Afghans, US say deal reached on night raids
abercrombie outlet KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan government and the U.S. say they have reached a deal governing controversial night raids by American forces — resolving an issue that had long seemed intractable and which had threatened to derail a larger pact governing U.S. forces in the country for decades to come.The memorandum of understanding on "Afghanization of special operations on Afghan soil" will be signed later Sunday by Kabul's Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak and the commander of U.S. forces, Gen. John Allen, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan confirmed that the agreement would be signed Wednesday but declined to go into details."The document will formalize a lot of what we've already been doing as far as special operations," said Col. Gary Kolb. "All the special operations will adhere to the Afghan constitution and comply with Afghan law."The agreement would be a key step toward finalizing a long-term partnership to govern U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the majority of combat forces leave in 2014. The long-term pact is seen as important for assuring the Afghan people that they will not be abandoned by their international allies."It opens the way for the signing of the strategic partnership agreement which we hope our two presidents will be able to sign in the near future," said Janan Mosazai, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. Both U.S. and Afghan officials have said that they expect to sign the full partnership deal in time for a NATO summit in Chicago in May. The issue over the conduct of night raids had been a major sticking point.
abercrombie outlet online Night raids have been a constant source of tension between the Afghan government and U.S. military. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called previously for all international night raids to cease, saying that they are provocative when carried out by foreign troops. The U.S. military has said such operations are key to capturing Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.More than 97 percent of night operations are combined operations involving Afghan forces and almost 40 percent of night operations are now Afghan-led, according to the Pentagon. Also, 89 percent of night operations occur without a shot fired and fewer than 1 percent result in civilian casualties, the Pentagon says.However, it's unclear whether Afghan forces have had much authority even in operations that are nominally "Afghan-led." Sometimes this designation means only that an Afghan soldier is the first one through the door, or that officials have given a rubber-stamp to the mission just as it starts.Under the agreement, all "special operations" will have to be reviewed and approved by a panel pulled from the Afghan military, government and intelligence services, according to an Afghan official familiar with the agreement. The official said "special operation" could mean any "unconventional" operation, but not ordinary patrols or conventional pushes to take territory.These decisions will be made in consultation with U.S. forces taking into consideration intelligence gathered by the U.S. military, the official said, but it was unclear if the Americans would also have a member on the panel or a say in the final decision.
abercrombie sale The official spoke anonymously to discuss the agreement before it was signed.The night raids deal follows an earlier memorandum signed on the transfer of authority over detentions to the Afghans — another issue that had threatened to derail the strategic partnership talks.The detention pact sets forth a timetable to give Afghans operational control of facilities used to hold Afghan detainees, but leaves decisions on who to release to a panel that includes American military officials that must come to a consensus before any detainee is let go — essentially giving the Americans the ability to veto any release.There may be similar fine print in the night raid deal that would allow U.S. forces to maintain a significant level of authority.It's unclear if a higher level of Afghan authority will actually mean that the targets of raids will be treated more humanely. There have been instances of villagers complaining that when Afghan forces conduct raids they also loot houses. Also, the U.S. military stopped transferring detainees to a number of Afghan prisons after the U.N. discovered evidence of torture at the facilities... BEIRUT (AP) — Syria demanded "written guarantees" Sunday that its opponents will lay down their weapons before the government withdraws troops from cities, derailing a U.N.-brokered truce that was supposed to start in two days.
cheap abercrombie clothes In a statement Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said reports that Damascus would pull back its troops by Tuesday were "wrong." He said that U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan has failed so far to submit to the Syrian government "written guarantees regarding the acceptance of armed terrorist groups to halt violence with all its forms and their readiness to lay down weapons."Annan said last week that Syrian President Bashar Assad had accepted a deal calling for government forces to withdraw from population centers Tuesday, to be followed by a full cease-fire by both sides by 6 a.m. Thursday.The truce was meant to pave the way for negotiations between the government and the opposition to end the country's year-old crisis, which the U.N. estimates has killed 9,000 people. Street protests against Assad erupted 13 months ago, inspired by the Arab Spring's pro-democracy uprisings in the region, but the revolt has turned violent in the face of a brutal regime crackdown.Makdessi said that Syria will not allow a repeat of what had happened during the Arab League's observer mission in Syria in January, when the regime pulled back its armed forces from cities and their surroundings, only to see rebels flood the areas vacated by government troops."Armed terrorist groups used this to rearm its elements and spread its authority on entire districts," Makdessi said.
abercrombie uk Damascus-based activist Maath al-Shami said he is not surprised by the latest government stance because "whenever the regime pulls out its troops and tanks, people will march to Damascus and topple the regime. Frankly speaking, the regime will collapse if checkpoints are removed."Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, did not immediately return calls for comment.On Thursday, a U.N. statement raised the possibility of "further steps" if Syria doesn't implement the six-point peace plan outlined by Annan, which Assad agreed to on March 25. The statement called on all parties, including the opposition, to stop armed violence in all forms in 48 hours after the Syrian government fully fulfills the measures.With the deadline looming, Syrian troops on Sunday pounded restive regions in the north and center of the country a day after activists said more than 100 people were killed across Syria.Some of the heaviest fighting Sunday was taking place in the central city of Homs, where government troops fired mortar rounds at the rebel-held neighborhood of Khaldiyeh, said activist Tarek Badrakhan from Homs."Mortar rounds are falling like rain," Badrakhan told The Associated Press via Skype as explosions could be heard in the background. He said troops were attacking on three fronts the rebel-held areas Deir Baalbeh, Khaldiyeh and Old Homs.
abercrombie fitch Badrakhan added that regime forces and army defectors were clashing in the Deir Baalbeh neighborhood, which Assad's forces have been trying to storm for days.An amateur video posted online Sunday showed what it said were shells hitting a residential area in Homs' neighborhood of Qusour as thick smoke billowed from the area."They are giving the regime permission to kill and commit massacres," said Badrakhan referring to the cease-fire. He added that people have not been able to bury the dead in Khaldiyeh because of the shelling. He said that 40 bodies are piled in a room in a makeshift hospital, and that activists are trying to keep the bodies cold by directing a fan toward them so that they won't decompose quickly."We might have to bury them in public gardens," he said.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said intense clashes occurred in Homs' Qusour, where defectors were able to kill four government soldiers and damage an armored vehicle.In the northwest, the Observatory said dozens of army vehicles are taking part in an attack near the town of Jisr al-Shughour. It said explosions were heard in the area Sunday morning as military helicopters flew over the targeted areas. The group also reported clashes between troops and defectors in several towns in the northern province of Aleppo.Activists also reported raids in the Damascus suburbs of Darya, Douma and Beit Jin. Activist Mohammad Saeed in Douma said troops were conducting raids in the area, opening fire in the streets and breaking into homes where they detained young men.
