Massive blasts rock Kandahar at least 41 dead, 56 wounded

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | August 25, 2009 at 09:49 am

284 views | 40 Recommendations | 9 comments

Khandahr, Afghanistan's largest southern city, was rocked by five car bombs on Tuesday. The bombs were detonated simultaneously.

The blast destroyed a construction company office and several nearby buildings. At least 41 people were killed and 56 wounded.

Officials said that the blast was targeted at a Japanese Construction Company, which employs mostly Pakistani engineers.

One eyewitness described the blast as the largest he had ever seen after eight years of living in Khandahar.

Five car bombs that detonated simultaneously rocked Afghanistan's largest southern city Tuesday, destroying a construction company office and damaging dozens of nearby buildings, officials said. At least 30 people died in the blast and 56 were wounded.

The force of the explosion shattered windows around the city and sent flames shooting into the sky.

Afghan officials said the blast appeared to target a Japanese construction company that mostly employs Pakistani engineers. The blast collapsed the company headquarters and destroyed part of a nearby wedding hall.

One witness described the blast as the largest heard after almost eight years of living in Kandahar, the site of several large Taliban attacks in recent years.

The explosion killed at least 30 people and wounded 56, the governor's office said in a statement.

In other violence today, four US troops were killed in a bomb blast in Southern Afghanistan. This brings the total to 41 US troops killed this month. Last month was the deadliest so far at 43.

In other violence, a bomb blast killed four U.S. troops in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, said military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker. No other information was released pending the notification of family members.

The deaths bring to 41 the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this month, the second deadliest month in the country since the 2001 U.S. invasion. Last month a record 44 U.S. troops died.

This year has been the deadliest of the war for U.S. troops. Including the latest deaths, at least 172 American forces have died in the Afghan war this year, according to an Associated Press count.

The number of overall NATO deaths this year is a record as well: at least 292. Last year 286 died, according to the AP count.

The U.S. has more than 60,000 troops in the country.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

a211423

at 11:32 on August 25th, 2009

Japan has worked with the U.S. since 2002 on many projects and worth mentioning some of them now.

Infrastructure: 650 km roads; constructional of Kabul city; International airport terminal; provision of 115 public buses; master plan for Kabul City Development.

Education: 500 schools contructed or repaired; 10,000 teachers trained; literacy education for 300,000 adults; 50 health clinic constructed; 450 wells.

Landmines: 200 km cleared; landmine education to 1.5 million

Community projects: bridges and most recently completed canals delivering fresh water.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 12:02 on August 25th, 2009

It's a shame that someone that has contributed so much is rewarded in this way. It just goes to show that Kabul, which used to be relatively safe, is in longer so. The Taliban can strike anytime anywhere ad librum.

a211423

at 13:47 on August 25th, 2009

Most of the projects named are to improve the lives of civilians; however, I don't have the geographrical distribution of the projects. I watch the reports that rural Afghanistan is left to their own devices, and continues to be a strong hold of the Taliban because they offer jobs to the locals thereby obtaining their support. I, for one, do not believe that we can "win" militarily over the Taliban when a poor population believe they are disenfranchised by the government and will give alligence to whomever will provide the basic necessities and jobs. If we are fighting the Taliban and the local civilians it just seems like running in place.

I bring up this aspect because the international efforts are admirable and seemingly extensive. At what point does the Karsai government take responsibility for civil unrest and lack of alligence in the tribal areas.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 14:17 on August 25th, 2009

I agree with your assessment of the situation. There are a lot of projects undertaken by British and Canadian Provincial Reconstruction teams. The problem with the Karzai government that their reach doesn't extend much beyond Kabul.

General McChrystal will be asking the Obama Administration for an additional 20,000 troops. These troops will be required to provide security and to train Afghan Security Forces. Our Canadian troops report that the training for the Afghan National Army is going well. Operational Mentor Liaison Teams provide that training and accompany the ANA on operations.

Admiral Mullen, Chief of the Joint Chiefs has tried to pave the way for General McChrystal during last Sundays TV talk shows.

General McChrystal is known as a straight shooter, so we shall wait and see what he comes up with.

Rory Cripps

at 18:37 on August 25th, 2009

ACP: The Muslim terrorists ain't dumb are they? Indeed, they've got better and more reliable intel than NATO troops can ever hope for. And the reason why they've got better and more reliable intel is because they're ready, willing, and able to gather that intel no holds barred.

The U.S. and NATO troops are civilized. Yes! Oh so civilized! And anyone that's civilized doesn't have a chance in hell of winning a life and death fight. The fear of imminent and tortuous death, of your loved ones, is a powerful way to win hearts and minds. It works all the time! Oh the horror!

And the sheer and utter "civilized" and murderous stupidity of the Obama administration, when it comes to fighting the enemy. in Afghanistan, will get many American military personnel KIA.

Canada and the rest of 'em are smart to get the hell out of there and leave America holding the bag. If I had a son or daughter in the U.S. military, I'd do everything that I could to get them the hell out of there too, because their "commander in chief" doesn't know one end of a gun from the other. Obama is just going to get a lot of American military personnel killed if he keeps it up.. And he will indeed achieve a large body-bag count because the media, which just loves him to death, won't make an issue out of it. like they did with George Bush anytime someone--anyone--got killed in the mid-east . . .Vietnam all over again . . . .

Irawwan

at 18:51 on August 25th, 2009

It is time the Americans and NATO to say "for whatever we may about to receive , we are truly grateful"

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 18:52 on August 25th, 2009

Rory. The Taliban get real time intel from the local population, mainly because they're living with them. We get second hand information from some trusted sources and he UAVs we send out to gather real time changes in local areas.

Commanders on the ground can request pictures of villages that might have suspected weapon caches. It helps with Cordon and Searches. It is hard to get info on IEDs or car bombs though. Our engineers are doing an excellent job finding and dismantling them. In eight years in country many lessons have been learned.

Unlike a conventional war you don.t take real estate and clear it of enemy. Sometimes the question is, Who is the enemy?.

Do you see any paralells to Vietnam?

Rory Cripps

at 20:09 on August 25th, 2009

ACP: Yes! Real time intel. It doesn't get any more effective than that does it? To defoliate mountains is out of the question. So other than nuking the entire countryside, what does a smart military man do? It's like going after the Comanches in the southwest U.S. except there's a lot more Taliban than there were Comanches and the Taliban has weapons comparable to that of NATO troops.

In my opinion, the only chance of success, that the NATO military has in eliminating the Taliban threat, is to meet them on their ground and engage them. In other words, fight it out hand to hand if necessary. And I have no doubt that that will be necessary. Of course that will never happen . . .could you imagine the outcry from the American public and the rest of the western world when it hears reports that 5,000 NATO military personnel died within a couple of days? JEEZ!

How would you go about winning the war ACP if it were up to you?

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 22:30 on August 25th, 2009

The whole thing really boils down to resources, which of course will never be provided. To win this war would require controlling the whole countryside. That would require more troops than anyone is willing to commit. It mean neutralizing Pakistan as a source of supply and manpower replacement for the Taliban.

Secondly you would have to stand up a strong Afghan National Army. This again, requires immense resources. As long as foreign troops are seen as occupiers, the Taliban will prevail.

You may recall that about five or six years ago the Taliban used to stand a fight NATO troops. They had learned very well how to build impregnable defensive positions and could hold NATO troops easily.

NATO then introduced longer range weapons that the Taliban could not match nor defeat. They quickly adjusted and revised their tactics and still continue with hit and run attacks with IEDs and car bombs.