Eurasia Press & News
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is likely to emphasize security goals in Afghanistan by approving extra troop deployments even before the White House completes its review of Afghan strategy, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The emphasis on military operations reflects a shift in U.S. thinking that places greater priority on …
Read More »U.N. chief in Afghanistan for security talks
KABUL (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Afghanistan on Wednesday for talks with President Hamid Karzai and NATO military leaders, the U.N. said. Ban’s unannounced visit comes a day after the U.N. said more than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2008, 40 percent more …
Read More »Afghan forces arrest suicide bomb cell, official says
KABUL – Afghan security forces have arrested a group of Taliban militants they say were behind a series of suicide bomb strikes in the capital, Kabul, including one outside the German embassy, an intelligence official said on Tuesday. The group of 17 men, led by a 23-year-old Pakistani national, had …
Read More »FACTBOX: Afghan supply routes: problems and possibilities
Suspected Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pass Tuesday, cutting the main route for supplies bound for Western forces in land-locked Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said. The easiest land route for supplies and military equipment into Afghanistan is by ship to the Pakistani port of Karachi, and …
Read More »Bomber in police uniform kills 21 Afghan policemen
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan officials say a suicide bomber disguised in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan today, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20. The Taliban are claiming responsibility. In a phone call from an undisclosed location, a Taliban …
Read More »Suicide bomber hits foreign forces in Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) – A Taliban suicide car bomber hit a convoy of foreign troops on the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday, wounding two Afghan civilians and slightly injuring a French soldier, officials said. The attack took place on Kabul’s western edge near a bridge where Italian troops and …
Read More »Afghanistan hits back at Western critics over aid
KABUL – Afghanistan hit back at Western criticism of official corruption on Sunday, saying some 80 percent of international aid was outside government control so donors should be held to account. As U.S. President Barack Obama makes Afghanistan his foreign policy priority, President Hamid Karzai’s government has come under increased …
Read More »Afghan drug crop to fall slightly this year: U.N
KABUL – Drug cultivation is expected to fall slightly in Afghanistan this year as lower opium prices and higher wheat prices encourage some farmers to switch crops, the United Nations said on Sunday. Afghanistan is locked in a vicious circle where drug production helps fund Taliban militants and increases official …
Read More »Gates to give Obama Afghan troop plan in days
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates will give President Barack Obama his formal recommendation on new U.S. troop deployments to Afghanistan within days, the Pentagon said on Thursday. “I would think in the coming days the secretary hopes to be able to present the president with his recommendation,” said Pentagon …
Read More »Doubts emerge over U.S. troop boost for Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – Sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan enjoys broad U.S. political support, from President Barack Obama on down, but some analysts — both in and outside government — are not convinced by the plans. They question whether extra soldiers and Marines will be able to stabilize the country and …
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