Afghan helicopter crash kills 5 NATO troops: NATO

KABUL: Five members of the US-led NATO force in Afghanistan died in a helicopter crash in the south of the country on Saturday, NATO officials said, adding the cause of the incident was being investigated.

In line with NATO policy, the coalition deferred casualty identification to national authorities. "Five International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members died as a result of a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan," the force said.

"ISAF is still in the process of reviewing the circumstances to determine more facts. "The statement made no reference to whether any Taliban insurgents were active in the area when the helicopter came down.

Six US troops were killed when a Blackhawk chopper went down in the southern province of Zabul in December. In the hours after the crash, US officers suggested the helicopter crashed due to a mechanical failure but that the crew may have come under fire once the chopper was on the ground.

Officials later backed away from that account, saying in January that Taliban insurgents brought down the aircraft. There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the insurgents after Saturday´s crash.

Foes flex muscles in east Ukraine as NATO beefs up forces

SLAVYANSK: Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces flexed their military muscles in the restive east of the country on Wednesday, a day ahead of high-level international talks on the escalating crisis.

A concerned NATO said it planned to deploy more forces in eastern Europe and called for Russia to stop "destabilising" the former Soviet satellite, which has been in deep turmoil since the ouster of the pro-Kremlin leadership in February.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Kiev´s decision to send in troops this week to put down a separatist uprising in its industrial heartland had dragged the country to the brink of civil war.

An AFP reporter in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk saw at least six APCs and light tanks, some flying Russian flags, in the city centre with dozens of armed men in camouflage stationed around them claiming to be volunteers and Ukrainian army defectors.

Ukraine´s defence ministry confirmed the vehicles were seized from its forces after they were blocked by local pro-Russian activists.

An AFP reporter in the nearby town of Kramatorsk said a column of 14 armoured vehicles still controlled by the Ukrainian army was deployed, although these were too were being blocked by a crowd of pro-Moscow protesters.

Military jets could be seen flying low over both towns in an additional show of strength. As the situation on the ground appeared to escalate, NATo chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that the alliance would deploy additional forces in eastern Europe but said a political soluition was the only way forward.

"We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water... and more readiness on the land," he said.

The authorities in Kiev also ratcheted up verbal attacks on Russia, with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accusing Moscow of trying to build "a new Berlin wall".

Yatsenyuk demanded Moscow halt its alleged support for the separatists but said Kiev remained committed to Thursday´s crunch talks between the top diplomats of Russia, the European Union, the United States and Ukraine.

"There is only one directive for the Ukrainian foreign ministry -- the Russian government has to immediately withdraw its commando groups, condemn the terrorists and demand they leave the installations," he said.

Ukraine´s acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval headed out to the east to check on the progress of Kiev´s seemingly stalled bid to oust the separatists.
The military also pledged a firm response after two serviceman were allegedly taken hostage by pro-Russian forces in the Lugansk region.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement that Russian commanders in the east had issued pro-Kremlin militants with "shoot-to-kill" orders.

Vitaliy Naida, a spokesman for the service´s counter intelligence department, said some 40 Russian spys had been uncovered and stopped since the operation in the east started.

Elsewhere, pro-Moscow gunmen stormed the mayor´s office in the regional capital Donetsk, according to an AFP reporter.

US, UN, Nato all praise for Afghans courage in landmark vote

KABUL: The United States and the UN have praised the "courage" of Afghan people who turned out in force for presidential elections, despite Taliban threats against the vote which passed off largely peacefully.

Afghan voters formed long lines outside polling stations on Saturday to pick a successor to President Hamid Karzai, with a final turnout expected to exceed 50 percent -- outstripping expectations.

US President Barack Obama congratulated the nation on the ballot -- its first democratic transfer of power -- and said it was "critical" to its future and securing continued international aid.

"Millions of Afghan men and women took to the polls today with courage and commitment," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. "This is their moment. The Afghan people secured this election. They ran this election, and most importantly, they voted in this election. "There were no major militant attacks during polling, and organisers described the ballot as a huge success, despite complaints that a shortage of ballot papers had denied some citizens the right to vote.

However, with results not due until April 24 the country faces a testing period, and many Afghans fear a repeat of the fraud scandals that marred the last presidential election in 2009. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent in the first round, a run-off is scheduled for late May.

There is no clear favourite among the front-runners to succeed Karzai -- former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul, Abdullah Abdullah, who was runner-up in the 2009 election, and former World Bank academic Ashraf Ghani.

Whoever emerges victorious must lead the fight against the Taliban without the help of US-led combat troops, and also strengthen an economy that currently relies on declining aid money.

"Today´s election and massive participation of the people have taken Afghanistan a few steps forward to peace, stability and development," Karzai said in an address to the nation Saturday. "This was a major effort of the people, our security forces, and all the officials who had a role in holding the election.

"The United Nations Security Council also commended "the participation and courage of the Afghan people to cast their ballot despite the threat and intimidation by the Taliban" and other terrorist groups. It condemned the deadly attacks which overshadowed the election campaign and urged all those involved to show patience and respect during the count.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised the "enthusiasm" of voters and the "outstanding job" by Afghan security forces. "This has truly been an election led by Afghans, secured by Afghans, for the future of Afghans," he said.

The final turnout could exceed seven million, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, said, though this was a preliminary estimate and may change. Initial predictions in 2009 proved inaccurate. Around 13.5 million people were eligible to vote, putting the estimated turnout above 50 percent -- a significant increase on 2009, when only around a third of voters cast ballots.

The open nature of the race with so many candidates in the running, coupled with a massive security operation to thwart Taliban attacks, may have contributed to the high turnout.

The Taliban had urged their fighters to target polling staff, voters and security forces, but there were no major attacks reported during the day.

Interior Minister Omar Daudzai said late Saturday that four civilians, nine police and seven soldiers had been killed in violence in the past 24 hours, but added that many attacks had been foiled, without giving further details.

Attacks or fear of Taliban intimidation had forced more than 200 of a total 6,423 voting centres to remain closed. The day before the poll, Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus was shot dead by a police commander in eastern Khost province. She was the third journalist working for international media to be killed during the election campaign, after Swedish journalist Nils Horner and Sardar Ahmad of Agence France-Presse.

Afghans have taken over responsibility for security from US-led forces, and this year the last of the NATO coalition´s 51,000 combat troops will pull out, leaving local forces to battle the resilient Taliban insurgency without their help.

The country´s third presidential election will bring an end to 13 years of rule by Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. Massive fraud and widespread violence marred Karzai´s re-election in 2009, and a disputed result this time would add to the challenges facing the new president.T

The election may offer a chance for Afghanistan to improve relations with the United States, its principal donor, after the mercurial Karzai years. Relations fell to a new low late last year when Karzai refused to sign a security agreement that would allow the US to keep around 10,000 troops in Afghanistan to train local forces and hunt Al-Qaeda.

 

NATO fears Russian push to Moldova

AP Soldiers in unmarked uniforms walk near Ukrainian marine base in the city of Feodosia, Crimea on Sunday.

NATO has expressed fears of a Russian military push beyond Crimea into eastern Ukraine and further south to Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria.

U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe said the Russian force massed at the Ukrainian border «is very, very sizable and very, very ready.»

The top NATO commander told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think tank that he was very concerned about the threat to Transdniestria.

There is absolutely sufficient [Russian] force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome.»

Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner,» the U.S. general said.

Transdniestria, a Russian-speaking industrialised region of Moldova, broke away from the former Soviet state in 1990. In 2006 Transdniestria overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to join Russia, but Moscow ignored the vote as it tried to work out a confederation arrangement for Moldova. After Crimea’s referendum on splitting from Ukraine and reuniting with Russia, the Speaker of Transdniestria’s Parliament appealed to his Russian counterpart in the State Duma lower house to provide legislative possibilities for the region’s accession to Russia.

However, Speaker of the Russian Parliament’s upper house said the absorption of Transdniestria or Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were not on the agenda «at this stage.»

The three self-proclaimed republics «have not asked for joining Russia; it is inadvisable at this stage to talk about this,» Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said in an interview. «One should not portray Russia as a country bent on seizing territories. This question is not on the agenda.»

Russia’s top defence official has also sought to dispel Western fears of a Russian military move into Ukraine.

Russia is complying with all international agreements on troop limits near its border with Ukraine,» said Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov.

Mr Antonov told reporters on on Saturday that eight eight groups of foreign monitors from nine Western nations carried out inspections of Russian troop deployments near Ukrainian borders.

The inspectors «have not established any undeclared military activity that could pose a threat to [Russia’s] neighbouring countries,» he said.

In Crimea, the Russian flag is now flying over 189 Ukrainian military installations, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday, a day after pro-Russian forces stormed and seized the Belbek air force base, Ukraine’s last major military facility in the peninsula. The Ukrainian commander of the airbase was detained after the takeover, but released on Sunday.

In the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk pro-Russian demonstrators again rallied on Sunday in support of their demand for a referendum on greater autonomy from Kiev.

Russia’s closest ally Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka voiced concerns that Crimea had set a «bad precedent,» even as he admitted that the region was now «de facto» a part of Russia.

The statement reflected the unease Belarus and other post-Soviet states feel over Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

At the same time the Belarus leader blamed Ukraine’s new government for provoking Russia.

Why did they ban the Russian language after coming to power and put pressure on Russian-speakers?» he told journalists on Sunday. «They gave a pretext and reason for Russia to intervene.»

NATO flying surveillance planes to Ukraine border

Add captionAn AWACS plane takes off the NATO Airbase in Geilenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, March 12, 2014. (AP)

NATO says it has dispatched two surveillance planes to fly over Poland and Romania to monitor the crisis unfolding in neighbouring Ukraine.

The military alliance says two AWAC, or Airborne Warning And Control System, reconnaissance planes took off from its bases in Geilenkirchen, Germany, and Waddington, Britain, on Wednesday morning.
A spokesman for NATO’s operational headquarters Mons, Belgium, said the flights will not leave the air space of its member nations thus not crossing either into Ukrainian or Russian airspace.

“The planes can observe over 300,000 square kilometres (115,000 square miles) and will primarily be looking on air activity and the sea,” Lt. Col. Jay Janzen said, adding that one AWACS aircraft already went on a surveillance mission to Romania on Tuesday and that more missions were being planned. “Our flights will not leave NATO airspace,” Janzen said. “Regardless, we can observe, we can look a very long way.”
Janzen said that one AWAC aircraft already went on a surveillance mission to Romania on Tuesday and that more missions were being planned. NATO’s 28 member states decided Monday to intensify the assessment of the possible threat the Ukrainian crisis poses to the alliance by sending AWACS planes. The decision comes after deployments of U.S. fighter planes to eastern European nations bordering Russia, such as Poland and Lithuania.
“The planes can observe over 300,000 square kilometers (115,000 square miles) and will primarily be looking on air activity and the sea,” Lt. Col. Jay Janzen said, adding that one AWACS aircraft already went on a surveillance mission to Romania on Tuesday and that more missions were being planned. “Our flights will not leave NATO airspace,” Janzen said. “Regardless, we can observe, we can look a very long way.”
Janzen said the flights had already been planned as training missions before NATO’s decision, but more planes will be added to the exercises in the coming days. The plane flying out of the German base to Romania was an E-3A AWACS and the plane leaving Britain for Poland was an E-3B AWACS, Janzen said.

NATO chief says ’peace at risk’ as Russia faces G8 sanction

BRUSSELS: NATO's chief warned that Europe's peace and security were at risk from Russian threats of a military incursion in Ukraine as Moscow faced a barrage of warnings of reprisals, including the loss of its prestigious G8 seat.
"What Russia is doing now in Ukraine threatens peace and security in Europe. Russia must stop its military activities," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said as he went into crisis talks on Ukraine with the alliance's 28 ambassadors.
Speaking as the interim authorities of the former Soviet state called up all military reservists, Rasmussen said he had convened the North Atlantic Council "because of President Putin's threats against this sovereign nation."
"Today we will discuss the implications for European security." The talks, held on the eve of an emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, come as global powers scramble to respond and amid talk of a possible extraordinary European Union summit next week.
Britain and France meanwhile announced they were suspending preparations for a June summit in Sochi of the Group of Eight developed nations, joining Canada and the United States in sanctioning President Vladimir Putin for his stance on Ukraine.
Saying Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity had been violated, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague flew to Kiev for talks with its new leaders, adding: "This cannot be the way to conduct international affairs."
His US counterpart John Kerry warned that Putin might even lose his G8 seat as well as face asset freezes on Russian business.
"There is a huge price to pay," Kerry told NBC. "If Russia wants to be a G8 country it needs to behave like a G8 country," he said on CBS.
Held only four days after NATO defence ministers gathered in Brussels to warn Russia apparently with little effect -- not to take steps that could be "misinterpreted", Sunday's closed-door talks come as the escalating tension in Crimea threatens to open the West's worst crisis with Moscow since Cold War days.
Poland earlier called for the NATO meeting over the developments in Ukraine, citing Article 4, which provides for consultations with allies.
NATO however said the meeting was not being held under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the alliance's founding document.
Most recently used by Turkey over Syria, Article 4 enables a member state to call a NATO meeting for consultations if its independence or security are under threat.
Upping the military stakes:
Ukraine signed up to a partnership deal with NATO in 1997 but is not a full member. It was given the nod to eventually join at a 2008 summit in a move that infuriated Russia.
It was then that Putin is famously reported to have said to then US president George Bush that "Ukraine is not even a state."
Two years later, the country's now ousted pro-Russian leader, Viktor Yanukovych, ditched the NATO membership bid.
Diplomats said little more than a statement of concern was expected from the talks and one senior diplomat said on condition of anonymity that neither economic sanctions nor NATO action seemed appropriate at the moment.
"We need to talk to Putin, who has his own good reasons for doing bad things," the source told AFP. "The situation is extremely dangerous. We need a way out of this 'us' and 'them' Cold War syndrome."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who along with Hague have urged Ukrainians and Russians to engage in direct talks over the crisis, appeared to have a similar views.
"Russia is traditionally our friend. We want a traditional friend far more than sabre-rattling," Fabius said.
Scenarios being mulled include calling the two sides to communicate through organisations such as the United Nations or even finding a mediator nation, for example among the non-aligned, or traditional Russia ally China.
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation moreover appear divided over what stand to take on the tug-of-war with Russia over Ukraine, with former Soviet satellites far more hawkish than some.
"No one seriously believes there will be a military response," said a diplomat from one of the larger members who asked not to be identified.
Some nations believe "waving the NATO flag" could be counter-productive, upping the military stakes instead of de-escalating the tension.
"If Putin stops now, he can have both: annexation of Crimea and good relations with West," tweeted Uli Speck, a Carnegie Institute analyst.