- “The Afghan-Canadian governor of Kandahar has ordered a crackdown on the cultivation of opium after the United Nations urged him to stop the unabated growth of poppy production in his province. Tooryalai Wesa met Sunday with his district governors and chiefs of police, ordering them to do what they can to eradicate poppy farms amid mounting concerns that more farmers will turn to the illicit but lucrative crop this year. “Poppy cultivation is prohibited in Islam and illegal in the constitution. Therefore, we are supposed to ban this cultivation,” Wesa said during the meeting at his palace in Kandahar city, according to a statement from his office. “Although poppy cultivation has been reduced in a few districts of Kandahar, it is not enough. We are supposed to bring it to zero and pave the way to award logistical support for the farmers.” ….”
- “Afghanistan’s military has taken an important step forward by orchestrating a massive military operation through the towns and fields of the Panjwaii district, Canadian commanders say. Operation Hamaghe Shay, which means “same team” in Pashto, involved close to 3,000 troops including about 1,300 Canadians primarily serving in a support role. Largely planned by Afghan commanders, the goal was to scour huge swaths of territory across southwestern Afghanistan for hidden caches of weapons left behind by insurgents. Though the Canadian military declined to provide specific numbers, several stockpiles of guns, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets and components for making improvised explosive devices were seized over the four-day campaign. But beyond those basic objectives, Hamaghe Shay was also viewed as a key test of the Afghans’ planning and logistics skills, an area that has been pinpointed as a significant weakness in the force ….”
- Taliban Propaganda Watch: Attacks alleged in Kandahar, Uruzgan
- Who keeps Canada’s Northern Warning System going? “As Mitzi Wall says goodbye to two of her staff at Cambridge Bay’s North Warning System radar site, tears well up in her eyes as she prepares for her bittersweet departure on Feb. 20. In three days she’ll leave for Goose Bay, Labrador, her home. When her break finishes in mid-March, she’ll head out to a new posting: the NWS radar site at Hall Beach. For the past three years, Wall, as site manager, has spent shifts lasting six weeks or longer on site. She spent Christmas of 2009 there, making personalized stockings for her co-workers and filling them with toys and treats. On the morning of St. Valentine’s Day this year, everyone arose to find chocolates outside their door. “It’s a life that’s hard to get out of,” Wall says of the eight years she’s spent rotating among radar sites, including three years at Cambridge Bay ….”
MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 21 Feb 11
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