NATO Seizes Iranian Arms En Route to Afghan Taliban Forces
- Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:14pm by
Meredith Jessup
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP/The Blaze) – In new proof the Iranian regime is arming Taliban fighters, NATO forces in Afghanistan have seized 48 Iranian-made rockets intended to aid the Taliban’s spring battle campaign, the most powerful illicit weapons ever intercepted en route from the neighboring state, officials said Wednesday.
The shipment is seen as a serious escalation in Iran’s state support of the Taliban insurgency, according to NATO officials and described in detail by an international intelligence official.
It’s also an escalation in the proxy war Western officials say Iran is waging against U.S. and other Western forces in Afghanistan, as Washington continues to lobby for tougher international sanctions against Tehran to dissuade it from its alleged goal of building nuclear weapons.
The intercepted 122-millimeter rockets can be fired up to 13 miles (22 kilometers) away from a target, and explode in a burst up to 80 feet (25 meters) wide — double that of the previous 107-millimeter rockets provided by Iran to the Taliban since 2006, the intelligence official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters.
The rockets, which were shown to an Associated Press reporter, were machined without Iranian markings or any serial numbers, but the official says their technical details match other Iranian models. So far, there is no evidence that the 122-millimeter rockets have been used in Afghanistan, though the Taliban has sometimes used Chinese- and Russian-made rockets of the same range in the fight here, harvested from the multiple weapons caches around the country from Afghanistan’s decades of civil war.
Iran, which was a staunch opponent of the Taliban when it ruled Afghanistan before the U.S.-led invasion triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has denied allegations that it is supporting militants in the wartorn country.
British and Afghan troops captured the 48 rockets, which were being transported in a three-truck convoy, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition on Feb. 5 in southern Nimruz, near the Iranian and Pakistani borders, according to British officials.
Mark Sedwill, NATO’s senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, said the rockets “represent a step-change in the lethal impact of weaponry infiltrating Afghanistan from Iran.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said they were sent by Iran and intended “to provide the Taliban with the capability to kill Afghan and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldiers from significant range.”
Hague said Britain’s ambassador to Iran Simon Gass — who will soon replace Sedwill as the NATO envoy in Afghanistan — had raised the discovery of the haul with the Iranian foreign ministry. “I call on Iran to act in the interests of a stable and secure region,” Hague said.
In a separate development, the intelligence official said a high-level Afghan Taliban leader had traveled to Iran in the past two weeks to meet with a top Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force leader to ask for more powerful weapons to attack Afghan and NATO troops in the spring and summer fighting season.
An intelligence tip led to the rocket interception, according to the international intelligence official. The logistics of the shipment were arranged by a Taliban “facilitator” who is based in Iran, the official added.
The seizure follows more than a year of fierce NATO operations against Taliban networks, with the highest number of special operations forces raids in Afghanistan ever, targeting Taliban safe houses, weapons caches and bomb-building factories.
In the 90 days before March 4, coalition forces launched more than 1600 operations and killed or captured about 350 insurgent leaders, NATO said Wednesday. They also captured over 1800, and killed around 500 lower-level insurgents. In that time, NATO raids found some 1,005 weapons caches, severely depleting the Taliban’s weapons supply.
In the alleged meeting with the Quds Force, the Taliban leader is believed to have asked the Iranians to provide more shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile systems, such as the two Iran provided in 2007, which were used against one British and one U.S. Chinook helicopter, the official said. But Iran has not provided such weapons since, sticking to the smaller 107-millimeter rockets, C4 plastic explosives that have been used in some improvised explosive devices here, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms like AK47 assault rifles, the official said.
In all, NATO troops seized 48 warheads, 49 fuses, and 49 rocket mortars during the Feb. 5 raid on the convoy. The drivers of the three vehicles resisted arrest and were killed. One of the three vehicles caught fire during the operation and burned up, making it hard to determine what that vehicle was carrying.
The official said the rockets’ increased range means they are less accurate and more likely to cause civilian casualties in heavily populated areas like Kandahar City — the expected focus of the southern Taliban fighting campaign as the insurgents try to take back parts of Kandahar and Helmand provinces lost to NATO forces over the past year.
The intelligence official says the fact that the Taliban were seeking the rockets in large numbers indicates a continuation of its recent campaign targeting Afghan civilians, with an increase in “spectacular” attacks throughout February, such as a suicide bombing against a supermarket frequented by foreigners, and the brazen daylight attack on a bank in Jalalabad, where Taliban shooters gunned down 17 civilians, and 21 security troops.
The United Nations said Wednesday that civilian deaths related to the conflict in Afghanistan spiked in 2010 and that insurgents are responsible for the increase and the overwhelming majority of the killings.
The U.N.’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also said that killings attributed to the U.S. led-coalition dropped by more than a quarter compared to 2009.
UNAMA’s annual report registered 2,777 conflict-related civilian deaths in 2010, a 15 percent increase from 2009.
The report says that of those deaths, insurgents were responsible for 2,080, a 28 percent increase and 75 percent of the total deaths. Killings attributed to the coalition dropped to 440, or 16 percent of the total.
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Comments (69)
Stoic one
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:56pmGlass parking lots for Iran. say 50-60 square miles
Report Post »The kind that glow in the dark
and light up a Geiger counter .
a place for them to park all of their weapons.
If they do not then, more glass parking lots.
Dr. Frank Lippenheimer
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:40pmLion: Put ‘em up! Put ‘em…….up! Which one of you first? I’ll fight you both together if you want! I’ll fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I’ll fight you standing on one foot. I’ll fight you with my eyes closed. Oh — pulling an axe on me, eh? Sneaking up on me, eh? Why! … How long can you stay fresh in that can? Come on — get up and fight, you shivering junk yard! Put your hands up, you lop-sided bag of hay!
— The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Report Post »Contrarian51
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:39pmI guess Iran can expect to be the subject of a nasty letter to the U.N. That‘ll teach ’em.
Report Post »Dude Doug
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:39pmI bet BHO will declare that the weapons were illegally seized and must be returned to Iran..just sayin
Report Post »Dr. Frank Lippenheimer
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:29pmUh oh. Obama’s gonna have to take the gloves off!
FIFTY lashes with a wet noodle, you mullah thugs!
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:29pmWell if NATA ever seizes bean bags we’ll know where they came from, OBAMA…
Report Post »obama_binpharteen
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:41pmSorry, I meant NATO.
Report Post »mohammedlikesmcribs
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:14pmtime to deliver him some of our old nukes, to make way for new ones in our inventory. as a matter of fact, light up all of Africa.
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 2:45amHuh?
Report Post »B-Neil
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:06pmThem 122s are some bad hummers. I think its time to let Iran know we got there message. I think we should take out half there air force. If that doesn’t work. We take out half of there armor. If that doesn’t work. We drop a small nuke in the desert to give them a light show. Need I go on?? If I sound stupid, let me hear another idea. Our politicians don’t have the desire to protect us, for fear of loosing campaign funds. The way I see it, we have to force them to act or we submit to the future there leading us into………..Carry on McDuff———–Remember to VOTE
Report Post »N34W118
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:00pmIt’s time to get out of the Middle East. The wars are unsustainable and we’re fighting a theology that believes dying for Allah is the best thing that can happen to them. Make all the best war machines available to Israel and then leave. After a few decades the Shiites and Sunnis will have destroyed each other to the point where we can then go in and destroy the rest of the movement with minable loss of blood and treasure.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:00pmPack up, send our boys and girls home NOW, and just as the last plane gets outside of blast radius let the combined weight of seventy or so 10 kiloton warheads impacting soil be a reminder to any nation, we are no longer to be F?….KED with.
Report Post »We could always send in code pink just as the troops leave just for good measure.
N34W118
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:59pmIslam is a political cancer metastasizing once again. It did this centuries ago and was driven back to the deserts. This time, when driven back to the deserts, we should treat it with LARGE doses of RADIATION to once and for all destroy the cancer.
Report Post »enuffnow
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:54pmThe Iranians know who their dealing, with a bigger idiot than Carter. Obama takes Carter’s place on the worst president in my lifetime spot. Gas lines and Iran flexing their limited muscle, Time to deal with our enemies the way they deal with us. Kiss them goodbye.
Report Post »mill
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:47pmyesyesyesyes
Report Post »get out and vote in 2012!!! get your neighbors, friends, enemies…anyone that can vote. we are alllllllll!!!! worse off then we have been in generations!
Toastery
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:54pmPut a no fly zone over Libya and put a boot in Iran’s ass! I‘m weary with all this pussyfootin’ the world is doing with Iran. We, America, and the rest of the west, seem to want to live on the edge all the time. There will be no edge when Iran goes nuclear!
Report Post »mrclean
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:12pmYeah, we pussyfoot around with diplomacy and useless sanctions while Iran laughs at us and spits in our faces. Barry in the WH guarantees Iran will unleash holy horror on Israel & USA. Hopey changy hard at work.
This phoney un-American prez of ours will destroy us yet if we don‘t lilght a fire under our representative’s @sses to impeach him.
Report Post »NormanDeArmond
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:44pmNuke Tehran. protect our men OR bring them home with all possible dispatch!
Report Post »sodun
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:44pmNoooowaaaaay….Iran would NEEEVERRRRRR do something like thaaaaat!
Nor would they seek the the destruction of the west or want to commit GENOCIDE by killing the Jews either…
After all..Mahmood AchmiWHATZITZJad confirmed to us that the Holocaust was just a figment of our imaginations and it never REALLY happened!
Come now…would this honest man ever promote ter_ror_isim?
Say it ain’t so pa, say it ain’t so!
Report Post »twofoot_trucker
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:38pmBetter to be respected or feared? The left has answered that question for us with Mr Obama. “Elect Barry and the world will love us again.”
Being loved is a joke. We have a spineless president that thugs all over the world know they can push around. This man sitting in the oval office is a risk to national security just by being there.
Report Post »docgreen
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:37pm@cheezwhiz
Report Post »I just read the link! OMG, is this not treason? I have a feeling Obama is neck deep in terrorism and controlling the muslim brotherhood. Why would these people go, without any fear of being hurt or taken? With people like this, who needs enemies?
Showtime
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:58pmWhat link? What link?
Report Post »mrclean
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:15pmWhere’s cheezwhiz? Where’s the link?
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:36pmlet’s fire them back into Iran [go boom boom]
Report Post »psycodad36
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:19pma twentyfirst century kind of (RETURN TO SENDER) I like it.
Report Post »fertlmind
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:25pmbomb Iran
Report Post »or pay Israel to do it
do something
Obamma is a eunuch
Iran is a threat
how long will we wait?
until they nuke somebody?
like Isreal
or our troops in Afghanistan?
Obamma is impotent
drhunt
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:22pmLet’s see ACK-MY-DINNER’S-BAD weasel his way out of this one.
Report Post »Star Spangled
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:16pmYou sound like you expect Obama to do something about this . I bet this just gets “ACK-MY-DINNER’S-BAD” another invite to the White House .
Report Post »drhunt
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 10:18pmNo…I don’t expect the “Emperor-with-no-clothes” to do a damned thing about it. It doesn’t fit into his agenda. But Mahmoud Ack-my-bladder’s-bad may have to hire a propaganda spin-meister.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:21pmBest news I’ve read today!
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:20pmIran is becoming quite brave. Everyone should check out the movie IRANIUM.
Report Post »Phil E. Stine
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:20pmAny weapons seized by our troops ANYWHERE, should be given to the land owners along our southern border. We should be arming them with better weapons than the cartels, or hizbullah.
Report Post »mill
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:31pmThe radicals in the world are out to destroy us and they appear to be doing a good job.
Landmines allllllll along the southern border. inhumane? good…put out thousands of them.
Maybe China is behind the radical muslims and their destruction here. Since Obama got into office it has all gotten worse
Our work should be more covert in the middle east…stealth…like a thief in the night.
Report Post »kill them, leave, never let them know quit putting our people in harms way. The people of the middle east do not like us and are trying to kill us daily
. lay the seeds of their destruction in various ways…without our people being hurt
Quagaar Warrior
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:20pm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Report Post »I wonder if Obama will sue NATO like he did to Arizona.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tinydd
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:51pmI’ll donate for a Nuke to be dropped on Iran, the mideast needs a good parking lot.
Report Post »Maji
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 8:50pmI think we locate Ahmadinejad one night and send him a shipment of cruise missles!!!
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:19pmnaw you dont say !!!!!!!!!!!! who da thunk Iran supported terrorists ?????
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:53pmBring home our troops and let’s strengthen our borders for good!!! Evict any illegal residents,visitors, etc. All races, colors, flavors! Enough is enough!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:11pmShould be no suprise to anyone save for the administration and their denial of ‘radical islam’.
Time for another apology tour from the president, maybe with golfing in Tehran?
Report Post »HemiOwner
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:11pmIs that a Mauser in that Arabs hands? I don’t NATO should worry that much.
Report Post »mill
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:13pmWe need to get out of the middle east.
I think obama wants us mired there…more the reason to get out.
Bring our people home. The middle east is full deceit…more than most places. All they know is war.
Bring our people home.
Cheezwhiz is right
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:22pmWhy would we need Al Jazeera with this exclusive reporting?
Report Post »pajamash
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:30pmCharlie Wilson’s War in reverse.
Report Post »stifroc
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:44pmIs anyone surprised? I mean really, is there anyone in the civilized world who is floored back into their chair with a vacant expression on their face and whispering to themselves “oh my god, I had no idea”? Anyone at all?
Report Post »mill
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 7:49pmwhat happened to “cheezwhiz” posts???
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 8:49pmGee. Who would’a thunk it?
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on March 9, 2011 at 9:02pmGee! What a surprise!
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on March 10, 2011 at 9:26amNATO needs to come police our border with Mexico to make sure the ATF isn’t running guns and drugs to the Cartels.
Report Post »