Phebe notes

The Taliban in Afghanistan’s once impregnable Panjshir Valley

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:09:05 -0400

Last month driving up Afghanistan’s magnificent Panjshir valley, you couldn’t help thinking if the resurgent Taliban would ever be able to break its defences, both natural and from the Tajik-dominated populace. With its jagged cliffs and plunging valleys, Panjshir has been largely out of bounds for the Taliban, whether during the civil war or in the past 10 years when it has expanded a deadly insurgency against western and Afghan forces across the country. But on Saturday, the insurgents struck, carrying out a suicide bombing at a provincial reconstruction team base housing U.S. and Afghan troops and officials. They were halted outside the base, but according to the provincial deputy governor they succeeded in killing two civilians and wounding two guards when they detonated their explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the first suicide bombing in a decade was a message to Western forces that they were not secure anywhere in the country. They said the bombers came from within Panjshir, which if true would worry people even more because that would suggest the penetration was deeper and there could be more attacks. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio wrote that the bombing was a propaganda coup for the Taliban. Panjshir is the home of the legendary Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud who was assassinated by two days before the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. Under Massoud’s leadership the Panjshir Valley held out against not only against the Taliban, but famously the Soviet before them. All along the drive by the side of the rushing Panjshir river on way to Massoud’s hilltop mausoleum, the relics of the war against the Russians have been preserved : rusted tanks on roadsides and an overturned armoured personnel carrier in the river. There were giant Massoud posters everywhere and because it was the anniversary of his assassination at the hands of a pair of men who pretended to be journalists, the ceremonial gates to the valley were draped in black. And yet there were concerns even then . Security was tight at each of the gates on the narrow and winding highway through the tall mountains, and the Afghan police who stood guard said if Panjshir had been spared the kind of attacks the Taliban had mounted in the rest of Afghanistan, it wasn’t for lack of trying . They had already carried out attacks in neighbouring Nuristan province and according to a local Afghan police commander responsible for security at one of the checkpoints, American helicopters had been spotted in the area a few days before the anniversary, firing rockets over a hilltop. It wasn’t clear who they were targeting, the commander said. Even the proud Panjshiris were worrying about the expanding Taliban influence, especially concerned at the time about government attempts to seek reconciliation with them. One Afghan elder who lost his son in the war against Russians said his village was fully armed to fight the Taliban. There was no way they were going to accept the Taliban in the Panjshir, he told me. Another local who ran an eating house by the side of the river said he was worried about the growing number of outsiders in the valley. Many, including a group of people from the southern Kandahar province we met at Massoud’s mausoleum, said they were visiting the area attracted by its cooler climes. But there were also others, including a militia commander surrounded by gun-toting guards who swept up to the restaurant the day we were visiting in a cavalcade of vehicles and demanded food. Those were the ones that worried the owner Jamaal Mohammed the most.

Seattle's superhero vigilante has his day in court

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:53:44 -0400

The onetime mixed-martial-arts competitor whose real name is Benjamin Fodor was arrested on Sunday after police said he pepper-sprayed a group of innocent nightclub patrons he believed were involved in a street brawl downtown.He was jailed briefly on suspicion of four misdemeanor counts of assault and released on $3,800 bail.He showed up for a brief hearing on Thursday in Seattle Municipal Court wearing a pinstriped shirt and his black-and-yellow mask, which he removed at the request of a court officer. He donned it again as he left the courtroom.Fodor, with his hooded mask and a molded black-and-yellow suit of body armor, has become something of a local celebrity since he began patrolling downtown Seattle streets about a year ago to break up fights and alert police to other petty crimes.In addition to pepper spray, he is known to carry a stun gun and a cell phone on his late-night rounds. He also attends charity events on request.Prosecutors said they have not filed charges against Fodor but that he remains under investigation, and a case could be brought against him at a later time.Fodor said he felt confident that a 13-minute video of Sunday’s altercation, taken by a member of his entourage, proved him innocent of wrongdoing.Police said Fodor assaulted a group of men and women as they were leaving a nightclub early on Sunday morning “dancing and having a good time” in the street.The video, which was posted on the Internet, showed Fodor being alerted to what he believed to be a “huge fight,” then rushing on foot toward a crowd yelling “call 911” and wading into the group with a can of pepper spray.Some in the crowd angrily fought back, with one woman screaming and beating Fodor with her shoes before police finally arrived on the scene.Fodor and his supporters were initially angry that his real identity was exposed by media reports after his arrest.But flanked by his attorneys and speaking with reporters outside the King County Jail on Thursday, he dramatically removed the mask and confirmed his real identity.”I’m Phoenix Jones. I’m also Ben Fodor. I also protect the city, I also am a father, I also am a brother. I’m just like everyone else,” he said. “The only difference is that I decided to make a difference and stop crime in my neighborhood and my area. I intend to keep making that difference. The charges were false.”He left his pinstriped shirt behind on a sidewalk, striding off in his mask and a faded black rubber shirt he uses as a back-up costume, saying police still have his main costume.Fodor said he planned to resume his vigilante work immediately, and called on Seattle citizens to join him downtown on Saturday night.

UPDATE 1-Nighthawk plans fundraising for Jolly Ranch revamp

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:02:28 -0400

* Shares down 7 pctOct 14 (Reuters) - U.S.-focused oil explorer Nighthawk Energy , whose efforts to buy the Jolly Ranch project in Colorado were dampened by weak market conditions, said it would raise money through a share sale to fund a new work programme there.Nighthawk, which was in talks to buy out operator and 50-percent stakeholder Running Foxes Petroleum’s stake in the project, now plans to raise 5 million euros ($6.9 million) through a placing and open offer to finance the work programme.”The current overall market conditions have determined that the acquisition cannot be executed,” the company said in a statement on Friday.”The company is proposing to push ahead with the first steps in the new work programme, undertaking improvements to existing wells and drilling a number of new wells, commencing in early 2012.”In April, the explorer said a study conducted at its Jolly Ranch project in Colorado estimated probable and proved reserves (2P) of 55,000 barrels of oil, which was lower than what investors had hoped for.Last year, Nighthawk had said it would abandon its other projects and concentrate solely on the Jolly Ranch project, one of the initiatives that Chief Executive Tim Heeley started after taking over.Nighthawk’s shares, which have lost more than a quarter of their value over the past month, were down 7 percent at 3.1 pence at 0724 GMT on Friday on the London Stock Exchange.