Eurasia Press & News
BISHKEK – Kyrgyzstan began moves on Wednesday to close a U.S. military air base in the former Soviet republic which is vital for supplying U.S.-led troops fighting in Afghanistan. The decision by a traditional Russian ally in Central Asia sends a tough signal and challenge to new U.S. President Barack …
Read More »Afghan president hits out at NATO and U.S. allies
KABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed criticism of U.S. and NATO-led forces on Wednesday and said he was determined his government would take a stronger role in the deployment and work of foreign troops. Last month, Karzai’s government presented a draft proposal to NATO with a list of measures …
Read More »Afghanistan says foreign fighters coming from Iraq
KABUL – With the reduction of violence in Iraq, foreign militants were now flooding into Afghanistan to join Taliban insurgents battling Afghan and international troops, the Afghan defense minister said Wednesday. There was a 33 percent rise in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan in 2008, according to NATO-led forces. Violence is …
Read More »U.S. to emphasize security goals in Afghanistan
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 …
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