Faster than NATO, France ends Afghan combat role

AP foreign, Tuesday November 20 2012


JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press= PARIS (AP) — France on Tuesday ended its combat operations in Afghanistan, pulling hundreds of troops from a base in a volatile region northeast of Kabul and fulfilling promises to end its combat role on a faster track than other NATO allies.
After a handover ceremony with Afghan troops, 500 French combat soldiers in trucks and armored vehicles left the Nijrab base in the Kapisa region — where anti-government insurgents have been active — and traveled southwest to Kabul, the capital, said Col. Thierry Burkhard, a French military spokesman.
"This is the end of combat operations," Burkhard told The Associated Press, adding that the withdrawal went smoothly. "It's the end of support operations for the Afghan National Army because we have no more troops who can deploy in such a role."
France was once one of the largest contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, with a peak deployment of 4,000 troops — though far smaller than the tens of thousands of U.S. troops there. Since mid-2008, French forces were deployed in Kapisa, a crescent-shaped and strategic region along mountains between Kabul and the Pakistani border.  READ MORE
 

Increase In Multiple Amputations For Troops In Afghanistan

The Army Surgeon General’s office data reveals that amputations resulting in multiple limb-loss rose for U.S. troops serving in the Afghan war. Nearly half of last year’s record 226 combat amputations ended with the troop losing two or more of their arms and legs, compared with only a quarter in 2009. Bigger improvised explosive devices (IED) targeting U.S. forces and better techniques for hiding them alongside roads led to the increased limb-losses, said a former top military doctor. USA Today prepared this chart to go along with its report on the trend:

By Ali Gharib | Sourced from Think Progress

Posted at June 5, 2012, 12:25 pm

 

U.S. troops quietly surge into Middle East

12 Jan 2012 The Pentagon has quietly shifted combat troops and warships to the Middle East after the top American commander in the region warned that he needed additional forces to deal with Iran and other potential threats, U.S. officials said. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who heads U.S. Central Command, won White House approval for the deployments late last year after talks with the government in Baghdad broke down over keeping U.S. troops in Iraq, but the extent of the Pentagon moves is only now becoming clear. The Pentagon has stationed nearly 15,000 troops in Kuwait, adding to a small contingent already there. The new units include two Army infantry brigades and a helicopter unit - a substantial increase in combat power after nearly a decade in which Kuwait chiefly served as a staging area for supplies and personnel heading to Iraq.  READ MORE