Afghanistan

Yasar Buyukanit, Turkey’s chief of general staff, told a security conference in Antalya on Tuesday (July 3rd) that there is not enough international co-operation in fighting Kurdish terrorists.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Thousands of American troops celebrated their 4th of July independence holiday in Afghanistan on Wednesday, far from home but treated to a feast of hotdogs, burgers, corn on the cob and ice cream.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – A bomb struck a NATO vehicle in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, killing six Canadian soldiers and their interpreter, while a German national was reported kidnapped in a remote and dangerous area.

The death toll for private contractors in the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has topped 1,000, a stark reminder of the risks run by civilians working with the military in roles previously held by soldiers.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US military has said coalition forces in Afghanistan are going to “great lengths” to minimize civilian casualties during attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.

ROME (AFP) – A two-day global meet on the state of law in war-battered Afghanistan opened in Rome Monday and due to be addressed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and NATO head Jaap De Hoop Scheffer.

BUNYAT, Afghanistan – Fatama’s husband left home one night to smuggle drugs from their mud-thatch border village into Iran. The next morning, her brother-in-law gave her the news: Her husband had been killed.

In public, Afghanistan has played down US and British allegations that Iran is feeding weapons to Taliban insurgents, but in private, officials here say the charges are true — and worrying.

US military officials have admitted civilians were among those killed in a US-led air raid on a village in Afghanistan.

KABUL (AFP) – In a small room that looks like a prison cell, files stand in waist-high piles on the floor. An official explains there is no fixed price for a bribe to pick one out and send it moving through the courts.