Taliban seizes half of Kunduz – residents flee in panic

Taliban insurgents seized half of Kunduz, an Afghan provincial capital, and locals fled in panic as the hardline Islamists breached, for the first time, a major city since being ousted from power in 2001. They hoisted their flag over the main square and freed prisoners from the local jail apart from setting on fire to the headquarters of the local intelligence agency.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 28 September 2015.

This incursion of the Taliban into Kunduz barely nine months after the NATO combat mission ended comes as a major psychological blow to the country`s Western-trained security forces. As admitted by the Kunduz police - half the city has fallen into the hands of Taliban insurgents. And, the local forces had yet to receive promised reinforcements from Kabul.
Incidentally, this was the Taliban’s third attempt this year to breach the city and, it coincides with the first anniversary of President Ashraf Ghani`s national unity government in power. Most of the NATO troops had left by the end of 2014 and a residual force of around 13,000 remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.
Obviously, Afghanistan is on its own and has to fend for itself.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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SAS hit squad on its way to Iraq to hunt down and eliminate ISIS leaders

Since the ISIS militants have become knowledge on how to avoid airstrikes, a decision has been taken to dispatch nearly 60 SAS fighters to Iraq to hunt down and eliminate Islamic State leaders – one of the primary targets is believed to be Jihadi John, the Briton who is supposed to have killed British and American hostages in a series of gruesome executions.
The SAS squadron from Hereford was supposed to travel to Afghanistan to hunt Taliban leaders but have been ordered to proceed to Iraq and turn their attentions on ISIS.
As indicated by a senior Whitehall source, some good early progress had been made against IS but they know how to avoid the jets now and, the only to defeat them is to get up close to them on the ground. Moreover, while hunting for top Islamic State leaders on the ground, they will also help to pinpoint targets for air strikes.
This revelation has come a month after it had been revealed in the media of how SAS troops with sniper rifles and heavy machine guns had killed hundreds of Islamic State extremists in a series of deadly quad-bike ambushes inside Iraq. It seems soldiers from this elite fighting unit had eliminated ‘up to eight terrorists per day’ in the daring raids, carried out during the past four weeks. The method was to airdrop small groups of soldiers into IS territory in RAF Chinook helicopters so that they could take on the enemy. The targets used to be identified by drones operated either from an SAS base or by the soldiers themselves on the ground using smaller devices.

Afghanistan looks to pomegranates to revive its economy

Kandahar is a province in Afghanistan that is more associated with the Taliban than its famous pomegranates and it is now that harvest time is coming to an end for these fruits. These fruits are usually packed in boxes or jute sacks and sent to markets and warehouses in Pakistan and the Middle East.
This is a key produce for the country and it needs to reach more profitable destinations in Europe and other places so that the export could improve the economy of Afghanistan.
Right now, delegates have gathered in London for a conference on Afghanistan and, the prospects for reducing the reliance on foreign aid are increasingly focused on two sectors of the economy: agriculture and hydrocarbons.
In this conference, already a beginning seems to have been made by Pomegreat Juice Company that buys quality pomegranate concentrate from all over the world. It has set its sights on Afghanistan. In the London Conference on Afghanistan, Mr Pritchard of the Pomegreat Juice Company has reportedly signed a multimillion pound supply agreement with the Kabul-based Omaid Bahar Fruit Processing Company to buy 1,000 tonnes of pomegranate concentrate.
It could prove a blueprint for Afghan agriculture in the years to come if all goes to plan and be a step towards good days to come.
However, Najlla Habibiyar, the head of Afghanistan's Export Promotion Agency, has her doubts. She is aware of the extent of challenge that would be faced by Mr Pritchard and his Afghan partners because it is tough for Afghan farmers to make a living from pomegranates. Poppy (from which opium is made) is a better option. Pomegranates need "work, time and a good market", the poppies pose no such problem – the poppy farmers know that they will always get paid, even if their crops get eradicated.
Of course, pomegranate production is also on the rise but, there is a difference – the poppy farmers can expect the buyers to come to them while the pomegranate growers could face huge obstacles to get their fruits to the market.

Suicide car attack in Kabul by the Taliban kills one Briton

In a suicide car attack by the Taliban in Kabul on a British embassy vehicle, one Briton has been killed - he was one of the five who died in the attack. An Afghan national who was working for the embassy was also killed. This has been disclosed by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
In addition, 33 others, most of them Afghan bystanders, suffered injuries when the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed car into the embassy’s four-wheel-drive. The injured are believed to include another Briton, a member of the security team, and five children.
According to a spokesman of the British embassy, the vehicle was not carrying British diplomats. The Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack – it has said that it "targeted foreign invading forces" and boasted that the attack has killed many foreigners.
The attack took place in eastern Kabul near the Green Village international zone and the blast had blown the roof of the 4X4 vehicle and destroyed at least four nearby cars.
The attacker was travelling in a Toyota Corolla car and has, since, been identified as an Afghan national. Reports are there of another large blast followed by gunfire in the central district of Wazir Akbar Khan – this locality is occupied by several embassies and foreign compounds. Details of fatalities are not known.
Incidentally, the majority of NATO troops positioned in Afghanistan would leave by the end of 2014 ahead of the official end of their combat role. The last of the British troops have already left in October after 13 years fighting the Taliban.
Obviously, the Afghan government would now have a difficult time to combat the threat of the Taliban and ensure, on their own, the safety of their citizens.