KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The United Nations and some smaller relief organizations are stepping out of the way of NATO's unfolding offensive in war-ravaged Kandahar.
The UN says it's in the process of cutting its foreign staff level in the Kandahar city as part of a security review.
Susan Manuel, a spokeswoman with the UN mission in Kabul, called it a temporary reduction.
Last week, NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, declared the operation to root out insurgents in Kandahar was underway.
But rather than opening with a D-Day-like assault as in Marjah, next door in Helmand province, he said the offensive in Kandahar would be rolled out in stages.
Manuel says the UN security review is not reaction to the military push as much as it's a response to the overall situation in Kandahar, which is the spiritual home of the Taliban.
A series of five co-ordinated bombings in the city last weekend left 35 people dead and scores wounded.
An Afghan police stands near a potion of a vehicle left following a roadside bomb explosion during a ceremony marking the New Year in Khost, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Two other civilians died and four were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a crowd of people celebrating the Afghan New Year at a mountaintop shrine in eastern Afghanistan, a police commander said. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Nishanuddin Khan.
Our Canadian and allied NATO Coalition troops face this type of cowardly warfare on a daily basis? We should give thanks that our Children and Grandchildren do not see this terror in their lives. This poor child on the Afghan Pakistani border witnessed and survived a suicide attack. Who knows were they his parents, his brother and sister or simply Villagers he shared his life with. The taliban must be eradicated and somehow a peaceful style of life must come to these poor people.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8556432.stm
One of Canada's finest ever Ministers of the Crown The Honourable Flora MacDonald has been pushing for the rights of women and Children in Rural Afghanistan I share this link with you to see for yourself what she and her organisation are doing to try and improve the lives of Afghan women and Children: http://www.futuregen.ca/gallery.php#images/gallery_08.jpg
Notice the smiles on the faces of these children who have received these bicycles to share.They have no TV No Video games No electricity nor very often food and water , and think how Blessed we are to be safe in Canada.
A bike and a smile in a bleak remote area of Afghanistan.
No Wandering a MALL laughing and giggling for these kids.
At best Clean Water thanks to aid programs.
So as our Troops once again step up to take on the taliban. Please give them a thought, a prayer and show them your support here at home.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
