NATO chief visting armenia amid tensions
5 September
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is expected to meet with Armenia’s leadership during a two-day visit to Yerevan that begins on September 5. The visit comes amid escalating tensions between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan over Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to pardon an Azerbaijani military officer who had been jailed for life in Hungary for the murder of an Armenian officer in 2004. Hungary says it returned the officer to Azerbaijan after receiving assurances for Azeri officials that his life sentence would be enforced. It is not clear if the NATO chief will visit Azerbaijan, with NATO saying only that Rasmussen is opening a regional tour of the South Caucasus. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict for around three decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian-controlled territory inside Azerbaijan. (RFE/RL)
Disqualified south ossetia candidate registers new party
5 September
The disqualified winner of last year's presidential election in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia has officially registered her new political party. The new party of Alla Dzhioyeva, a surprise winner over a Kremlin-backed candidate in the November 2011 election, is called Ossetia -- Liberty Square. Dzhioyeva made headlines last year after supporters rallied against a Supreme Court decision to invalidate the presidential election in which preliminary polls showed Dzhioyeva was winning. Dzhioyeva was barred from taking part in the repeat presidential poll in April and Kremlin-backed Leonid Tibilov was announced the winner. South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s. Russia recognized it as an independent state following a brief war with Georgia in 2008, something only five other countries have also since done. (RFE/RL)
Turkmenistan Holds First-Ever Military Maneuvers In Caspian
6 September
Turkmenistan has held its first naval drills on the Caspian Sea amid a dispute with Azerbaijan over ownership of a section of the sea believed to hold lucrative energy reserves. In June, the two sides accused each other of provocations and vowed to defend their rights over a section of an undersea oil field called Kapaz by Baku and Serdar by Ashgabat. Experts have estimated that the region could be holding upward of 50 million tons of oil. Tensions over how the inland Caspian Sea should be divided among the five surrounding states, which also include Russia, Iran, and Kazakhstan, began after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The naval drills held on September 5 near Turkmenistan's western seaport of Turkmenbashi involved an exercise in repelling a naval attack on ships and oil refineries. (RFE/RL)
nato: taliban cell leader killed
7 September
NATO forces in Afghanistan carried out two successful operations, killing a Taliban cell leader and seizing large quantities of opium, officials said Friday. In a statement, the International Security Assistance Force said the cell leader, identified as Ahmed Shah or Ajmal, is believed to have been in charge of Taliban military operations in western Helmand province. Days before he was killed Thursday, he is believed to have led an attack that killed several Afghan soldiers, ISAF said. Ajmal was killed by an airstrike after ISAF soldiers made sure there were no civilians in the area, officials said. Also in Helmand, Afghan security forces working with coalition troops made a vehicle stop that led to a big haul in drugs with more than 1,000 pounds of dry opium and 200 pounds of wet opium seized. The search also turned up weapons, ammunition and night vision goggles, the ISAF release said. Three suspected insurgents were arrested. Military officials say the Taliban uses drugs to finance its operations. (UPI)
U.s., russia further antarctic cooperation
8 September
The United States and Russia have signed two agreements on furthering their cooperation in the Antarctic and the Bering Strait region that connects the two countries. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signed the documents on September 8 in Vladivostok on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit. Lavrov praised the agreements as further proof of the two countries' resolve to work together. "As a whole the memorandum demonstrates the will of our countries to work jointly for mutual benefit on a wide array of Antarctic issues. And the statement about inter-regional cooperation reinforces our positive experience we've already had in this sphere and gives our regions understanding that the governments of Russia and the United States encourage them to develop further mutually beneficial ties," Lavrov said at a press conference along with Clinton. "It is an important aspect of our relationship as it touches the issues that directly affect our citizens," he added. Clinton pointed to the documents as a further positive sign in the growth of bilateral relations since the countries' "reset" in relations in 2009. "We are formally deepening our scientific cooperation in Antarctica, a continent with vast opportunities for research. Scientists from both of our countries will work together to explore Antarctica's terrain, study the effects of climate change, and cooperate on a range of issues to better understand and protect our environment," Clinton said. "And for the first time, U.S. and Russian officials and scientists are working together to enforce the Antarctic Treaty." As a further sign of better bilateral relations, Clinton pointed out cooperation on a new visa regime that will help Russian and U.S. companies. "Tomorrow our historic visa agreement will come into force. It will facilitate travel between our nations, which will strengthen both people-to-people ties and business contacts," Clinton said. "It is fitting that this agreement will come into force during APEC. Business communities in our countries repeatedly ask us for visa liberalization to make it easier for them to work together, and we are happy to be able to deliver." Speaking later, Clinton said the U.S. Congress may move this month to upgrade trade relations by lifting the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, Cold War-era legislation that has blocked normal trade privileges for Russia. Congress is under pressure to act after Russia joined the World Trade Organization last month. (RFE/RL)
putin slams eu over gazprom probe
9 September
Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned a European Commission probe into Russian state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, saying it was "unconstructive." Speaking on the sidelines of the annual summit of Pacific rim nations, Putin said the EU's action was prompted by the "difficult economic situation in the eurozone." "What is going on against Gazprom is not news. You know, some foreign Gazprom offices were raided last year. This is a second step in this direction. We regret this is happening," Putin said. Putin added that the EU wants Russia to bear the costs of "subsidizing" the economies of Central and Eastern Europe countries. "To a large extent, the European Union subsidizes Eastern European economies. Now someone in the European Commission probably decided that we should share some burden of this subsidizing. In other words, united Europe wants to retain political influence and it wants us to pay for it. But it is not a productive approach," Putin said. The European Commission launched its probe on September 4, saying that Gazprom is blocking competition in the Baltic states and former Soviet-bloc countries. The EU is looking into whether Gazprom "prevented the diversification of gas supplies" and "imposted unfair prices" on these customers. Gazprom denies the allegations and says its business practices are in line with those of other gas producers. Putin said, although the Soviet Union provided hugely subsidized energy to its communist-bloc satellites, Russia will not make nonmarket decisions and will not "take on additional obligations linked to antimarket solutions for the economies of those countries." Putin added that he does not consider the EU probe the beginning of a "trade war" with Russia.
hrw cites ‘abusive’ response to strike by kazakh gov’t, oil firms
10 September
Leading rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Kazakhstan’s government and several oil firms of systematic violations of the rights of thousands of oil workers. The group said in a report released on September 10 that last year’s extended protests, which resulted in the eventual killing of at least 16 workers by police and thousands of layoffs, highlighted the larger issue of “disregard for workers’ rights and other human rights.” The report, “Striking Oil, Striking Workers: Violations of Labor Rights in Kazakhstan’s Oil Sector,” documents how the government and three oil companies in western Kazakhstan violated the rights of oil workers to freedom of association, to organize and bargain collectively, and to freedom of speech. "That is, interference in workers' efforts to bargain collectively, mass dismissals of workers following peaceful strikes and other violations," Mihra Rittmann of HRW, speaking to RFE/RL from Almaty, said of the violations described in the report. "We thought it was really important to look into these violations and come up with some recommendations for how the government could address workers' rights going forward." Of the three companies named in the report, two are joint ventures: KarazhanbasMunai JSC, a Chinese-Kazakh company; and Ersai Caspian Contractor LLC, which is partially-owned by Italy’s Eni. The third is Kazakh firm OzenMunaiGas. The report, based on field research and interviews with oil workers and union leaders at the three companies, says the firms’ managements and government authorities initially reacted with indifference to employees’ efforts to negotiate collective agreements in May 2011 and subsequently resorted to harassment of union leaders and mass dismissals – some 2,000 people were fired from the three companies. Thousands of workers went on strike after negotiations failed, and some declared hunger strikes. Authorities brutally broke some strikes, and several union leaders and representatives were sentenced to jail terms. On December 16, police opened fire on a crowd in the western town of Zhanaozen, amid violence triggered by unidentified men in oil-company jackets. A total of 16 people died as a result of the incident. After the violence, authorities cracked down on vocal oil workers and activists. HRW calls on Kazakhstan to bring its labor legislation in line with international standards on collective bargaining, freedom of association, and the right to strike. It also urges the government to protect union members and stop using prosecution against them. The report also urges Kazakhstan’s foreign partners -- those from the European Union in particular -- not to turn a blind eye to abuses against Kazakh workers and set norms for human rights improvement in the country. It says that international companies “should ensure that their workers, or workers employed in their subsidiary companies or other business partners, enjoy basic rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike.” The document calls on the European Union, which is currently negotiating an enhanced partnership cooperation agreement with Kazakhstan, to establish “specific and measurable benchmarks for human rights improvement" for Kazakhstan to comply with in exchange for closer ties with the bloc. Rittmann said the agreement offers the EU and its member states substantial leverage in dealing with Astana. "[The European Union] has an opportunity to do much more to promote the protection of workers' rights as these negotiations are under way," Rittmann said. "Acting now will ensure that European companies that are working in Kazakhstan and European governments that are member states of the EU and investing in Kazakhstan are not benefitting from a poor rights climate for workers and poor labor legislation in Kazakhstan." (RFE/RL)
Russian Azeri Diaspora Leader Survives Assassination Attempt11 September
The leader of the local ethnic Azeri community in the central Russian region of Ulyanovsk has been wounded in an apparent assassination attack.
Local authorities say unknown assailants opened fire on Islam Guseinov, 43, the local leader of the All-Russia Azerbaijani Congress and his bodyguard in Ulyanovsk, the regional capital. The bodyguard died on the spot, while Guseinov was hospitalized with minor injuries. There has been no official comment on a possible motive. Local authorities have launched an investigation. Similar attacks against leaders and prominent members of the Azeri community in Russia have been reported this year. In May, the leader of the ethnic Azeri community in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Igbal Makhmudov, was shot dead by an unknown assailant in the town of Makiivka.
New Kyrgyz government sworn in
12 September
Kyrgyzstan's new prime minister, Jantoro Satybaldiev, and his government have been formally sworn into office. Satybaldiev, who previously had been chief of the presidential office, was appointed to the prime minister's post last week by President Almazbek Atambaev. Parliament has confirmed the nomination. The previous government collapsed last month after two parties in the governing coalition -- Ar-Namys (Dignity) and Ata-Meken (Fatherland) -- quit the alliance over differences with then Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov. Lawmakers representing the Social Democratic, Ar-Namys, and Ata-Meken parties established a new ruling coalition on September 3. Babanov's Respublika party and the Ata-Jurt (Homeland) party have founded an opposition alliance called Rule of Law and Justice. (RFE/RL)
EU FMs To Monitor Preparations For Georgia Vote14 September
Foreign ministers from five of the European Union's newest member states have been tasked with monitoring preparations for Georgia's parliamentary elections on October 1. The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov will join fellow ministers from Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Romania in traveling to Georgia on September 17 to observe preparations for the vote and show support for reforms "leading to Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration." The ruling party of President Mikheil Saakashvili is expected to face its stiffest competition since coming to power after the 2003 Rose Revolution, with support growing for the Georgian Dream opposition movement led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned last week the vote would be a "litmus test" for Georgian democracy. (RFE/RL)
Tajik, Uzbek Border Guards Trade Blame For Shooting Incident
14 September
The Uzbek and Tajik border-protection agencies have blamed each other for a shooting incident in which an Uzbek border guard was severely injured.
Tajik officials say the Uzbek border guard entered Tajik territory on horseback on September 11 and started filming the Tajik side of the border. After he ignored a command to leave, the Tajik side opened fire. Uzbek authorities insist the border guard was on the Uzbek side of the border and that Uzbek soldiers did not shoot. Relations between the two countries are often tense. Dushanbe and Tashkent stopped direct air flights in 1992 and introduced a visa regime in 2001. Some parts of the 1,330-kilometer Tajik-Uzbek border are mined, and 16 percent of it remains disputed. (RFE/RL)
15 September
An overnight explosion and gun battle near a police station in tense western Kazakhstan has left at least two policemen injured, according to reports cited by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service. The incident comes days after a deadly operation in the same province to round up alleged terrorists thought to be responsible for a bombing near a mosque about a week ago. The latest blast occurred shortly after midnight on September 15 in the courtyard of local Interior Ministry offices in the provincial capital, Atyrau.
Witnesses were quoted as saying an exchange of gunfire followed the explosion. Authorities immediately cordoned off the area and were searching passing cars in an effort to find those responsible. A state television station saying "several" police officers had been wounded in the initial explosion. One police source told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that six people had been arrested in connection with the incident. It marks the third violent incident in the Atyrau region this month. One person was killed when an explosive device detonated in a private apartment near a mosque on September 5. A week later, on September 12, security forces reported killing five alleged terrorists and seriously wounding another in a raid on an apartment building with a suspected connection to that explosion. Western Kazakhstan has seen a number of bloody incidents as tensions have mounted over labor disputes and other social frictions in the past 18 months or so. The first suicide bombing in Kazakh memory was reported in May 2011 in the western city of Aqtobe, injuring three people. Less than six months later, bombers targeted a regional prosecutor's office in downtown Atyrau. International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently accused the government in Astana and several oil firms of systematic violations of the rights of thousands of oil workers in the west of the country. HRW charged in a September 10 report that extended protests in 2011, which resulted in the killing of at least 16 workers by police and thousands of layoffs, highlighted a broader issue of “disregard for workers’ rights and other human rights.” (RFE/RL)
Afghanistan oks three for security posts
15 September
The Afghan parliament voted Saturday to approve three men to fill key security positions. At least two of the men have already held ministerial positions in the government, Khaama Press reported. Bismillah Mohammadi was approved as defense minister. He previously was the interior minister. Asadullah Khalid got the legislative nod as chief of the national intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security. He earlier directed the border, tribal and ethnic affairs ministry. Mojtaba Patang was named the new Afghan interior affairs minister. Haji Din Mohammad was nominated for the post of border, tribal and ethnic affairs minister. However, he failed to get enough votes to secure approval. (UPI)
CSTO STAGES MILITARY EXERCISES IN ARMENIA16 September
The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has launched large-scale military exercises in the South Caucasus nation of Armenia. Around 2,000 troops from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are conducting five days of war games. Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said the aim of the exercises was to create a "regional force that can neutralize potential threats." The war games could prove unsettling to two South Caucasus neighbors -- Azerbaijan, which remains in a hostile dispute with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Georgia, which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008 and still views the Kremlin as a military threat. (RFE/RL)
Turkey PM Erdogan says Kurdish PKK takes 500 casualties17 September
Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says 500 Kurdish rebels have been "rendered ineffective" by Turkish forces in the space of a month. The government often uses the term "rendered ineffective" to mean killed. Mr Erdogan said 123 militants were killed over the past 10 days near the south-eastern border with Iraq. The surge in deaths follows a recent escalation in attacks by the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Turkish targets. Dozens of Turkish troops and civilians, including children, have been killed in recent bombings blamed on the group. On Sunday, eight police officers died as their bus was blown up by a roadside bomb in the southern Turkish province of Bingol. The PKK launched an armed campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in south-east Turkey in 1984. Since then more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The Turkish government, the US and the EU all regard the PKK as a terrorist organization. Mr Erdogan said: "In operations held during the past month, some 500 terrorists were rendered ineffective in the [south-east] region." The Turkish army said last week that 461 people had been killed in clashes between February and August this year. It said the military had staged close to 1,000 operations against the rebels over the last six months. (BBC)
Kabul film protesters fire weapons and set cars alight17 September
More than 1,000 people in the Afghan capital Kabul are taking part in an angry demonstration against a film mocking Islam which has given rise to protests around the world. The demonstration is close to US and Nato installations in Kabul. The Kabul police chief said he had been injured by a rock thrown by a protester. Other protesters fired guns, and police vehicles were set alight. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has called for a week of protests. The leader of the influential Shia Muslim group, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said the world needed to know Muslims "would not be silent in the face of this insult". The first protest has been called for Monday afternoon in a southern suburb of Beirut which is a Hezbollah stronghold. Sheikh Nasrallah - who said he had waited for the Pope to finish a visit before speaking out - branded the video the most dangerous insult to Islam ever. It was worse, he said, than Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses and the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which were published in a Danish newspaper in 2005. 'Death to America!' In Kabul, black smoke from burning tyres streamed into the air, and shopkeepers hurriedly locked up and went home, as the protest gathered pace, reports said. Protesters shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to those people who have made a film and insulted our Prophet!", reported news agency Associated Press. There was a heavy presence of riot police and Afghan national police guarding the US embassy, said the BBC's Bilal Sarwary at the scene. Kabul's police chief, Gen Ayub Salangi, told the BBC: "Some of the armed demonstrators continue to fire. There are agitators among demonstrators. I have ordered police not to open fire. "They have thrown rocks and stones at us. I was hit and injured myself." Protests over the film at the centre of the row, many of which target US diplomatic missions, have shown no sign of abating so far. At least one person was killed in clashes between protesters and police in Pakistan on Sunday. There were also protests in some European capitals. On Monday authorities set up street barriers in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, to try to keep anticipated demonstrations under control. (BBC)
suicide bombing in kabul kills foreigners
18 September
A suicide car bomber in Afghanistan attacked a bus carrying foreigners in Kabul early Tuesday, killing up to 12 people, authorities said. The attack follows a weekend of deadly violence that included the deaths of eight coalition troops in so-called insider attacks and a daring insurgent assault on Camp Bastion. The attacks also come as protests against the United States over an anti-Islam film spread across the Muslim world. The BBC reported the attacker in the Tuesday bombing, identified as a young woman, set off the explosion as the bus traveled on a major highway leading to the international airport in the Afghan capital. It quoted officials as saying up to 12 people had died, most of them foreigners. The bus was believed to be carrying the airport's international staff. CNN, quoting an Afghan official, said the bus was attacked on the main road leading to the Afghan capital's international airport. Those aboard the bus included foreigners and an Afghan interpreter, the report said. CNN said at least 10 others were wounded in the attack. The report said video footage showed military officials around the smoldering vehicle. China's Xinhua news agency quoted a police official as saying, "A suicide bomber targeted a minibus carrying foreign nationals along a main road from Kabul airport to Kabul intercontinental hotel, leaving at least nine foreigners dead." Xinhua said the explosion occurred at around 6:45 a.m. local time. Xinhua quoted a local television channel TV channel also saying nine foreigners died in the attack. A senior counter-terrorism official in Kabul told the BBC: "We can confirm that the suicide attack was carried out by a female suicide attacker. She is either a young girl or a woman.'' The nationalities of the foreigners are not yet known. Joint military operations between the United States and Afghanistan were indefinitely suspended Monday after the weekend insider attacks in which those killed included four Americans. "We're to the point now where we can't trust these people," a senior military official told NBC News. "It's had a major impact on our ability to conduct combat operations with them, and we're going to have to back off to a certain degree." Among the troops killed in the insider attacks, six, including four Americans, died Sunday at a remote checkpoint near a NATO installation in southern Zabul province. In a similar insider attack on Saturday, two British soldiers were killed in southern Helmand province by an Afghan believed to a member of the local police. Separately last Friday, the Taliban launched a daring attack on the heavily fortified Camp Bastion base in Helmand province, killing two Marines and damaging or destroying eight attack jets with damage estimated at more than $200 million. One insurgent was captured and 14 others were during the subsequent fighting. The Taliban have stepped up their violence as U.S. forces plan to end combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014, allowing Afghan forces to take control of their country. Afghanistan has been relatively quiet so far even as the protests over the anti-Islam film. (UPI)
russia mulls ban on youtube
18 September
Russia may soon join the growing list of countries blocking or restricting access to YouTube to prevent people from viewing a controversial film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad. Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov posted on Twitter that Russia might block YouTube entirely at the beginning of November after a new law aimed at protecting children from harmful information comes into force. Google, which owns YouTube, has barred access to the film in Egypt, India, Indonesia, Libya, and Malaysia. Bangladesh announced that it has blocked access to YouTube. Pakistan made a similar announcement on September 17. Google has refused to place a blanket ban on the video, citing concerns about freedom of speech. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that many Western countries restrict pro-Nazi propaganda and other forms of speech but allow speech insulting to Muslims.
Kyrgyz deputry arrested for alleged corruption
18 September
The Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's office says a lawmaker has been arrested on charges of fraud and corruption. Sadyr Japarov of the opposition Ata-Jurt (Homeland) party was arrested on September 17. Ata-Jurt says Japarov's arrest is politically motivated. According to officials, Japarov's arrest is connected to an investigation into the son of another lawmaker employed by the Bishkek Prosecutor's Office, Eldar Madylbekov, who was detained on September 15. Madylbekov is suspected of illegally obtaining property that used to belong to ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev. Madylbekov's father, Turatbek Madylbekov, is chairman of the Kyrgyz parliament's anticorruption committee. Ex-President Kurmanbek Bakiev fled Kyrgyzstan after he was toppled by antigovernment protests in April 2010. He has been residing in Belarus since then. (RFE/RL)
Nato curbs Afghan joint patrols over 'insider' attacks
18 September
NATO says it is restricting operations with Afghan troops following a string of deadly attacks on its personnel by rogue Afghan security forces. Only large operations will now be conducted jointly, with joint patrols evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Isaf said these were "prudent, but temporary, measures to reduce our profile and vulnerability". NATO commanders have been frustrated that the Afghans have not done more to stem the rise in attacks, analysts say. Britain's Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond said the announcement did not amount to a change in strategy, but was to "ensure that any partnering with Afghan troops at lower than battalion level is properly approved with proper risk assessments in place". The move came as a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying foreigners in the capital, killing 12 people on Tuesday morning. The attack happened on a major road leading to the international airport and reports suggest those on board worked at the airport. Afghan insurgent group Hezb-e-Islami has claimed it carried out the attack, which it says was in response to a recent anti-Islam video. Meanwhile NATO-led Isaf forces said they had arrested a Taliban leader and two insurgents they said were involved in last Friday's attack on the sprawling Camp Bastion in southern Helmand province. The Taliban leader, said Isaf, was suspected of "providing support" to the militants who staged the audacious assault, which killed two US marines and destroyed six Harrier fighter jets. Rogue 'surge' The joint command of the NATO-led Isaf forces said "events outside of and inside Afghanistan" related to the anti-Islam film, which was made in the US, were part of the reason for its restrictions on joint operations. Afghanistan - like many other countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia - has seen days of protests over the video, some violent. On Monday, hundreds of protesters threw rocks and torched police vehicles in an angry protest against the film in Kabul. The AFP news agency said hundreds more staged a new protest in the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday. Another prompt for the new restrictions is the recent surge in so-called "green-on-blue" attacks, Isaf said. The shift in NATO's operational procedures has not been well explained. Considerable confusion remains as to what exactly will or will not change on the ground. A NATO spokesman says that partnering operations below battalion level will have to be approved by a senior regional commander; the British defence secretary in contrast suggests most UK-Afghan operations will continue unchanged down to company level. Clearly the aim is to reduce the exposure of NATO personnel to potential attack by uniformed Afghans. The cumulative effect of these attacks strikes at the very core of NATO's mission. With most NATO combat troops due to leave in 2014, operations are in transition between counter-insurgency and a training and mentoring role. But training and mentoring require trust and a functioning relationship between NATO and Afghan personnel. It is this the so-called "green-on-blue" attacks destroys, and thus their significance goes well beyond the numerical count of the casualties they cause. Fifty-one NATO troops have been killed by Afghan soldiers so far this year - 15 in August alone. In 2008, just two soldiers died in such attacks - though Isaf and Afghan force numbers have also increased substantially in that period. Four US soldiers and two UK soldiers died in rogue attacks at the weekend. A fifth of UK soldiers killed this year in Afghanistan were killed not by insurgents, but by Afghan soldiers or police. Joint operations will now only be conducted routinely at battalion level - large operations involving several hundred troops. "This does not mean there will be no partnering below that level; the need for that will be evaluated on a case by case basis" but it will have to be approved by a two-star general, Isaf said. It later clarified that the changes were temporary. "In some local instances, operational tempo has been reduced, or force protection has been increased. These actions balance the tension of the recent video with force protection, while maintaining the momentum of the campaign," said a second statement. NATO insisted it remained "absolutely committed to partnering with, training, advising and assisting our ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] counterparts". In a news conference, US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta told reporters he was concerned about the effect of insider attacks. But he insisted they did not mean the Taliban was getting stronger or regaining lost territory. He said the US would do all it could to minimise risks to its forces, but "we will not lose sight of the fundamental mission here, which is to continue to proceed to assure a peaceful transition to Afghan security and governance". Mr Hammond said the changes would have "minimal impact" on UK operations. The UK has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Kabul, says international and Afghan forces are meant to fight shoulder-to-shoulder against the Taliban and the new restrictions strike at the heart of NATO's strategy in Afghanistan. In practical terms, US soldiers are already staying on their bases, while Afghans carry out patrols alone. The Afghan ministry of defence said it had not been formally notified of the changes until a hurriedly convened meeting with NATO on Tuesday. There has been enormous frustration among NATO commanders that Afghan officials have not been doing enough to prevent the rise in attacks. Correspondents say the Isaf shift is clearly aimed at sending a signal to the Afghan government that it must improve its vetting of new entrants to the Afghan army and police force. But with 7,000 new recruits a month joining the Afghan army alone, it is a huge challenge to ensure Taliban militants do not slip through the net, they say. (BBC)