PAN: About 3,000 people lose their lives every year in Kabul due to pollution-related diseases, a top health official said. Respiratory, heart and lung diseases were the most common illnesses associated with pollution, said Dr. Amanullah Hussaini, who heads the environmental safety department at the Ministry of Health.
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Archive for October, 2011
Kabul the most polluted province
Afghanistan police corruption is fuelling insurgency
The Telegraph: Lt Col Roly Walker, who lost five of his soldiers when they were shot dead by a rogue policeman in a compound in Helmand in November, said that the force was still one of the “biggest obstacles to progress.” He said that the local force was “the reason for the insurgency” in...
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Garishly incongruous “poppy palaces” lure affluent Afghans
The Washington Post: For rent on Street 6 in the neighborhood of Sherpur: a four-story, 11-bedroom dwelling of pink granite and lime marble, complete with massage showers, a rooftop fountain and, in the basement, an Asian-themed nightclub. Price: $12,000 a month. It’s a relative bargain in this district favored by former warlords and bureaucrats...
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Abuse drives some Afghan women to suicide
IWPR: Only someone living in Afganistan would consider Iran a bastion of freedom and independence for women. But authorities here say such a perception may be what’s behind a soaring number of suicides in this western province. Once exposed to Iran’s relatively more sophisticated society, women who return to Afganistan are unable to survive...
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AFGHANISTAN: Maternal health needs more than healthcare
IRIN: Nowhere in the world are as many mothers dying from pregnancy and birth-related complications as in Badakhshan Province, northeastern Afganistan, where maternal mortality figures are estimated at 6,000 per 100,000 live births, say agencies. Yet, the relatively peaceful province has more maternal healthcare facilities than Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan and several others.
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US Military Campaigns In Iraq And Afghanistan Cost More Than USD1 Trillion: Report
RTT News: A report by a non-profit organization which tracks American military spending says the total cost of the US military intervention in Iraq and Afganistan has crossed $1 trillion. According to a report released Thursday by “National Priorities Project,” the ongoing military operations in the two war-ravaged nations are the most expensive ever...
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Taliban execute seven-year-old Afghan boy accused of spying
The Times of India: Suspected Taliban militants executed a seven-year-old boy in southern Afganistan after accusing him of spying for the government, a provincial official said Wednesday. The child was captured by the militants in Sangin district of southern province of Helmand Tuesday, Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.
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Explosion kills at least 39, wounds 73 at Afghan wedding
AFP: At least 39 people were killed and 73 wounded by a massive explosion at a wedding in the southern Afgan province of Kandahar on Wednesday, a senior official said. Most of the victims were male as the explosion occurred in an area of the wedding celebrations reserved for men. An AFP reporter at...
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Afghan girls brave Taliban threats
Al Jazeera: The Taliban has waged a violent campaign against girls who go to schools in their Afgan strongholds. A series of attacks against schools and female students have driven many girls to go underground to receive an education. In 2008 around 15 schoolgirls and teachers were sprayed with acid by men on motorbikes.
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