Reuters: Afgan police clashed on Tuesday with dozens of stone-throwing protesters who gathered at a religious school on the outskirts of the capital to complain about arrests by foreign forces. Reuters witnesses saw police firing rounds into the air and on the ground to disperse the protesters, and also what appeared to be three...
Read more »
Archive for January, 2012
U.S. dog raid rumor sparks violent Afghan clash
Police official says eight Afghan civilians killed in NATO raid
VOA: NATO says a joint Afgan-international force killed a Taliban commander and several armed individuals in southern Afganistan, but local villagers say the dead are all civilians. In eastern Afganistan, officials say eight civilians, including women and children, were killed in a roadside bombing in Ghazni province on Monday.
Read more »
The wounds of war: physical, psychological injuries legacy of Afghan battle
The Canadian Press: Master Cpl. Jody Mitic was a sniper on patrol with his unit in Kandahar province in January 2007 when he stepped on a land mine and lost both legs below the knee. In the split second it took for the charge to explode, Mitic’s life changed instantly, irrevocably. Mitic is one...
Read more »
Bodies found beheaded in Afghanistan; 4 troops die
The Associated Press: Four American troops were reported killed and the bodies of 11 Afgan men, some beheaded, were found in rising violence across Afganistan. Mohammad Khan, deputy police chief in Uruzgan province, said a villager in the Bagh Char area of Khas Uruzgan district spotted the bodies Friday in a field and called...
Read more »
Afghan attorney general says US envoy “threatened” him
ANP/AFP: Afganistan’s top prosecutor Tuesday accused US ambassador Karl Eikenberry of threatening to have him removed from his job if he did not take action against an Afgan banker allegedly involved in fraud. “Against all diplomatic ethics, the US ambassador tells me: “If you don’t jail him, you must resign,” Alko told reporters, citing...
Read more »
Afghanistan Again
The Huffington Post: After nine years of war the U.S. occupation of Afganistan lacks support at home and is widely recognized as a drain on the domestic economy in a time of severe economic contraction. The billions of dollars in U.S. economic assistance to the Hamid Karzai government has created an unsustainable class of...
Read more »
Warlords and Taliban receive millions of dollars from the USA
The New York Times: American taxpayers have inadvertently created a network of warlords across Afganistan who are making millions of dollars escorting NATO convoys and operating outside the control of either the Afgan government or the American and NATO militaries, according to the results of a Congressional investigation released Monday.
Read more »
Fewer than 100 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan: CIA chief
AFP: CIA director Leon Panetta has estimated there are only 50 to 100 Al Qaeda militants operating inside Afganistan, as US forces work to “flush out” mastermind Osama bin Laden. Mr Panetta said US forces had killed or captured at least half the Al Qaeda leadership, making the terrorist group the weakest it has...
Read more »
Blackwater deal in Afghanistan questioned by Congress
The Guardian: The Obama administration has awarded $220m (£146m) in new contracts to the military contractor formerly known as Blackwater to provide security in Afganistan. This is despite accusations against the company of murder and indiscriminate killings of civilians in Iraq and investigations into alleged corruption and sanctions busting. The contracts have drawn stinging...
Read more »