Eurasia Press & News
BRUSSELS – NATO said Thursday it was pleased an election date had been announced in Afghanistan and said it would give the alliance enough time to deploy sufficient reinforcements to help protect the vote. Afghanistan said Thursday it would hold presidential polls on August 20, only the second time the …
Read More »Obama Afghan strategy to stress non-military role
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will press Afghan President Hamid Karzai to extend government control beyond the capital and fight corruption in a new U.S. policy that will have a “significant non-military component,” a White House official said on Wednesday. The White House is conducting a review of all aspects …
Read More »NATO says killed 97 Afghan civilians in 2008
BRUSSELS – NATO-led forces killed nearly 100 civilians in operations against militants in Afghanistan last year, the alliance said on Wednesday, while blaming insurgents for the deaths of 10 times that number. Civilian casualties have eroded public support for President Hamid Karzai’s government and foreign troops backing it. It has …
Read More »EU says will invite Iran to Afghan conference
PRAGUE – The European Union said on Wednesday it would invite Iran to a conference on Afghanistan. Calls have grown in the international community to engage Iran in both regional diplomacy and in direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the planned conference would …
Read More »As Afghanistan hots up, private security moves in
LONDON – Private security companies are expanding operations in Afghanistan as the war there heats up, but industry experts say those that made fortunes in Iraq may find business much tougher in the new market. As Iraq has grown more stable, Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strong, has been …
Read More »Taliban say Guantanamo closure “positive step”
LONDON – The Taliban told U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday that his plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison camp was a “positive step” but peace was only possible if he withdraws U.S. forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. The Taliban, toppled in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, also told …
Read More »US Seeks Dialogue With Iran over Afghanistan
TEHRAN (FNA)- Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen said on Tuesday that US can hold dialogue with Iran over Afghanistan. Mullen underlined that the US can hold dialogue with Iran and find some mutual interests in Afghanistan and such talks “could be useful”. “With respect …
Read More »Taliban want to expel foreign troops, not win power
KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban are fighting not to win power but to push foreign armies out of Afghanistan and U.S. President Barack Obama will only make the country more unstable by sending more troops, a former Taliban official said on Wednesday. “The plan that he had to increase the …
Read More »Suicide bomb kills 2 Afghan soldiers, wounds 3
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide car bomb killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded three Wednesday in the western province of Herat, the Defense Ministry said. Violence in Afghanistan has surged over the last year to its worst level since 2001, with Taliban militants launching more suicide and roadside bomb attacks …
Read More »Petraeus on Afghan visit after supply routes deal
KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. General David Petraeus met Afghan President Hamid Karzai overnight, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, after the regional military chief said deals had been made on new transport routes into Afghanistan from Central Asia. The U.S. military has had to look at new ways to help supply …
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