Photo: IRIN Thousands of girls go to school in Kabul KABUL, 21 March 2007 (IRIN) – Schools in Afghanistan will open their doors to more than six million pupils at the start of the new academic year on 24 March – almost double the number of the past five years. …
Read More »Freed reporter tells of murder
Freed reporter tells of murder      Mastrogiacomo was met by his wife and children at Ciampino airport in Rome [AFP] Daniele Mastrogiacomo, the Italian journalist freed on Monday after being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan, has described how he was forced to watch his chauffeur …
Read More »india funds new power projects in Afghanistan
ndia is funding the construction and reconstruction of various power projects in Afghanistan. Some of these are: Construction of 220kV double circuit transmission line of 202 km from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul and a 220/110/20kV substation in Kabul, Afghanistan, at an estimated cost of Rs 478 crore. It involves the construction …
Read More »AFGHANISTAN: UNHCR increases cash grant for repatriation
Photo: IRIN Refugees arrive in Kabul in brightly coloured vehicles KABUL, 20 March 2007 (IRIN) – Afghan refugees living in Iran and Pakistan will receive a six-fold increase in cash grants upon their return to Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). “We want to support the reintegration …
Read More »AFGHANISTAN: Floods and avalanches kill dozens and displace hundreds
Photo: WFP Destruction and damage left by flooding KABUL, 20 March 2007 (IRIN) – More than 50 people have been killed and hundreds displaced because of heavy rainfall, avalanches and floods over the past few days in Afghanistan’s southern and south-western provinces, officials say. In Uruzgan, Helmand, Badghis and Ghor …
Read More »Winning Afghan hearts and splitting hairs
KABUL – Amid political bickering in Washington and Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which assumed command of international military operations for Afghanistan last October, is struggling to assert a new image – one that Afghans can get their minds around. “We are determined to build the NATO brand …
Read More »Afghans admit doing deal with Taliban to free Italian hostage
The Afghan government admitted yesterday it had struck a deal with Taliban kidnappers to secure the freedom of an Italian hostage. An Italian aid agency said Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a journalist with La Repubblica newspaper, was freed only after five Taliban militants had been released from prison.President Hamid Karzai’s spokesmen admitted …
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