Panetta, Allen to reassure NATO on insider attacks

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO defense leaders gathering here Tuesday are committed to the war in Afghanistan, according to U.S. and alliance officials, but there are growing signs that the Afghan political and military hostilities are starting to wear on the coalition.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other U.S. officials heading into the meetings say they expect to reassure allies that military commanders are doing all they can to stem the tide of insider attacks, in which Afghan troops or insurgents dressed in their uniforms turn their guns on the coalition forces that are training them.
Compounding those military threats, however, is a recent spike in political tensions between Afghanistan's government leaders and the U.S.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai complained that the war effort is wrongheaded, and that coalition forces are not fighting the right enemy.


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NATO Official: Slow Progress on Missile Defense Cooperation with Russia

BRUSSELS — NATO’s deputy secretary general, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, admitted Thursday at a Security and Defence Agenda event at the European Parliament that “not much progress” had been made in terms of cooperating with Russia on missile defense.
He said that Russian objections to the missile defense system are not grounded on facts, but cooperation “could be a game changer in relations with Russia.”
“We will continue to seek closer cooperation with Russia,” he said. However, he warned that, “irrespective of progress, we will push ahead with missile defense capability as planned.”
Bob Bell, who is the defense adviser to the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said that as of May, the system has what he called “operationally significant capability,” meaning it is in place and can function, but is short of “initial operating capability,” which means it can actually be deployed.

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NATO Reduced Joint Petrol With Afghan Forces

NATO scales back operations with Afghan forces after insider attacks, protests

 

Ahmad Jamshid/Associated Press - Afghan police stand by burning tires during a protest, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. Hundreds of Afghans burned cars and threw rocks at a U.S. military base as a demonstration against an anti-Islam video.

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO said Monday that it has scaled back operations with Afghan soldiers and policemen to lower the risk of insider attacks and reduce local tensions over an anti-Islam video that prompted protests in Afghanistan.
It’s the second order that curbs contact between foreign troops and their Afghan partners, undermining the mantra that both sides are fighting the Taliban “shoulder to shoulder.” The directive could jeopardize the U.S.-led coalition’s key goal to get Afghan forces ready to take over security from foreign forces by the end of 2014 — just 27 months from now.

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Teen Suicid Bomber New Chalange for NATO

Teen suicide bomber kills six near NATO HQ in Kabul: officials

Afghan security forces sealed off the bomb site in front of NATO headquarters and close to the Italian embassy. (Reuters)

A suicide teenage suicide bomber detonated explosives near the heavily barricaded NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday, killing six people, including child hawkers, as Afghanistan marked a public holiday, officials said.

The bomber, who was riding an explosives-laden motorcycle, blew himself up near the entrance of Camp Eggers, a NATO spokeswoman said, referring to a sprawling base that is home to 2,500 coalition trainers.

At least four civilians were killed and two more wounded, Kabul Police Chief Ayoub Salangi told Reuters.

The attack took place as government dignitaries assembled in Kabul to commemorate 11 years since the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud, an iconic anti-Taliban commander two days before Sept. 11.

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