Denmark's Kabul embassy moved for security reasons

Fri Dec 5, 10:34 am ET

COPENHAGEN, Denmark –

The Danish Embassy in Afghanistan's capital has temporarily been relocated to an undisclosed location in Kabul for security reasons.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Klavs A. Holm says "the security level is such that the embassy has to work from another location."

Holm said Friday that the threat against Danish interests remains high. He declined to say whether a newly discovered risk for the embassy in Kabul had led to the relocation.

Last month, Denmark's intelligence service said there is still a considerable threat from Islamic extremists against Danes and Danish interests abroad because of the Feb. 13 reprinting of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Canada's death toll in Afghanistan surpasses 100

By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies,

Associated Press Writer – Fri Dec 5, 10:06 pm ET

TORONTO –

Canada's death toll in Afghanistan surpassed the grim milestone of 100 on Friday after a roadside bomb killed three soldiers.

Brig. Gen. Denis Thompson, Canada's top military commander in Afghanistan, said the soldiers were riding in an armored vehicle on patrol west of Kandahar city when they struck an improvised explosive device.

Canada has now lost 100 soldiers and one diplomat in Afghanistan since it first sent troops there after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Thompson acknowledged the milestone but defended the mission, saying the Canadian military is trying to prevent militants from terrorizing the Afghan people.

"Canada lost three fine soldiers today," Thompson said in a televised news conference from Afghanistan. "Already there is talk of numbers and milestones, but it is my hope that the focus remains on the lives and sacrifices of these brave soldiers as they serve Canada in their effort to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan."

He said two other soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in a separate incident while on foot patrol.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered condolences but made no mention of the milestone when he visited a military base in Petawawa, Ontario.

"I never feel able to put the depths of my feelings at time like this into adequate words," Harper told the crowd.

"These are very special people who have put their lives on the line in the service of their fellow human beings and in their devotion to our country."

Harper vowed during his September election campaign to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011. He has said Canadians do not have the appetite to keep their soldiers in Afghanistan longer.

Canada has 2,500 soldiers in Kandahar province, the former Taliban stronghold that has again emerged as the epicenter of violence. The country increased its deployment in Afghanistan after declining a U.S. request to send troops to Iraq.

The milestone could rekindle debate about Canada's role in Afghanistan — debate that had largely dissipated after Parliament voted in March to extend the mission to 2011.

"In the coming days there will surely be discussion of the number of victims that have died," Thompson said.

There are some 53,000 NATO-led troops from 27 countries serving in Afghanistan, including 32,000 U.S. troops. One American serviceman died in Afghanistan in November, a dramatic drop from earlier months; there have been 148 U.S. military deaths in all this year.

The U.S. military is beginning a massive building effort in Afghanistan to house the roughly 20,000 additional troops that are expected to begin pouring in early next year, a top U.S. military officer said Friday

Two killed in south Afghanistan fighting

Sat Dec 6, 10:10 am ET

KABUL (Reuters) –

Two civilians were killed and six wounded in an operation in southern Afghanistan on Saturday that included air strikes by NATO-led forces, military officials said.

The British military in the southern province of Helmand said the casualties were civilians, but a spokesman for the NATO force in Kabul said the status of the casualties was being investigated and four of the wounded had been detained.

If the casualties were confirmed as being civilians, it would add to tension between the Afghan government and its Western backers, already high after the deaths of dozens of civilians in a string of mistaken air strikes this year.

Two airstrikes were launched in Helmand's Naad Ali district to enable a joint patrol of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops and the Afghan army to withdraw after coming under fire, the ISAF spokesman said.

"After sustained contact from the enemy from numerous positions, and having exhausted all other means of extracting themselves from the area, they called for close air support," ISAF said in a statement.

ISAF commander General David McKiernan, trying to reduce civilian casualties, issued a directive in October ordering his troops to withdraw from firefights rather than call in air strikes wherever possible, if they could not be sure there were no civilians in the target area.

The British military said two civilians had been killed in fighting in Naad Ali and six wounded civilians taken to hospital.

"This morning two dead and six injured civilians were brought to our medical facility near Naad Ali and the four most seriously injured were moved to our medical facility at Camp Bastion," said Commander Paula Rowe, spokeswoman for the British army in Afghanistan.

Naad Ali district is in Helmand province, the main opium growing region where mostly British forces are engaged in daily gunbattles with Taliban insurgents.

Rowe said an investigation into the Afghan civilian deaths was under way and more information would be released later in the day. "We are always deeply saddened by civilian deaths irrespective of how they are caused," Rowe said.

(Reporting by Golnar Motevalli; editing by Tim Pearce)

 Three ISAF soldiers killed in southern Afghanistan

NATO.INT, KABUL, Afghanistan —

Three ISAF (NATIO occupation forces) soldiers were killed in an IED strike yesterday morning in southern Afghanistan.

It is ISAF policy not to release the nationality of any casualty prior to the relevant national authority doing so.

Next of kin have been notified.

Incident this morning in Nad-i-Ali

KABUL, Afghanistan —

ISAF is aware of an incident that took place in the area of Nad-i-Ali, Helmand province this morning where ISAF forces, operating in support of an ANA operation, came under heavy and sustained fire from a clearly identified compound.

After sustained contact from the enemy from numerous positions, and having exhausted all other means of extracting themselves from the area, they called for close air support.

Two targeted air strikes were carried out as a last resort to enable the joint patrol to leave the area safely.

An investigation is ongoing. ISAF can confirm that 2 people were killed and 6 others injured. These individuals were brought to an ISAF base in Nad-i-Ali after the incident. The cause and status of these casualties has yet to be established and is subject to investigation.

After initial medical treatment, the 4 most seriously injured casualties were taken to the ISAF hospital at Camp Bastion. The 2 others remained at the ISAF base. Of the 4 taken to the ISAF hospital, 2 have since been detained. The 2 less seriously injured casualties, who stayed at the ISAF base in Nad-i-Ali, have also been detained.