Space Industry and Business News  
Afghanistan plays down Taliban threat

by Staff Writers
Kabul (AFP) Feb 11, 2008
Afghanistan's defence ministry said Monday the threat from the Taliban-led insurgency was "not as serious" as it was being portrayed outside the country.

Some NATO nations were portraying the risks as larger than they were to try to attract reinforcements for the alliance's International Security Assistance Force, ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told reporters.

"We agree there are threats," Azimi told reporters when asked about calls for ISAF nations to make a deeper commitment to Afghanistan where they are helping Afghan forces confront Taliban rebels and their allies in Al-Qaeda.

But he told AFP after the media briefing: "The scale of the threat is not as serious as being shown outside Afghanistan."

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has led calls for reluctant European countries to contribute more troops to ISAF, warning at the weekend the failure of the international force here would increase the security threat to Europe.

"On one side there is the reality in Afghanistan and on the other side, what NATO says," Azimi said at the briefing. "When NATO talk among themselves, they try to show the concerns are big.

"They have good reasons for it -- it is to attract more support from NATO members to Afghanistan," the general said, adding the aim was to secure more aid, troops and attention to help the country.

"But when we look at the realities inside Afghanistan, it is totally different to what is being raised as concerns."

Afghanistan itself was better placed than last year -- the deadliest of the insurgency -- to tackle the rebels, the spokesman said.

"At the beginning of last year we had about 30,000 troops. Now, as we speak, we have over 60,000. Last year, we did not have good equipment, weapons -- this year we do," the general said.

"Putting all these facts together, we are in a better position as we go to the battlefields this year, in 2008," Azimi said, adding though that the threats from suicide attacks and bombings remained.

Azimi accompanied Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak to a conference of NATO members in Munich last week where he said Afghanistan received renewed commitment from its Western allies.

Despite the wrangling among ISAF nations, "NATO has no dispute in their long-term commitment to Afghanistan," he said.

Related Links
News From Across The Stans



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Taliban chief urges world to end support for US: spokesman
Kandahar (AFP) Feb 11, 2008
Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar has urged the international community to distance itself from the United States' campaign in Afghanistan, a militant spokesman said Monday.







  • Google's Android debuts in Barcelona
  • Nokia says to launch touch-screen phone in late '08
  • Lenovo pitching PCs to wider French market
  • Internet changing consumer electronics world: Intel chief

  • ILS Proton Launches THOR 5 Satellite
  • Bigelow Aerospace And Lockheed Martin Converging On Terms For Launch Services
  • USAF Awards United Launch Alliance Three Delta IV Missions
  • Vandenberg Prepares For First Atlas V Launch

  • Military Aircraft To Perform Aviation Safety Research
  • Birds Bats And Insects Hold Secrets For Aerospace Engineers
  • Flapping-wing airplanes are envisioned
  • British-designed jet could reach Australia in under five hours

  • Raytheon Wins Air Force Satellite Communications Contract
  • Boeing, NG and L-3 All Developing US Navy's EPX prgram
  • Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Compatibility Of AEHF Satellite Interface With Terminals Using Extended-Data-Rate Waveform
  • Boeing Completes On-Orbit Handover Of Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite To USAF

  • World's mobile phone industry heads for Barcelona
  • 3D pen 'feels' virtual organ images
  • Kiev Radar Row Set To Inflame Tensions Part Two
  • 3D breakthrough with updatable holographic displays

  • Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Looks To Future With Leadership Changes
  • Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Names Carey VP For ISR Systems
  • NASA Selects Jaiwon Shin To Head Aeronautics Research
  • NGC Names James Culmo VP Of Airborne Early Warning And Battle Management Programs

  • Indonesia To Develop New EO Satellite
  • Russia To Launch Space Project To Monitor The Arctic In 2010
  • New Radar Satellite Technique Sheds Light On Ocean Current Dynamics
  • SPACEHAB Subsidiary Wins NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory Contract

  • Motorola Launches Mobile TV Device With Advanced Navigation Capabilities
  • Nokia And UC Berkeley Capture Real-Time Traffic Information
  • SiRFprima Multifunction Location Platform To Drive Next-Gen Mobile
  • GyPSii Brings Mobile Location Lifestyle To Dopod Users In China

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement