Afghanistan

April 30, 2007 -- The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Cpl. Jeremy R. Greene, 24, of Springfield, Ohio, died Apr. 28 at Forward Operating Base Tillman, Afghanistan, due to injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. His death is under investigation.

Greene was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

Source: DoD

5/1/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, in Afghanistan in the following operations April 30, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire missile at five insurgents observed to be carrying weapons during a raid near Gereshk. The missile successfully hit the targets, according to a joint attack terminal controller.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2007 – A Multinational Corps Iraq soldier died April 24 in a non-combat-related incident, military officials reported, and the Defense Department has identified 13 servicemembers killed while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan in recent days.

The Multinational Corps Iraq soldier’s name and home unit are being withheld pending next-of-kin notification, and the incident is under investigation, officials said.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department has identified the following servicemembers who were killed in action in recent days:    » read more »

4/26/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan in the following operations April 25, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.    » read more »

4/25/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan in the following operations April 24, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer provided overwatch for a coalition convoy near Qarah Bagh. No attacks were reported after the B-1B's arrival.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007 – The United States has a “five-pillar” plan to counter the Afghan narcotics industry, which supplies about 93 percent of the world’s opium and has a virtual monopoly over the global heroin market, a top Defense Department official said here today.

“The five pillars are public information, alternative livelihoods, eradication, interdiction and justice reform,” Richard J. Douglas, deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics, counterproliferation and global threats, told reporters at the Pentagon.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007 – Extended overseas deployments affecting soldiers serving in Afghanistan and other locales overseen by U.S. Central Command should help to alleviate the stress on the Army, a senior U.S. officer in Afghanistan told Pentagon reporters today.

“I’m absolutely confident that that’s going to work and that’ll manage the pressure and the stress on the force,” Army Col. Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, said during a satellite-carried news conference.    » read more »

4/24/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan in the following operations April 23, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer provided a show of force, releasing multiple flares, for coalition forces receiving small-arms fire near Asmar.

Another B-1B conducted a show of force for an Afghan National Army unit near Asadabad. An on-scene joint terminal attack controller reported them as successful.    » read more »

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, April 22, 2007 – Extensions, training and congressional support topped the list of topics discussed at a town hall meeting here yesterday with Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pace and his senior enlisted advisor, Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, addressed servicemembers from all service branches and answered questions as part of a visit to the air base.    » read more »

4/23/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNEWS) -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan in the following operations April 22, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped guided bomb unit-38s on four cave entrances used by insurgents near Asadabad. A joint terminal attack controller on scene observed good hits on all of the caves entrances.    » read more »

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have deemed the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan eligible for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative based on a preliminary assessment.

To start benefiting from debt relief at the HIPC decision point, Afghanistan will need to take the following actions:

* continue the satisfactory performance under the program supported by the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility;
* work toward regularizing its relations with creditors; and    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2007 – The recent security crackdown in Baghdad has not pushed violence into other parts of Iraq, despite various “high-profile attacks” that might indicate the opposite, a senior U.S. military officer said here today.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2007 – The illicit, but lucrative, opium trade is helping to finance Taliban operations while placing a stranglehold on Afghanistan’s economy, the commander of U.S. Central Command testified during a Congressional hearing yesterday.

In fact, some military analysts credit the recent relative lull in Taliban activity to their participation in the annual opium harvest that’s under way now in Afghanistan, Navy Adm. William J. Fallon told House Armed Services Committee members.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 – NATO needs to provide more forces to assist in ongoing security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Central Command said during his testimony at a Congressional hearing today.

Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, has asked NATO headquarters for more troops, Navy Adm. William J. Fallon told House Armed Services Committee members. McNeill took command of more than 30,000 NATO and U.S. troops in early February.    » read more »

April 09, 2007 -- The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Conor G. Masterson, 21, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., died April 7 in Eastern Afghanistan of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Masterson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Hohenfels, Germany.

Source: DoD