Lawsuit with UN Mine Action Employee
Ex Pat 2011 Tax Information UPDATED
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