Posted on 07/13/2002 10:03:55 AM PDT by knighthawk
SIX Afghan governors are demanding the United States obtain their permission before conducting military operations in their provinces, one of them said - another sign of fallout after a US airstrike reportedly killed 48 civilians.
The governors also plan to organise a regional military force to hunt for Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives and to police international borders independently of the central government in Kabul, Kandahar Governor Gul Agha said.
Agha said he would inform President Bush of the requirement to obtain their permission for combat operations when he visits Washington next week.
"We have already decided the matter," Agha said.
"In the future, the Americans cannot conduct their operations without the approval of the council," meaning the six governors or their representatives.
Agha's comments followed the July 1 airstrike by a US AC-130 gunship on villages in Uruzgan province in which Afghans said 48 civilians were killed and 117 wounded.
Late yesterday, a US special forces compound came under grenade and small-arms fire near where the airstrike killed civilians, US officials said.
There were no casualties in the attack near Tarin Kot, capital of Uruzgan province, US military spokesman Colonel Roger King said yesterday. Afghan soldiers working alongside special forces returned fire after the brief attack, King added.
US officials acknowledge civilians were killed in the airstrike but said they could not confirm the casualty toll. The commander of coalition forces, Lieutenant General Dan McNeill, has ordered an inquiry.
McNeill said in an interview yesterday that coalition forces had largely routed al-Qaeda from its Afghan hideouts and that he did not expect any more large-scale battles. However, he would not say how long he expected the military campaign here to continue.
"I think the enemy we're going against is not likely to present itself in great mass numbers as we have seen in the past," McNeill said.
"I think the numbers will be smaller but they are likely to pop up in a lot more places."
President Hamid Karzai's government or the five other governors could not be reached for comment about Agha's statements. Friday is the Islamic day of prayer and government offices were closed yesterday. Agha said Karzai was aware of the plans, but he did not indicate the president's reaction.
"The Americans made a very bad mistake in Uruzgan," Agha said during an interview in a mud brick hut where he was visiting tribal elders in the desert outside Kandahar.
"But we do not want the Americans to leave until we are prepared," he said.
"The whole world knows that they are here to crush the terrorists, who are the enemies of all people."
It was unclear how the order would impact on US combat operations in the six provinces - Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Farah, Zabul and Nimroz. Afghan fighters usually accompany US special forces during operations against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
A spokesman for the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, Major Ralph Mills, said the United States will continue close cooperation with the Afghan government. However, he said the Afghans will not be allowed to control operations.
"We have coordinated with the Afghan government over and over again and will continue to do so - this doesn't really change anything," Mills said.
"However, if it's a situation of imminent danger, we are going to continue to do what we believe is right and take action appropriately."
Agha also said the six governors would establish a 500 man rapid deployment force to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban holdouts and a 3,000 man force to guard parts of the borders with Iran and Pakistan.
The units will help prepare Afghanistan for the eventual departure of 7,000 US troops and would operate largely independent of the central government in Kabul, Agha said.
Agha said he was not sure when the Afghans would be ready to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban without American help but said he may be able to make an assessment in about a month.
The moves announced by Agha appeared aimed bolstering the power of the ethnic Pashtun leadership in the south, the homeland of the ousted Taliban regime.
Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan but have complained that they are underrepresented in the Kabul government, which they consider heavily weighted toward ethnic Tajiks from the north.
The United States and its allies are trying to create an ethnically mixed national army to assume security responsibilities and help breach ethnic divisions worsened by 23 years of war. The Afghan Defence Ministry is controlled by ethnic Tajiks.
Agha said a council made up of leaders of the six provinces will also oversee intelligence sharing with US troops and work to disarm civilians in the south.
The council's first meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, but Agha said the decision to require Americans to seek approval before strikes was effective immediately.
(Wasn't supposed to be in italics - my bad.)
Then that's what we'll do. It always makes sense in war to consult with the enemy and gain their approval before attacking them.
I'm sure the liberals here and in Europe will admire 43 for this considered approach.
Yeah, right. Lotsa luck. Before you can share it, ya gotta get some first; these bozons are hopeless.
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