Articles found January 30, 2012 Canadian Forces Officer To Face Court Martial For Accidental Discharge in KabulJanuary 30, 2012
Article LinkANDREW DUFFY of the Ottawa Citizen has the latest on this court martial:
A Canadian Forces lieutenant-colonel will face a court martial in Gatineau next month in connection with the accidental firing of a rifle at Kabul International Airport.
Lt.-Col. Gilles Fortin is the second senior officer to be charged with mishandling a firearm while in Afghanistan.
In March 2010, then Brig.-Gen. Daniel Ménard accidentally fired his C8 assault rifle twice into the ground as he was about to board a Blackhawk helicopter at Kandahar Airfield with his boss, Gen. Walt Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff.
Ménard was commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan at the time of the incident, which occurred as he was loading his carbine.
Ménard — he later resigned from the military after being recalled from Afghanistan due to a sex scandal — was fined $3,500 for the negligent handling of his weapon.
It was the largest fine ever imposed on a soldier for such an offence.
Lt.-Col. Fortin, a signals officer, was in Kabul last September as part of his work with NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre. A member of the centre’s joint training division, Fortin helped prepare incoming staff officers to take over jobs at ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
More on link Deportation to Afghanistan likely once jail sentences are served Article Link BY ROB TRIPP, SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE JANUARY 30, 2012 9:06 AM
KINGSTON, Ont. - Once the Shafias, who are permanent residents and not Canadian citizens, complete their prison sentences, they are likely to be deported to Afghanistan, according to a lawyer and former Canadian immigration officer.
Raj Sharma, who practises in a large Calgary law firm that specializes in immigration cases, said the Canadian government temporarily suspends removals to some countries where there are natural disasters or war that put people at risk, but those provisions don't apply to the Shafias.
"They would be removed to Afghanistan," Sharma said, in a telephone interview from Calgary. "The temporary suspension of removals doesn't help them."
More on link Doubts raised about future of Afghan army fundingArticle LinkThe Canadian Press Date: Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 5:27 PM ET
OTTAWA — The commander of the Canadian army says he doubts the international community will have the cash or the political stomach after 2014 to sustain the sprawling Afghan security force being trained by NATO allies.
Lt.-Gen. Peter Devlin, the chief of land staff, recently returned from Kabul where roughly 950 Canadians have settled in for a three-year stint under the newly-established training mission.
Some of the questions on his mind during a round of meetings with NATO commanders involved whether the Afghan government will have the means of paying for an army and a police force that is expected to top out at 352,000 members. Devlin also wondered if the perceived threat from Taliban insurgents required building a force of that size.
Current estimates from the country's defence minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, see the Afghans spending over $6.2 billion a year to pay and equip their forces. That's in a country where the budget of the entire federal treasury is $4 billion much of that foreign aid.
Devlin, who commanded NATO's multi-national brigade in Kabul in 2003-04, said the shortfall needs to be recognized.
"Is the international community willing to pay for that?" he asked, rhetorically, in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. "And I'm unsure they will be able to pay for that ... It's my sense.
More on linkAfghan woman is killed 'for giving birth to a girl'By Bilal Sarwary BBC News, Kabul 30 January 2012
Article Link A woman in north-eastern Afghanistan has been arrested for allegedly strangling her daughter-in-law for giving birth to a third daughter.
The murdered woman's husband, a member of a local militia, is also suspected of involvement but he has since fled.
The murder took place two days ago in Kunduz province. The baby girl, who is now two months old, was not hurt.
The birth of a boy is usually a cause for celebration in Afghanistan but girls are generally seen as a burden.
Some women in Afghanistan are abused if they fail to give birth to boys. And this is just the latest in a series of high-profile crimes against women in the country.
Late last year a horrifying video emerged of the injuries suffered by a 15-year-old child bride who was locked up and tortured by her husband.
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