Text Fwd: Afghanistan: South Korean Base Comes Under New Rocket Attack

* Text fwd from Rick Rozoff on May 6, 2011

http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/05/05/rockets-fired-korean-prt-parwan
Pajhwok Afghan News
May 5, 2011
Rockets fired at Korean PRT in Parwan
by Farid Tanha

CHARIKAR: The Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) headquarters came under rocket attack in the central province of Parwan, officials said on Thursday.

Several rockets, fired from an unknown direction, landed near the PRT headquarters, causing no casualties, crime branch chief, Mohammad Kabir Tordili, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The rockets were fired by people who were recently fired by the PRT, the official said, giving no further details.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the fighters attacked the PRT headquarters in Parwan. The building, housing about 200 Korean soldiers, was damaged, he said.
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Text Fwd: Korea’s Afghan base under rocket attack

Korea Times
Korea’s Afghan base under rocket attack
02-09-2011 20:10


By Kang Hyun-kyung

Korea’s provincial reconstruction team (PRT) base in Charikar, Afghanistan, came under rocket attack early Wednesday (KST) but no casualties were reported, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A foreign ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity that five rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) were fired at the base _ two were found outside, while the remaining three were inside.

So far no armed forces or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Upon a request from the Korean authorities shortly after the incident, local police arrived on the scene to investigate the case. The government plans to work together with the local police to investigate the rocket attack.

The PRT base in Charikar, the capital city of the northern Afghan province of Parwan, is a brand-new facility in which a total of 369 South Koreans, including 277 troops from the Ashena unit, are stationed.

Previously, they were based in another PRT site in Bagram and relocated to the new one in Charikar this January after construction was completed.

Korea was scheduled to hold an opening ceremony for the newly-built base on February 14. But the foreign ministry official said this was subject to change. Officials from the foreign ministry plan to discuss the matter with their counterparts from related ministries.

The rocket attack coincided with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin’s visit to the PRT site. Kim is on a five-day trip to Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates to show support for Korean troops stationed there.

Kim arrived in Afghanistan, Monday, and inspected the condition of the troops there protecting the base and civilian aid workers.

Kim separately met Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and his Afghan counterpart Abdul Rahim Wardak.

Wardak said the rocket attack came hours after Kim’s visit to the base. He remained cautious on whether the attack targeted the defense minister, pointing to the fact that Kim’s schedule was not made public.

This is the third attack on Korean PRT, following ones last June and this January, respectively. In June, two rockets were fired at site in Charikar, which was then under construction. No workers were harmed in the attack.

In the second attack, rockets were found approximately 400-meter outside the site. Due to the location, the foreign ministry said it was not clear whether the attack targeted the PRT or not.

The team was dispatched to help reconstruct the war-torn country through medical, health and vocational training and rural development assistance. The Ashena unit is tasked with guarding Korean reconstruction workers and 40 police officers.



See also Yonhap News

Text Fwd: S.Korean PRT site in Afghanistan comes under attack

* Image source: University Students, Nanum Munhwa (* meaning 'Sharing Culture')

'Today (July 1, 2010), South Korean soldiers are dispatched to Afghanistan
Withdraw the re-deployment to Afghanistan that predicts the national tragedy!'

On June 30, there was the press interview against the Lee Myung Bak government’s forceful drive for the dispatch to Afghanistan, by the five Parties such as the Democratic Party, Democratic Labor Party, New Progressive Party, Creative Korea Party, Citizens’ Participation Party and the Civilian Alliance Against the Redeployment of Troops to Afghanistan, composed of 69 organizations. Currently only Korean press release on it is available. See it HERE.
_____________________________________________________________


* Image source: same as the link: German Bundeswehr army soldiers of the ISAF Quick Reaction Force (QRF) open fire during a night drill in the Marmal mountains near Masar-i-Sharif, north of Kabul, Sept. 16, 2008.(REUTERS photo)'

Hankyoreh
S.Korean PRT site in Afghanistan comes under attack
:Analysts say the attack seems to be a warning message and arrived one day before S.Korea’s PRT was scheduled to launch their mission
Posted on : Jul.2,2010 12:35 KST

Unidentified attackers shot rockets at the construction site of the base of South Korea’s provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry announced Thursday. The ministry also confirmed that there were no casualties.

Wednesday night’s attack arrived a day before South Korea’s provincial reconstruction team (PRT) was to launch its mission to rebuild the war-torn nation, sounding an alarm bell for the security of the civilian aid workers in the nation where two South Korean religious activists were killed by Al-Qaeda in 2007. Analysts say the attack seemed to be a warning message to South Korea about their decision to redeploy troops to Afghanistan.

Two rockets were fired toward the construction site in Charikar, the capital of the northern Afghan province of Parwan, around 10:10 p.m. Security guards protecting the base fired back two rockets, ministry officials said, a revision of an earlier account that assailants fired a total of four rockets, with one of them landing on the base.

Officials said that one of the two rockets fired by attackers landed about 200-300 meters away from the base, but it was unclear whether the other landed on the base. Fifty-eight South Korean construction workers and some 60 local security guards were at the site at that time, but no casualties or property damage was reported, officials said. Construction of the base is now about 30 percent complete, they said.

The party responsible for launching the attack remains unknown. Foreign Ministery spokesman Kim Young-sun said the Taliban or insurgents in that region may have carried out the attack.

South Korea’s PRT planned to officially launch its mission Thursday with 49 civilian workers and eight troops to protect them. It will be expanded in stages later this year to about 100 reconstruction workers and 40 troops.

The South Korean team plans to help strengthen the Parwan provincial government’s administrative capabilities and offer medical services in addition to vocational and police training as part of efforts to get help the nation regain the ability to stand on its own.

A South Korean Army contingent will protect the civilian workers. An advanced team of about 90 members of the PRT has already been stationed there since mid-June. About 240 more PRT workers were scheduled to head to Afghanistan early this month and in late August.

South Korea had stationed troops in Afghanistan for five years before withdrawing them in late 2007. The pullout, though previously planned, came after the Taliban demanded their withdrawal during a hostage crisis in which insurgents killed two South Korean missionaries.

Source: The Hankyoreh and Yonhap News Agency

___________________________________________________________

* Related article (* Text informed by Rick Rozoff on July 3, 2010)

Joongang Daily

Attacks Greet 140 South Korean Troops Deployed To Afghan Air Base

July 3, 2010

Text Fwd: Korea launches contingent for dispatch to Afghanistan

Korea Times
Korea launches contingent for dispatch to Afghanistan
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter

The Army launched a 320-strong unit to be dispatched to Afghanistan to protect 100 Korean civilian reconstruction workers, Tuesday.

The unit, named ``Ashena'' meaning friend or colleague in the local language, will be sent to Parwan Province in July for a two-year mission.

About 40 police officers will also be deployed to the terrorism-ridden Central Asian country.

A motion for the unit's deployment was approved by the National Assembly last February.

``The security of Parwan is relatively safer than those of other regions in Afghanistan, but you should have high-level alertness and operational readiness against the enemy's various threats,'' Army Chief of Staff Gen. Han Min-koo said during a ceremony marking the inauguration of the contingent at an Army base south of Seoul.

The unit will undergo maneuvers and devise action plans on emergency situations before its departure, according to the Army.

The contingent will be equipped with four helicopters, armored vehicles, a mini-unmanned aerial vehicle, K11 airburst rifles, high-resolution CCTV and thermal imagers, Army officials said.

Deploying portable explosive detectors and robot systems is also under consideration, they said.

Korea withdrew engineering and medical units from Afghanistan in December 2007 after years of reconstruction operations there and has since been contributing to the security of Afghanistan by joining the NATO-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT).

The PRT is a unit administering international aid to Afghanistan and Iraq, consisting of civilians and military specialists who perform small construction projects or provide security for others involved in aid and reconstruction work.


gallantjung@koreatimes.co.krmailto:

Text Fwd: S. Korea chooses location of PRT base in Afghanistan: source

* Image source: US Army War College (through Google)

* Image source: Springhar.org (through Google)

Yonhap News
2010/01/10 16:12 KST
S. Korea chooses location of PRT base in Afghanistan: source


SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has selected Charikar, the capital of the Afghan province of Parwan, as the location to station its independent Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and security troops, a government source said Sunday.

South Korea plans to send some 350 troops to Afghanistan this year to protect South Korean civilian workers there. It currently has dozens of workers in Afghanistan as part of an international PRT operation, and plans to increase the number to about 120.

"The Afghan government has recently proposed a state-owned lot on the northern outskirts of Charikar as the site of a South Korean PRT," the government source said, requesting anonymity. "The South Korean government has accepted the offer following an initial inspection by Seoul officials."

"The proposed site has a mountain in the rear and a waterway and a road in the front. The final decision will be made after a secondary inspection by South Korean military officials."

The source said the proposed PRT site, which covers about 400,000 square meters, is located about 2.5 kilometers north of Charikar. Parwan is directly north of Kabul.

Text Fwd: S. Korea May Lease U.S. MRAPs for Afghan Mission

Defense News
S. Korea May Lease U.S. MRAPs for Afghan Mission
By JUNG SUNG-KI
Published: 9 Dec 2009 12:26

SEOUL - South Korea is discussing with the U.S. military a plan to lease or buy 10 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to protect the 320 troops it will deploy to Afghanistan next year, the Ministry of National Defense said Dec. 8.

"A final decision will be made as late as next month," Lt. Gen. Jang Kwang-il, deputy minister for policy, said in a briefing on details of the redeployment to Afghanistan, apparently in support of the upcoming 30,000-troop U.S. surge.

Jang cited statistics that show the U.S. deployment of MRAPs to Afghanistan has helped lower its troop fatalities there significantly in recent years.

If it fails to secure U.S. MRAPs, the ministry will deploy the South Korean Army's Barracuda four-wheel-drive armored vehicles or K21 armored infantry fighting vehicles, Jang said.

Jointly developed by the state-funded Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Doosan DST, the 25-ton K21 has a 750-horsepower turbo-diesel engine and 40mm automatic cannon capable of shooting down slow-moving helicopters and aircraft. It is equipped with digital communication, GPS receivers and inter-vehicle digital links. The K21 can travel as fast as 70 kilometers per hour on paved roads and cross a river at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per hour with the help of its water-jet propulsion system.

South Korean troops will be stationed in mountainous Parwan province, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, along with civilian reconstruction workers, the ministry said in a news release.

Other gear for the deployment includes:

* Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fitted with missile protection systems.

* A mini UAV for reconnaissance and surveillance. A viable candidate is a Ucon Systems-developed hand-launched UAV that uses a parachute landing system. The UAV, which has a service ceiling of 1.5 kilometers and a mission radius of 10 kilometers, is under field trials, according to the release.

* The ADD-developed K11 airburst assault rifle. It consists of a semi-automatic 20mm smart-grenade launcher, an underslung assault rifle that fires a standard 5.56mm NATO round, and a top-mounted computer-assisted sighting system with integrated rangefinder and thermal infrared night-vision capabilities.

Deploying portable/robotic explosive detection systems is also under consideration, the ministry said.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean Cabinet endorsed the plan to send 320 troops, 40 police and 100 Provincial Reconstruction Team members to Afghanistan in July.

The ministry is to submit the motion, which calls for 29 months of deployment, to the National Assembly for approval later this week.

Text Fwd: [Statement] Is the Lee Government, By All Means, to Submit the Proposal for the Agreement for the Dispatch, to the National Assembly?

* Below is the unofficial translation of the statement by the Civilian Alliance Against the Redeployment of Troops to Afghanistan, composed of 68 organizations in South Korea, on Nov. 30, 2009.


[성명]이명박 정부는 기어이 국회에 파병동의안을 제출하려는 것인가?
2009년 11월 30일

[Statement] Is the Lee Myung Bak Government, By All Means, to Submit the Proposal for the Agreement for the Dispatch, to the National Assembly?
Nov. 30, 2009

이명박 정부는 다음 주 국무회의를 거쳐 12월 국회에 파병동의안을 제출하기로제출하기로 했다. 재파병을 결정한 직후 정부는 신속하게 국회 동의안까지 제출할 심산이다. 그러나 국민의국민의 과반 수 이상이 재파병에 반대하는데도 “불통” 정부는 한나라당이 다수인 국회에 파병 동의안을파병 동의안을 제출해 기어이 학살 전쟁에 군대를 재파병하겠다는 것인가?

The Lee Myung Bak government has decided to submit the proposal for the agreement for the dispatch, to the National Assembly, in December, after the passage by the cabinet meeting next week. The government, right after its decision to re-dispatch to Afghanistan, is intending to promptly submit the proposal for the agreement to the National Assembly, as well. However, while more than half of the [South Korean] people oppose the re-dispatch, is the “no understanding” government, by all means, willing to re-deploy the troops for the massacre war, by submitting the proposal for the agreement for the dispatch, to the National Assembly where the majority is the Grand National Party (* the conservative right wing party)?

우리는 재파병에 반대하는 국민 여론을 무시할 뿐 아니라, 지난 2007년 아프가니스탄에 재파병하지 않겠다는 국민과의 합의를 완전히완전히 뒤집고 일방적으로 아프간에 재파병을 추진하는 정부의 비민주적이며 반(反)평화적인 결정을 강력히 규탄한다.

We strongly denounce the government decision that is anti-democratic and anti-peace, which unilaterally drives for the re-dispatch to Afghanistan, while not only ignoring the public opinion opposing the re-dispatch but also totally reversing down the [former government’s] agreement with its people in 2007 that [South Korea] would not re-dispatch to Afghanistan.

지난 11월 12일 정부는정부는 국민 몰래 아프가니스탄 현지로 정부합동실사단을 파견했다. 실사단 파견 직전까지만 해도 외통부외통부 장관 유명환은 “이달 중 파견하기 쉽지 않을 것 같다”며 시치미를 땠다. 실사단은실사단은 아프가니스탄에서 무엇을 했는가? 점령군인 미군, 나토군의 지휘를 받는 국제안보지원군(ISAF), 부정선거로 당선한 카르자이카르자이 정부 인사들을 만나 아프가니스탄 현지의 사정을 알고 돌아왔다고 했다. 그러나그러나 대다수 아프가니스탄인들이 점령에 반대하고 있다는 사실은 왜 말하지 않는가? 이미 점령에점령에 반대하는 탈레반 세력이 아프가니스탄의 80퍼센트를 장악하고 있다.

Last November 12th, the government dispatched the joint research and investigation team to Afghanistan, without informing to people. Even right before the dispatch of [it], Ryu Myung-Hwan, the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department feigned it, saying that “It will not likely to dispatch [the joint research and investigation team] within this month.” What did the joint research and investigation team do in Afghanistan? They say that they did meet the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) ordered by the NATO, and the honoraries of the Karzai government who were elected by the illegal votes. But why do they not tell the fact that most Afghans oppose against the occupation? Already the Taliban who oppose against the occupation has grasped 80% of Afghanistan.

실사단은 파병 예정지로 손꼽히는 파르완 주(州)가 “가장 안전한안전한 지역 중 하나”라며 또다시 국민을 속이고 있다. 그러나 파르완 주(州)는 지난 3년3년 동안 탈레반이 상시적으로 출몰하는 지역으로 이미 탈레반이 장악한 지역에 속한다. 1주일에1주일에 한 번 이상 탈레반이 공격하는 지역이자 아프가니스탄에서 “미군의 무덤”으로 불리는 지역이다. 게다가게다가 2007년 윤장호 하사가 파르완 주(州)에 있는 바그람 기지 앞에서 경비를 서다 폭탄폭탄 공격으로 사망하지 않았는가?

The joint research and investigation team is again deceiving people, saying that the Parwan state that has been pointed out as a planned area for the dispatch is “one of the most safe regions” However, the Parwan state is where the Taliban has routinely appeared for last three years and already belongs to the region that the Taliban has occupied. It is the region where the Taliban attacks more than once a week and is called the “Tomb of the United States Forces” in Afghanistan. Furthermore, wasn’t the staff sergeant, Yoon Jang-Ho killed by the bomb attack, while he was standing as a security, in front of the Bagram air force base in 2007, was he?

폭력과 인권유린으로인권유린으로 악명 높은 바그람 기지 근처로 군대를 파병하겠다는 것도 위험한 발상이지만, 미군들이미군들이 많으니 안전하다는 외통부의 설명은 이 정부가 얼마나 국민 목숨을 하찮게 여기는지 보여보여 준다. 테러의 주된 표적이 미군과 미군기지이기 때문에 미군 사망자 수가 급증하고 있다.있다. 미군 곁으로 파병하겠다는 것은 자살행위나 다름없다.

It is a very dangerous idea to dispatch the troops to near the Bagram AFB infamous for violation and abuse of human rights but the explanation by the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department, that the area is safe because there is a lot of the United States force, shows how the current government takes the lives of people worthlessly. The causality rate of the United States forces is increasing because the main target of terror is the United States force and its bases. It is nothing but the suicide act to dispatch the troops to the area beside which the United States force is staying.

정부가 아무리 아프간 재파병 필요성을 강변하며 국민을 설득하려 해도 결국결국 학살 전쟁을 뒷받침할 파병이라는 진실을 가릴 수는 없다. 또한 아프간 철군을 약속했던약속했던 국민과의 합의를 일방적으로 파기한 정치적 책임 또한 절대 피해 갈 수수 없을 것이다.

Even though the government tries to persuade people, emphasizing the need of re-dispatch to Afghanistan by all means, it can never hide the truth that it is the dispatch to support the massacre war. Also, it can never avoid its political responsibility that it unilaterally abandoned its agreement with people with whom [the former government] had promised the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

우리는 이명박 정부에정부에 엄중히 경고한다. 이명박 정부는 즉각 아프간 재파병 추진을 중단하라. PRT도 경찰도경찰도 이를 보호할 경계병력도 모두 명백하게 국민과의 약속을 어긴 아프간 재파병이라는 점에서 절대절대 정당화될 수 없다. 국회는 이러한 아프간 재파병을 손쉽게 찬성해서도 묵과해서도 안 될될 것이다.

We severely warn against the Lee Myung Bak government. Lee Myung bak government, immediately stop the drive for the re-dispatch to Afghanistan! In the sense that the PRT, the police, the security force to protect the two are all meant to re-dispatch to Afghanistan, which clearly violates the promise with people, they can never be justified. The National Assembly of Republic of Korea must be neither easily in favor of it nor silent of its opinion.

아프가니스탄 재파병에 반대하는반대하는 제 시민사회단체들은 아프가니스탄 재파병을 저지하기 위해 강력히 투쟁할 것이다. 정 부는 최근 이와 관련한 기자회견 및 촛불문화제에서 과도하게 진압하며 탄압을 해 왔다. 정부의 그 어떤 탄압도 우리의 반전평화 열망을 봉쇄하지는 못할 것이다. 우리는 아프간 재파병을 반대하는 다양한 반전평화 행동들을 더욱 더 적극적으로 펼쳐나갈 것이다. 아프간 재파병을 중단하라. 끝

The civil social organizations opposing the re-dispatch to Afghanistan will strongly fight to stop the re-dispatch to Afghanistan. The government, related to that matter, has severely cracked down and oppressed the people in press interview and candle light culture event. No oppression can block our aspiration for anti-war and peace. We will more actively drive our various activities for peace and anti-war, opposing dispatch to Afghanistan. Stop the re-dispatch to Afghanistan!

Nov. 30, 2009

아프가니스탄 재파병 반대 시민사회단체 연석회의
The Civilian Alliance Against the Redeployment of Troops to Afghanistan

반전평화연대(준), 이명박 심판! 민주주의 민중생종권 쟁취 공동투쟁본부, 건강사회를위한약사회, 건강사회를위한치과의사회, 경계를넘어, 국제노동자교류센터, 기독교사회선교연대회의, 나눔문화, 남북공동선언실천연대, 노동건강연대, 노동인권회관, 녹색연합, 농민약국, 다함께, 대학생나눔문화, 대학생다함께, 동성애자인권연대, 문화연대, 미친교육반대청소년인권보장청소년연대, 민가협양심수후원회, 민주주의자주통일대학대표자협의회(건), 민주노동당, 민족자주평화통일중앙회의, 민주노동자전국회의, 민주화운동가족협의회, 민족문제연구소, 민족민주열사희생자추모(기념)단체연대회의, 보건의료단체연합, 불교평화연대, (사)민족화합운동연합, 사월혁명회, (사)전국민주화운동유가족협의회, 사회당, 사회진보연대, 우리마당, 우리민족연방제통일추진회의, 예수살기, 615공동선언실천청년학생연대, 21세기한국대학생연합, 2005년파병철회단식동지회, 인도주의실천의사협의회, 자본의위기전가에맞서싸우는공동투쟁본부, 전국농민회총연맹, 전국민족민주유가족협의회, 민주공무원노동조합, 전국민주노동조합총연맹, 전국빈민연합, 전국여성농민회총연합, 전국여성연대, 전국학생행진, 전쟁없는세상, 조국통일범민족연합남측본부, 진보신당, 참여연대, 참된의료실현을위한청년한의사회, 통일광장, 팔레스타인평화연대, 평화네트워크, 평화와통일을여는사람들, 평화여성회, 평화의친구들, 평화재향군인회, 한국대학총학생회연합, 한국노동사회연구소, 한국진보연대, 한국청년단체연합(준), 한국청년연합, 한국카톨릭농민회(21일 현재 67개 단체)