DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Police On Red Alert And Guard Against Insurgents Attack

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Police On Red Alert And Guard Against Insurgents Attack

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 16, 2012: Afghan police officers past a building which was used by militants in a gun battle, near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. 

A brazen, 18-hour Taliban attack on the Afghan capital ended early Monday when insurgents who had holed up overnight in two buildings were overcome by heavy gunfire from Afghan-led forces and pre-dawn air assaults from U.S.-led coalition helicopters.(Photo - AP)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-taliban-attacks-kabul-taliban.html

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Commandos On Red Alert, Ready To Confront Taliban Militants

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Commandos On Red Alert, Ready To Confront Taliban Militants


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 16, 2012: Afghan commandos stand guard near the building where Taliban fighters launched an attack in Kabul on April 16, 2012. 


A total of 36 Taliban militants were killed as they mounted a wave of attacks across Afghanistan, Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi said on April 16.
 (Photo - Getty)


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DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Special Forces Battle Ready To Confront Taliban Militants

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Afghan Special Forces Battle Ready To Confront Taliban Militants

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 16, 2012: Afghan special forces hold their guns after a gun battle near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. 

A brazen, 18-hour Taliban attack on the Afghan capital ended early Monday when insurgents who had holed up overnight in two buildings were overcome by heavy gunfire from Afghan-led forces and pre-dawn air assaults from U.S.-led coalition helicopters.  (Photo - AP)

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-taliban-attacks-kabul-taliban.html

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Taliban Assault On Kabul Ends With Explosions And Heavy Gunfire

DTN News - TALIBAN ATTACKS KABUL: Taliban Assault On Kabul Ends With Explosions And Heavy Gunfire

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 16, 2012: Afghan soldiers stormed a tower block which the militants had seized as a base to launch rocket and machine gun attacks into nearby diplomatic missions including the British embassy. A Taliban assault on the Afghanistan capital Kabul ends after 18 hours of heavy fighting across the city.

Six Taliban insurgents in the building were killed during the operation which was part of a coordinated offensive in seven sites across Kabul and in three other cities in eastern Afghanistan.

The ministry of interior reported that Afghan forces had killed 36 Taliban fighters and arrested one across the country.

Eight members of the Afghan security forces and three civilians also died, with around 40 members of the security forces and 25 civilians injured.

The Taliban assault also targetted foreign embassy buildings and the country's parliament.

Shukria Bariklzai, a member of parliament said she was proud of the way the security forces responded to the attack and described the terrifying situation that a fellow MP found himself in.

"The member of parliament was really in a bad situation in the parliament house, in the parliament building, in our places."

"But I am proud about my great brothers and their response to the enemy of the country," she added.

Explosions and gunfire echoed across the city for hours as the Afghan forces tried to dislodge their opponents who are thought to be from the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network.

Nato helicopters are also reported to have fired on buildings at the edge of the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic enclave.

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DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay Goes Defensive Account F-35 Costs

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay Goes Defensive Account F-35 Costs

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 8, 2012: Defence Minister Peter MacKay stood up for himself and his department Sunday, insisting the F-35 fiscal flub outlined in a recent auditor general's report was a miscommunication matter.

Auditor general Michael Ferguson published his debut report last week, indicated the stealth fighter jets would cost $25 billion -- not $15 billion as indicated by the federal government.

But in an interview with CTV's Question Period, MacKay blamed accounting issues for a $10 billion gap between the government's account of F-35 costs and the auditor general's projections.

"The $10 billion is money we are paying right now," MacKay said. "That is the money that goes to pay the pilots of the F-18 program and fuel, oil, upkeep of the existing fleet."

MacKay said he knew the full estimated cost of the jets in 2010 but insists Canadians were not misled.

"We have included that figure in estimates and information provided to the auditor general and that information goes back to 2010. Those figures are there for all to see," he said. "I don't agree that there was a manipulation of information."

Opposition parties disagree.

"We're talking about mismanagement here as well as dishonesty," NDP defence critic Jack Harris said on the same Sunday broadcast.

MacKay said the government and the auditor general worked from different timelines, causing the confusion.

The auditor general and a parliamentary budget officer used a 36-year model for their evaluations of the fighter jet program, but the Department of National Defence used a 20-year period.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-canada-defense-news-canadian.html

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canada May Re-Think Acquisition Of F-35 JSF On Damning Report By Auditor General

DTN News - CANADA DEFENSE NEWS: Canada May Re-Think Acquisition Of F-35 JSF On Damning Report By Auditor General 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 4, 2012: The Harper government froze spending Tuesday on the multi-billion-dollar plan to buy new jet fighters minutes after the auditor general produced a withering report accusing the Department of National Defence of keeping Parliament in the dark about spiralling problems with the F-35 purchase.

The government also announced it would take away DND's ability to buy new weapons systems and hand it to Public Works — all in an effort to shield itself from the ensuing assault in the House of Commons that followed the release of the report by new Auditor General Michael Ferguson.

The Defence Department faced wide-ranging scorn over its management of the a plan to buy 65 new F-35 radar-evading stealth fighters for what the military initially insisted would cost $9 billion. The cost of the purchase, which is already the largest single purchase of military hardware in Canadian history, will almost certainly be far higher than originally budgeted, Ferguson said.

He added that Public Works should have done a better job of overseeing the purchase, but Ferguson was particularly scathing about DND's failure to come clean on potential problems with buying the F-35.

“Briefing material did not inform senior decision makers, central agencies, and the Minister of the problems and associated risks of relying on the F-35 to replace the CF-18," Ferguson said in his report. "Nor did National Defence provide complete cost information to parliamentarians."

DND pointedly rejected criticism that it did not exercise due diligence in managing the project.

The auditor general's criticism does not mean the government will scrap the F-35 purchase or even consider opening up the sole-source procurement to other competitive bids.

Ferguson's mandate limits his criticism to the conduct of bureaucrats, but his findings could be incendiary for the Harper government. The audit came just one week after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced $5.2 billion in cuts to public spending in his deficit-fighting budget.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dtn-news-canada-defense-news-canada-may.html

DTN News - MYANMAR NEWS: Suu Kyi's Party Wins 43 Seats In Myanmar Parliament

DTN News - MYANMAR NEWS: Suu Kyi's Party Wins 43 Seats In Myanmar Parliament 


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 3, 2012: Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi's party won almost all the seats it contested in Myanmar elections, becoming the main opposition force in the national parliament, official results showed Tuesday.


The veteran dissident's National League for Democracy stormed to victory in 43 of the 44 constituencies where it fielded candidates in Sunday's polls, according to an election commission announcement on state television.


The landslide win in the by-elections gave Suu Kyi her first-ever seat in parliament, although it will not threaten the comfortable majority of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).


The Nobel laureate said in her victory speech on Monday that she hoped the vote would mark a "new era" for the nation after decades of repressive junta rule, but appealed for political unity and urged her supporters not to gloat.


The NLD won 37 seats in the 440-seat lower house, along with four in the upper house and two in the regional chambers, the results showed.
One quarter of the seats are reserved for unelected military officials.


The NLD lost one seat in eastern Shan state to the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, which has strong support among ethnic minorities.


The USDP took just one seat, in a constituency in northwest Sagaing where the NLD candidate was disqualified from standing.


Suu Kyi's election to political office marks the latest sweeping change in the country formerly known as Burma after decades of outright military rule ended last year.


Myanmar's quasi-civilian government has surprised even its critics over the past year with a string of reforms such as releasing hundreds of political prisoners and welcoming the opposition back into mainstream politics.


President Thein Sein hailed the polls as a success.


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