Asia Pacific • Page 509 of 562 • The Defense Post

Oct- 2019 -

30 October

US approves $4.5 billion upgrade of Japan F-15s to Super Interceptor configuration

The US approved a $4.5 billion program for Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to upgrade 98 of Japan's F-15 fighter jets

29 October

Ground Zero after the Battle of Marawi in the Philippines

Pawel Wojcik

Suicide bombs and foreign fighters are burgeoning jihadi threats for the Philippines

Failure to take seriously Islamic State's use of suicide bombers and foreign fighters for its East Asia Province poses a threat to the Philippines

23 October

Representatives from the Afghanistan High Peace Council, Taliban and Russian Federation

Staff Writer With AFP

China offers to host Afghanistan peace talks

China has invited the Taliban to an "intra-Afghan" conference after a prospective deal between the US and the insurgents collapsed last month

19 October

Taliban car bomb in Shash Darak area of Kabul, Afghanistan

Staff Writer With AFP

UN report documents highest Afghan civilian casualties in a single month since records began

An “unprecedented” number of civilians were killed or injured in Afghanistan between July and September this year, the United Nations said in a new report released on Thursday, October 17, calling the violence “totally unacceptable.” The quarterly report, which also charts violence throughout 2019 so far, underscores how “Afghans have been exposed to extreme levels of violence for many years” despite promises by all sides to “prevent and mitigate harm to civilians.” The figures – 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured from July 1 until September 30 – represent the largest number of civilian casualties the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has recorded in a single quarter since it began systematically documenting civilian casualties in 2009, and a 42% increase over the same period last year. July also saw the most civilians killed and injured in a single month since UNAMA records began in 2009. “Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable,” said the U.N.’s special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, adding they demonstrate the importance of talks leading to a ceasefire and a permanent political settlement. “The impact of Afghanistan’s conflict on civilians is appalling,” said Fiona Frazer, UNAMA’s Human Rights Chief. Afghanistan violence surges in Q3 2019 The U.N. laid …

18 October

Staff Writer With AFP

1

US approves sale to South Korea of 120 AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air-missiles

The US State Department approved the sale to South Korea of 120 AIM-120C-7/C-8 AMRAAM missiles at an estimated cost of $253 million

16 October

India gifts Mi-35/Mi-24V attack helicopters to Afghanistan

Fergus Kelly

1

India hands over final pair of Mi-35 helicopter gunships to Afghanistan

India gave two more Mi-35/Mi-24V helicopter gunships to the Afghan Air Force

15 October

Afghan Air Force Mi-17 helicopter medical evacuation exercise

Staff Writer With AFP

1

Afghanistan Mi-17 helicopter crashes in Balkh province, killing 7

At least seven Afghan military personnel were killed when their Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the northern province of Balkh

10 October

Staff Writer With AFP

Indonesia says ISIS-linked militants stabbed security minister Wiranto

Suspected Jamaah Ansharut Daulah militants stabbed Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto, leaving two deep wounds in his stomach and injuring three others

9 October

Afghan Special Security Forces and U.S. Special Operations Forces await exfiltration after night raids on compounds used by Taliban irreconcilables to plan and facilitate attacks in western Balkh province

Joanne Stocker

1

US airstrikes on Afghanistan drug factories killed at least 30 civilians, UNAMA finds

US airstrikes on drug-production centers in Afghanistan's Farah province led to the deaths of at least 39 civilians and the facilities are not lawful targets.

8 October