US to target 'Afghan drug lords'

SOURCE-BBC
The US has put 50 Afghans suspected to be drug traffickers with Taliban links on a list of people to be "captured or killed", the New York Times reports.Two American generals have told the US Congress that the policy is legal under the military's rules of engagement and international law, the paper says. In a report, yet to be released, it was described as a key strategy to disrupt the flow of drug money to the Taliban. The move is a major shift in America's counter-narcotics drive in Afghanistan.

In interviews with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is due to release the report later this week, two American generals serving in Afghanistan said that major traffickers with proven links to the insurgency have been put on the "joint integrated prioritised target list", the New York Times reported. That means they have been given the same target status as insurgent leaders, and can be captured or killed at any time.

It quoted one of the generals as telling the committee: "We have a list of 367 'kill or capture' targets, including 50 nexus targets who link drugs and the insurgency." The generals were not identified in the Senate report, the paper said.

Poppy destruction

For many years, US policy in Afghanistan had focused on destroying poppy crops. But in March Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to the region, said that US efforts to eradicate opium poppy crops in Afghanistan have been "wasteful and ineffective".

He said efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation had failed to make an impact on the Taliban insurgents' ability to raise money from the drugs trade. The southern Afghan province of Helmand is the main producer of Afghan opium, which accounts for more than 90% of the global supply.

1,000 US Marine to be deployed at American Embassy in Islamabad

US Marines numbering 1,000 will be deployed at American Embassy in Islamabad under massive expansion work which is nearing completion.Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit Khan has said that 1,000 US Marines will be coming to Pakistan to be deployed at US Mission.He said that there was no restriction on the number of personnel that a foreign mission could station at its mission but it is done through mutual understanding.
The FO Spokesman stated on Wednesday while replying to a query relating to increase in the strength of the US personnel at Islamabad’s mission, The Nation reported.
A former Pakistan diplomat had objected to the US plans to have a bigger presence in Pakistan in the pursuit of its strategic interests in the region.
Former Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed Khan said that it is evident that America wants to remote control the region from Islamabad. According to an estimate, Washington is planning to spend a whopping one billion dollars for revamping its main embassy building in Islamabad and increase the strength of its staff.
The Obama Administration is about to spend 405 million dollars for the reconstruction and refurbishment of the main embassy building and 111 million dollars for constructing a new complex for 330 personnel. A further 197 million dollars would be spent for construction of a housing unit for about 250 personnel.

Not only this, the United States is also planning to give its consular buildings in Lahore and Peshawar a new look.Experts believe that this is a clear cut strategy of the US to augment its presence and establish control over the region

Pakistani Taliban commander to give up violence

TIMERGARA: Maulana Shahid alias Qari Shahid, a key commander of Miadan Taliban, announced on Tuesday that his group would lay down arms, leave the area and start a new life.
Talking to local journalists by phone from an undisclosed location, Qari Shahid, tehsil amir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, said that he was leaving the violence-hit area of Maidan along with his comrades. He didn’t disclose the number of Taliban under his command.
He said that Taliban leadership had promised the former Malakand commissioner Syed Mohammad Javid that they would not fight against government.
‘Security forces violated the peace deal and started sending troops to Maidan in April this year. The targeted local Taliban and in response they (Taliban) decided to fight only a defensive war,’ Qari Shahid alleged.
He said that Maidan Taliban didn’t want to fight against the state army. ‘I have tried my best to save Maidan from becoming a battlefield but I failed,’ he added.
To a query, he refused to tell about his destination and said he would continue jihad only against the infidels not the countrymen. To another question, he said that he was responsible only for himself and could do nothing about the rest of Taliban fighters in Maidan.
‘I have decided in my own capacity and some of my comrades accompany me,’ he added.
Qari Shahid, who led Taliban in Maidan for more than two years, was believed to have offered surrender to the government during the present military operation however the authorities concerned had turned down his offer