U.S. steps up just as Poland hopes to pull-out

Polish troops marching. Photo by Getty Images.

Today, Polish troops in Afghanistan received back up in the form of 1,000 U.S troops.

Poland scrambles for a definitive timeline to pull out of Afghanistan. Polish forces have occupied the eastern province of Ghazni since 2003, when  NATO troops took control of ISAF ( International Security Assistance Force, a UN Security Council operation.

Until Today, Polish troops were struggling to keep a grasp on the Taliban-controlled province, notorious for it’s level of violence.

Troops in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Photo by Honolulu Advertiser.com

In a brief article published by the Warsaw Voice, American troops will now take over operations in the regions most dangerous areas in the east.


Maxed out at 2,600 troops in Afghanistan, Poland will switch its focus to the country’s main highway, which runs through Ghazni.

As of Monday talks of troop retraction from Afghanistan was mainly based on the instability and lack of progress made in the Ghazni region.

Taliban has taken control of many of Ghazni’s districts. Along with the Taliban, Polish troops are also dealing with an ethnic Pashtun majority, who tend to be more violent.

Map of Afghanistan including Ghazni region.

Since 2001, Poland has spend over $ 1.5 million on its military presence and $5 million on development projects within the region.

According to the BBC, Poland’s next agenda item will be training the “nearly 8,000 afghan personnel to ensure peace in Ghazni”. So far, only about half of that 8,000 have been trained.

Col Lukasiewicz, a former Polish defense attaché, makes several claims as to the present state and future of Afghanistan.

"Our withdrawal would be decided by our performance rather than a date."

Experts have criticized that performance as being too focused on military accomplishments, and not focused enough on development.

As recent as June 2010, Poland issued an official plea for its NATO allies to come up with a timeline to pullout of Afghanistan with senior officials saying that NATO was facing a “ strategic catastrophe” in Afghanistan.

 Polish Troops in Ghazni Receive US Backup
Poland sets 2012 Afghan pull-out deadline
Poland's Afghan Conundrum

Police raids following travel advisory warnings

Police stand guard in front of the Eiffel Tower. Photo by Reuters.

French police have arrested a total of 12 suspects this week; 9 arrests are the result of a raid on Tuesday in Marseille and Avignon.

Officials have not confirmed whether these arrests are connected to the travel warning issued by the U.S. over the weekend.

The travel advisory issued by the State Department and later by other European countries claims that a Mumbai-style shooting attack is possible in major European cities.

Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel, a popular hotel for tourists, set ablaze during the 2008 attacks.

The November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India involved 10 militants from Al-Qaeda-linked Lashkar-e-Taiba. They targeted areas with a large number of tourists like the Taj Mahal Hotel and Leopold Café, killing 166.

So far,  the U.S., U.K., Japan and Sweden have updated travel warnings, and have asked travelers to keep and eye out for and report any suspicious activity.

Police report seizing "some weapons, including a Kalashnikov (rifle) and a pump-action shotgun, as well as ammunition" in one of the Tuesday ant-terror raids.

The other three arrests occurred after the suspects’ cell phone numbers were linked to Ryad Hannouni, a man already under arrested in Naples, Italy for carrying a bomb making kit.

Officials say that the separate arrests aren’t related.

According to Fox News and their unnamed sources, the militants had drawn up a list of places to target including: The Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

Initial frustrations with the travel advisories were blamed on the “vagueness” of the warning. No specific countries, cities, and/or public areas have been identified as a for sure target.

Many travelers, particularly Americans are willing to take the risk considering the circumstances.

And just when the safety finger pointing couldn’t get any worse, on Wednesday, France warned their citizens to exercise caution if traveling to or living in Britain.

According to a message posted on the French Foreign Ministry’s website late Tuesday night, Britain has released reports saying that the UK are at risk for an attack.

Left out of the terrorist alert game is Germany, who are reporting that they are being vigilant, but don’t want to come off as “alarmist”.

Links:

Police say several terrorist suspects arrested

US to issue terror to Americans in Europe

France arrests 12 in anti-terror raids