Daily brief: Afghanistan chopper crash kills 9 troops

Chopper crash

A helicopter crashed earlier today in the southern Afghan province of Zabul, killing nine NATO service members and bringing the number of NATO soldiers killed in 2010 to 529, surpassing last year’s total of 521 (Post, NYT, Pajhwok, AP, BBC, Times). A Taliban spokesman claimed that insurgents shot down the helicopter, but NATO said there were no reports of enemy fire in the area, and the crash is under investigation. Senior U.S. military officials say this December’s Obama administration strategy review is unlikely to result in major changes to the war (WSJ).

The Electoral Complaints Commission, a U.N.-backed voting watchdog, has already received 3,000 complaints of irregularities in Saturday’s parliamentary election (AFP, FT, Pajhwok, CNN). Although preliminary results are not expected until October 9 and final results until October 30, the opposition alliance headed by onetime presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah says it is confident it has made gains (Pajhwok, NYT). Opposition officials say this is the first time the bloc has had good results in Pashtun areas; Abdullah’s base is in northern, mostly Tajik areas. Kathy Gannon has today’s election must-read describing the political involvement of supporters of Hezb-i-Islami, a party linked to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a warlord with ties to al-Qaeda (AP).

After yesterday’s handover of Sangin district in Helmand from British control to U.S. Marines, British military sources have reportedly criticized the U.S. for allegedly ignoring British tactical advice (Tel). Afghanistan’s defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, commented that American troops were better equipped and better trained than their British counterparts (NYT). Wardak said the British troops came to Helmand with Land Rovers, "which are not much different than the ones driven in the streets of London."

The Post profiles a contracting company with a multi-year federal contract worth more than $1 million that is teaching "troops, diplomats and aid workers how to use everyday conversation to uncover a region’s hidden grievances and beat back insurgents" (Post). Last month top commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus issued a list of skills that every soldier deployed to the country should know, including how to talk to locals.

Jittery Karachi

Violent protests took place last night in Karachi, where targeted killings have left 18 dead in the last two days (Dawn, Daily Times, ET, AJE, CNN). Shops and markets in areas of the city are closed today, and witnesses claim that some Pakistani Rangers opened fire on crowds (Dawn, Daily Times).

Flood watch: A 30 year old father whose home was washed away in the floods that have inundated Pakistan since late July lit himself on fire in front of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s house in Multan on Sunday, and later died in the hospital (Reuters, AFP, AP). More than ten million Pakistani children have been affected by the floods, including 2.8 million under five years old (AFP).

Flashpoint

In spite of reports yesterday that leading Kashmiri separatists refused to meet with an Indian government delegation to Indian-administered Kashmir, several delegates went to the homes of the hardliner Syed Ali Geelani and moderates Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik (Guardian, Hindu, HT, PTI). Members of the Indian delegation reportedly cut short a visit to the main hospital in Srinagar after anti-India protesters heckled them (AFP).

Gender bending

The NYT has a long profile of Afghan girls who are dressed as boys for reasons of economic need, social pressure to have sons, and superstition, in a practice called bacha posh (NYT). In most cases, the change back to womanhood occurs around puberty, and can be challenging for the child.

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