An exploded NATO vehicle.
08/07/2010 Three Billion dollars is the worth of US equipment aimed at reducing the risk of Taliban-made crude bombs in Afghanistan.
These bombs or what called IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) have become the main weapon used against NATO and US occupation forces in Afghanistan.
The equipment was "at least doubling" current counter-IED capacity as forces did not have all they needed to take on an escalating threat, said Ashton Carter, US undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The new equipment, including tethered surveillance blimps, heavily armored vehicles and detection machinery such as robots and mine detectors, would arrive in Afghanistan in coming months, he told reporters.
Carter said the equipment would be accompanied by about 1,000 counter-IED experts, including laboratory technicians, intelligence analysts and law enforcement officials.
"This is an enormous plug of extra effort," he said, adding that the equipment would be shared with coalition occupation soldiers and Afghan forces.
IED s are the main threat for occupation troops in the war-torn country. A June UN report marked an "alarming" 94 percent increase in IED incidents in the first four months of this year compared to 2009, as the military says intensifying efforts against the Taliban are being matched by more attacks.
June saw more than 102 foreign troops deaths, a monthly record since the 2001 US-led invasion.
08/07/2010 Two NATO occupation soldiers were killed Thursday in separate attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan, the military alliance said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not give details but an official working for the US military in the eastern province of Kunar told AFP that a US soldier had died in a militant rocket attack on a base.
The soldier was killed when a rocket fired by Taliban-linked militants landed in an outpost occupied by US forces in the province's Asmar district, a restive region on the Pakistani border, the official said.
The other casualty was caused by an improvised bomb attack in southern Afghanistan, an ISAF statement said.
The new deaths took to 341 the number of foreign occupation troops killed in Afghanistan this year so far.
June accounted for 102 of the deaths, making it the deadliest month for the forces since its deployment in 2001.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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