Friday, August 19, 2011

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Kabul Attack - Taliban In Six-Hour Gun Battle At British Compound

Asian Defense News: DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Kabul Attack - Taliban In Six-Hour Gun Battle At British Compound
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 19, 2011: At least eight Afghan police and one foreigner are believed to have been killed after the Taliban marked the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from Britain with an elaborate, multi-phased attack on the British Council building in Kabul.

The assault on the compound in the west of the city began when a suicide car bomber detonated a vehicle at the front gate of the compound.

Witnesses in nearby shops said several heavily armed insurgents then rushed out of a side street shouting, firing in the air and racing towards to the open gate. Afghan officials believed the number of attackers was between two and four.

All British nationals affected by the attack on the British Council in Kabul are now safe, said the Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt.

Jumadin, a worker at a nearby petrol station, said the force of the initial blast was enough to throw him across the ground. "I thought I was going to die," he said.

"When the policemen rushed to the area from the police district at least three were shot dead near the building."

At midday the relatively upscale Kabul neighbourhood resembled a war zone.

Six hours after the beginning of the attack, fighting continued between the attackers and security forces, including British troops. Loud explosions and long bursts of gunfire could be heard from within the building, circling helicopters released counter-missile flares and a medical evacuation helicopter briefly landed and then departed again just 50m from the site.

After an initial period when the fighting appeared to have ended, a volley of machine-gun fire sent British soldiers ducking behind their armoured vehicles.

Afghan officials said at least one attacker was still at large in the compound.

With the injured rushed to a variety of different hospitals and the building still not cleared, estimates of the number killed and wounded varied wildly. The interior minister said it thought 12 people had been injured and eight killed, all of whom were either police or private security guards.

The heavily fortified compound is usually protected by a mixed force of Afghan and Nepali guards.

"It is a sad fact that once again an attack aimed at the international community has killed Afghans," Burt said.

"This attack, against people working to help build a better future for Afghanistan, will not lessen the UK's resolve to support the Afghan people."

British soldiers rushed to the UK government's cultural and educational mission in the country, joining Afghan police, soldiers and the New Zealand SAS.

The area hosts not only the British Council, but also two of the country's top politicians – the leader of the opposition and one of Hamid Karzai's vice-presidents.

Despite the assistance of the Afghan and international forces an insurgent was still at large in the compound more than six hours after the attack.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman reached by phone, said the target was both the British Council and a guesthouse that he claimed, it would appear incorrectly, was located in the same compound.

"We attacked the buildings because we want to remind the British that we won our independence from them before and we will do it again," he said.

Although Afghanistan was not a formal colony of Britain at the time, the country celebrates the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919, a small-scale affair compared with the preceding conflicts, when the country won the right to pursue a foreign policy independent of the British Raj.

The Afghan government, which has in the past tried to restrict the live coverage of terrorist attacks, appeared to put restraints on at least one television channel called Afghan News, which abruptly dropped its reporting to switch to patriotic songs.

Journalists were also ordered to stop taking photos when what appeared to be a seriously wounded New Zealand special forces soldier was stretchered out of the building and loaded on to the medevac helicopter.

New Zealand's SAS, which runs a quick reaction force for Kabul, also suffered casualties during June's siege of the Intercontinental Hotel. One soldier suffered a chest would while the other broke his jaw in the fighting.

New Zealand special forces also insisted photographers stop taking photos. They said it was to protect the identities of the wounded being removed from the building, although special forces also try to avoid being photographed.

Even as fighting continued President Karzai, senior officials and some diplomats marked the anniversary with a small ceremony inside the walls of his massively fortified palace compound on the other side of Kabul.


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DTN News - JAPAN NEWS: Honest Japanese Return $78 Million In Cash Found In Quake Rubble

Asian Defense News: DTN News - JAPAN NEWS: Honest Japanese Return $78 Million In Cash Found In Quake Rubble
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 19, 2011: The earthquake and tsunami that walloped Japan left much of its coastline ravaged, but left one thing intact: the Japanese reputation for honesty.

In the five months since the disaster struck, people have turned in thousands of wallets found in the debris, containing $48 million in cash.

More than 5,700 safes that washed ashore along Japan's tsunami-ravaged coast have also been hauled to police centers by volunteers and search and rescue crews. Inside those safes officials found $30 million in cash. One safe alone, contained the equivalent of $1 million.

The National Police Agency says nearly all the valuables found in the three hardest hit prefectures, have been returned to their owners.

"In most cases, the keyholes on these safes were filled with mud," said Koetsu Saiki with the Miyagi Prefectural Police. "We had to start by cutting apart the metal doors with grinders and other tools."

Determining who the safes belonged to, proved to be the easy part. Saiki says most kept bankbooks or land rights documents inside the boxes, containing their names and address. Tracking the owners down, was much more challenging.

Total of $78 Million Was Returned to Owners in Wake of Japan Catastrophe

"The fact that these safes were washed away, meant the homes were washed away too," he said. "We had to first determine if the owners were alive, then find where they had evacuated to."

Saiki says Miyagi police fanned out across the region, searching for names of residents posted at evacuation centers, digging through missing person reports at town halls, sorting through change of address forms at the post office, to see if the owner had moved away. When they couldn't find the documents, police called listed cell phone numbers, met with mayors or village leaders to see if they recognized the names.

The number of safes continued to increase as the clearing of tsunami debris led to more discoveries. Police stations struggling to find space for them housed the valuables in parking garages and meeting rooms.

Saiki says 20 percent of the 2,450 safes found in Miyagi turned out to be empty. But, the remaining 250 boxes contained much more than cash. Some included bars of gold, antiques, even crafted boxes containing a child's umbilical cord, a common memento of child birth. Police had to delicately comb through the keepsakes, since many of the items were damaged, after being soaked in seawater and mud for days or weeks.

The stashing of cash in safes isn't a unique problem in Japan, where many people prefer to keep their money at home, but Saiki says the number of boxes is especially high in the coastal region where fishermen make up a large part of the population. Fisheries companies prefer cash transactions, and keep employee salaries in safes, he said.

The number of lost items recovered has declined with every month, but Saiki says his department continues to receive a handful of safes a week.


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DTN News - STEALTH HELICOPTER: China Denies Inspecting US Helicopter In Pakistan

Asian Defense News: DTN News - STEALTH HELICOPTER: China Denies Inspecting US Helicopter In Pakistan
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 19, 2011: China has denied a report that Pakistan gave it access to the wreckage of a US "stealth" helicopter used in the covert raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in May.

"Those reports are entirely groundless and very ridiculous," the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate also denied the reports.

The Financial Times said the ISI gave access to the Chinese military to the modified Blackhawk helicopter and let a sample of its special "skin" be taken.

The helicopter, one of two used by a team of US Navy Seals, was said to have been modified to allow it to enter Pakistani airspace undetected by radar.

The Navy Seals tried to destroy the aircraft after it crash-landed, but part of the tail remained intact.

US officials have said there is reason to believe that Pakistan let the Chinese inspect the aircraft, but they cannot confirm whether it happened.

Relations between Washington and Islamabad were severely strained by the operation on 2 May, during which Bin Laden was killed at a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad where he had apparently been living for several years.

Pakistan enjoys a close relationship with China, which is a major investor in telecommunications, ports and infrastructure.


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DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated August 18, 2011

Asian Defense News:
DTN News: U.S. Department of Defense Contracts Dated August 18, 2011
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - August 18, 2011: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Contracts issued August 18, 2011 are undermentioned;

CONTRACTS

ARMY

BAE Systems Land and Armaments, L.P., Troy, Mich., was awarded a $449,964,969 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for the technology development phase for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Work will be performed in Madison, Ala.; Detroit, Mich.; Waltham, Mass.; and Troy, Mich., with an estimated completion date of June 26, 2013. Bids were solicited through the Internet with three bids received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-C-C001).

General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, Mich., was awarded a $439,715,950 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract for the technology development phase for the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Mich.; Dallas, Texas; Plano, Texas; Detroit, Mich.; and Taunton, Mass., with an estimated completion date of June 26, 2013. Bids were solicited through the Internet with three bids received. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-11-C-C002).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

North American Rescue, L.L.C., Greer, S.C., was awarded a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $240,915,660 for a variety of stretchers and litters. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. The date of performance completion is Aug. 18, 2016. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (SPM2DH-11-D-8214).

Science Application International Corp., Fairfield, N.J., was issued a modification exercising the sixth option year on the current contract SPM500-04-D-BP15/P00023. Award is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, prime vendor contract. This option has an estimated maximum $25,000,000 for maintenance, repair, and operations for the Northwest region. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The date of performance completion is Aug. 17, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

Graybar Electric Co., Inc., St. Louis, Mo., was issued a modification exercising the sixth option year on the current contract SPM500-04-D-BP14/P00024. Award is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, prime vendor contract. This option has an estimated maximum $25,000,000 for maintenance, repair, and operations for the Alaska region. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. The date of performance completion is Aug. 17, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

AIR FORCE

ITT Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., is being awarded a $73,603,550 cost-plus-award-fee/cost-plus-fixed-fee/cost-reimbursement contract modification for the Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator (SENSOR), which is to provide system engineering integration and sustainment of ground-based missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance sensors. The SENSOR systems currently include ground-based radars and optical systems controlled and operated by U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command. ESC/HSIK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity (F19628-02-C-0010, P00326).

ITT Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., is being awarded a $20,322,990 cost-plus-award-fee contract modification for the Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator (SENSOR), which is to provide system engineering integration and sustainment of ground-based missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance sensors. The SENSOR systems currently include ground-based radars and optical systems controlled and operated by U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command. ESC/HSIK, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity (F19628-02-C-0010, P00313).

NAVY

Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, Manassas Va., is being awarded a $14,500,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to existing contract (N00024-11-C-6247) to deliver eight Integrated Submarine Imaging Systems (ISIS) for Navy submarines. Five systems shall be delivered to Virginia-class submarines, while the remaining three shall be delivered to SSN 688-class submarines. ISIS provides mission critical, all weather, visual, and electronic search, digital image management, indication, warning, and platform architecture interface capabilities for Navy submarines. ISIS rolls-up existing components and near term capabilities, and provides a robust architecture for efficiently inserting future capabilities as they become available. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed in April 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity

Harris Corp., Government Communications Systems Division, Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded an $8,095,188 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-priced indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-10-D-0050) for the full rate production and support of 125 digital map computers for the Navy (67); and the governments of Kuwait (43), Malaysia (10), and Finland (five). In addition, this modification provides for the procurement of 49 digital video map computers for the U.S. Navy; and 52 extension housings for the governments of Kuwait (43), and Malaysia (nine), in support of multiple aircraft platforms. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Fla., and is expected to be completed in June 2013. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy ($5,701,650; 70.4 percent); and, under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the governments of Kuwait ($1,776,717; 22 percent), Malaysia ($412,696; 5.1 percent), and Finland ($204,125; 2.5 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources
U.S. DoD issued No. 725-11 August 18, 2011
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