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NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
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June 28, 2004
Release Number: 04-06-52
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND AFGHANISTAN STATEMENT
KABUL, Afghanistan, June 28, 2004 – The Coalition condemns the bombing of the Joint Electoral Management Body bus near Jalalabad on Saturday that senselessly killed two women and wounded fourteen additional people.
The coalition evacuated those needing hospitalization to the hospital at Bagram Air Field. This attack on Afghan women working to build a democracy for Afghanistan will not stop registration in the greater Afghanistan.
Over 4.5 million Afghans have registered to vote. The region attacked is second only to the Kabul region in voter registration, with close to 600,000 registered voters, 35 percent of whom are women. The men and women of Afghanistan will not be denied their right to vote.
Soldiers of the Afghan National Army deployed to Ghor province in central Afghanistan on June 24 to resolve a dispute there between rival military forces. The ANA battalion, approximately 200-strong, along with their embedded U.S. trainers, arrived in the provincial capital city of Chaghcharan to the cheers of the residents.
As with deployments of ANA troops to Maimana and Herat earlier this year, the ANA soldiers were able to re-assert the authority of the national government peacefully. The commander of the force deployed to Ghor province, ANA General Aminullah Paktiyanai, explained that his mission was "to ensure peace and bring about security" in the capital and his troops had the resources to prevent any further fighting. The general further stated: "War against the Afghan National Army is war against the Afghan nation as well as against the United Nations."
The Kabul Military Hospital has upgraded the medical care it provides to its patients, thanks to a multi-million dollar donation of modern equipment by the United States.
The 400-bed hospital, also known as the Chahar Sad Bastari Hospital, received 400 new beds, carts, intravenous (IV) stands, x-ray machines, film processors, six new anesthesia machines, an ultra sound machine, defibrillator, and patient monitors. Medical specialists from the United States, Turkey and Denmark are training the Afghan hospital staff on these new items of equipment.
An interesting note is that among the staffers at the hospital are a number of medical specialists who have either transferred from the Afghan Militia Force to the Afghan National Army or who have applied to do so.
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June 28, 2004
Release Number: 04-06-53
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND RELEASE
BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN – Coalition Special Operations Forces raided two anti-coalition compounds and captured two top enemy leaders in missions conducted pre-dawn Saturday in southern Afghanistan.
During the mission, the enemy regional leaders surrendered as Coalition SOF surprised the insurgents. Captured are Abdul Hafiz Majid and Mohammed Daud, who are both Taliban leaders.
We have evidence indicating that they were supplying arms to insurgents, conducting rocket attacks on military, attacking non-governmental aid organizations helping Afghanistan build a national infrastructure, funding ambushes and trafficking opium.
One goal of the Coalition is to rid this country of insurgents or anti-coalition forces by capturing or killing them and denying them sanctuary, said Coalition SOF officials.
In the past year in areas where anti-coalition forces have been removed, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-A spent almost $1.5 million dollars to build schools, wells, clinics, roads and mosques in the past 10 months to improve the quality of life for Afghans looking to the future.
More than 1,000 Afghan patients receive weekly medical care from Coalition SOF medics and attached SOF personnel, including Civil Affairs doctors and physician assistants, based in remote village areas in Afghanistan.
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040653.txt
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