NEWS: Afghanistan (UPDATED), Pakistan and the Arctic

AFGHANISTAN: Was it Friendly Fire or Taliban?

A British aid worker held hostage by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan was killed during a rescue attempt, according to the British Foreign Office.

UK Foreign Office

Initially officials said 36-year-old Linda Norgrove was slain by her captors before the pre-dawn rescue mission could reach her. But British Prime Minister David Cameron says today (Oct. 11)  the U.S. military informed him that Norgrove may have been killed by a rescuers’ grenade. The incident is under review.

Norgove worked for Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), an employee-owned private development concern based in Bethesda, Maryland. She played a senior management role in a program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, that sought to create jobs and improve local Afghan economies. Norgrove was kidnapped Sept. 26 in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan co-workers who were later released.

PAKISTAN: Border Crossing to Afghanistan Reopening

Pakistani authorities have reopened a crucial border crossing with Afghanistan this week, allowing truck convoys to resume shipping supplies to NATO troops through the Khyber Pass. More than 150 tanker trucks were set afire and destroyed as they stacked up near border towns after Pakistan closed the transit point.

The shutdown came in the wake of a border incursion by NATO helicopters pursuing insurgents that fired on coalition troops in Afghanistan. The choppers mistakenly fired on a Pakistani border outpost, killing at least two soldiers and wounding others. The U.S. and NATO apologized for the incident but the border stayed closed for more than 10 days.

 

Photo by Anthony Maw via Wikipedia

 

Meanwhile, a Pakistani TV station says government officials in Islamabad are considering imposing a tax on trucks carrying NATO supplies, the Pakistani newspaper, the Daily Times reported Sunday (Oct. 10).

PAKISTAN: Musharraf Wants to Come Back

Former Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf says he wants to come back from exile in Britain and is hinting broadly that he plans to run for office in the country’s next presidential contest. Speaking on ABC’ Sunday morning talk show, “This Week,” the former Pakistani army commander and president refuted criticisms that the government in Islamabad isn’t doing enough to fight terrorists and insurgents in border regions.

Meanwhile, Reuters has a nice Factbox on its site with a time line of the troubled U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

ARCTIC: Russia planning year-long Polar Expedition

Fifteen Russian scientists are ready to start a year-long study of polar ice fields from a large drifting ice floe. The Russians have begun aerial reconnaissance to determine the best place to base the SP-38 drifting station. Using high resolution photos from U.S. and European satellites, the Russians are surveying the area by helicopter to find a suitable place to set up their base, according to RiaNovosti.

 

Two Russian nuclear icebreakers. Photo by Maarten via Wikipedia

 

The purpose of the expedition is to explore the sea bed in the Arctic in order to find Russia’s undersea outer shelf border.