The incident is one of several where imperialist military forces have attacked and killed workers, farmers, or "friendly" militia, claiming they were al Qaeda or Taliban fighters. The military operations by Canadian, British, U.S., and allied troops across the country more and more mark the permanent character of the imperialist occupation necessary to prop up a weak and unstable government that has little power outside the capital city of Kabul.

Washington Post reporter Beth Sheridan reported that the former Soviet air base at Bagram north of Kabul, now the center of U.S. military operations in the country, "is rapidly taking on the look of a military installation built to last." The U.S. military command shifted the allied headquarters for operations in Afghanistan to Bagram from Kuwait this week, bringing a staff of hundreds and a three-star general. The command will direct combat operations, coordinate training of a new Afghan army, and oversee the operations of international organizations in Afghanistan.

As many as 500 officers will be moved from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to the base in Bagram, to be part of the Combined Joint Task Force Afghanistan, with officers from the other imperialist forces occupying the country.

Sheridan reports the base now houses 5,000 U.S. and allied troops and "the air is filled with the drone of construction machinery." With the assignment of Lt. Gen. Daniel McNeill to head operations, soldiers have been ordered to start saluting their officers, a practice usually not carried out in combat zones to protect the identities of officers from the enemy.

Washington has pressed for the formation of an Afghan national army and police. It has also refused to endorse the request by Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai and United Nations officials to extend the operations of a 4,650-strong International Security Assistance Force based in Kabul to other regions in the country. In areas where the interim government has little control over rival ruling factions, Karzai has requested that the troops be deployed to provide security to delegates involved in the upcoming mid-June elections of a national council.

"We are not against an international peacekeeping force expanding, if that’s what people want to do," said U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld in May. "It might be a good thing. The problem is there’s no one stepping up and wanting to do it."

There are currently 12,000 troops deployed throughout Afghanistan made up of special units from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The Canadian government said at the end of May it was pulling out its 850 troops from the country, claiming its forces are stretched too thin to justify the deployment. London is ending its role as head of the UN-sanctioned occupation force, turning the mantle over to the government of Turkey, which says its mandate is a limited one.

U.S. military forces are expected to expand their mission by giving protection to regional councils leading up to a meeting scheduled to begin June 10 of various local and regional leaders across the country that is supposed to decide on the character of the new government.  
 
Attacks on villages and friendly troops
The nighttime raid in the early morning hours of May 24 on Bandi Temur involved the use of six helicopters and U.S. Special Forces troops. Soldiers surrounded the village and "blew holes into the walls of the largest compounds," according to one report. The operation lasted until 9:00 a.m.

U.S. forces killed one person, wounded two, and arrested 50, who they took away in the helicopters. Some of the villagers were beaten, their hands tied, and blindfolded. The commandos said they were acting on intelligence reports indicating that senior Taliban and al Qaeda leaders were hiding in the village "compound."

The people at the village were particularly outraged by the death of a 100-year-old tribal leader, who was killed with a blow from a rifle butt while in custody, and of a three-year-old girl who fell into a well as she tried to hide during the assault.

Two days after the raid, local villagers marched to Kandahar to protest the attack. The protesters met with U.S. Special Forces troops stationed there and warned the local government that they will bring thousands of people from their tribes to stone the police station and the governor’s house. They blamed the governor "for inviting in the American troops who were now killing people," said an Afghan general to the New York Times.

On May 12 U.S. Special Forces raided another farming village, killing five. Villagers and even local leaders said that many of the people killed have been farmers and workers traveling in the area following the harvest. The raids against suspected Taliban and al Qaeda hideouts have failed to capture any senior leaders.

News reports also highlighted the killing of three people by U.S. special forces at the end of May in the southeastern town of Gardez. In the first reports after the assault, U.S. military spokesman Col. Roger King proudly said a combined force of U.S. Special Forces and Afghan allies were "moving towards an objective" and opened fire without warning on a group of armed men "displaying hostile intent." During a brief engagement three men were killed and two wounded, with the rest dropping their weapons and surrendering. King said the forces "gave the impression that engagement was imminent. It was almost ready to evolve into a firefight so the U.S. forces engaged first."

But the next day it was revealed that the "hostile" forces were actually a group of friendly Afghan soldiers who support the interim government.

Brushing off responsibility for the deaths, King said the engagement "would probably fall within the realm of what you would consider friendly fire. A review is underway," he said, "not an investigation."

Military spokesman have noted how battles against large concentrations of al Qaeda or Taliban forces, have given way to more guerrilla-style warfare, with groups as small as three people and rarely larger than a dozen to avoid detention.

Over the past few weeks, military bases occupied by the U.S. and allied forces have come under attack with mortar and rocket fire. In several of these attacks, artillery batteries have been activated by simple timing devices that allowed the fighters to flee the scene long before the rockets are launched. Military officials have also stated that the occupation troops will have to adjust to car and truck bombs, drive-by shootings, and other similar tactics.

In the town of Pul-i-Charkhi, just outside of Kabul, some 200 U.S. Special Forces soldiers have begun training the first 500 men in what they hope will be a new 80,000-troop Afghan army. The exercises take place on a poorly equipped military base, which eight months earlier U.S. bombers had pulverized.

The majority of those chosen by interim Afghan defense minister Gen. Muhammad Fahim to participate in this training program are from his own ethnic group--Tajiks. A growing number of Pashtuns, who are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, have expressed concern that Fahim is aiming to turn the new army into a Tajik-dominated force. Tajiks make up about 30 percent of Afghanistan’s population.  
 
 
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