Afghanistan

By Jon Queally | Agencies | 14 Feb 2013

Afghan officials say that five children are among the ten civilians killed by a US/NATO missile attack in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday.

"Four women and five children were killed, and five children wounded. One man, who was the leader of the family, was also killed, according to reports from the site," a man named Farid told The Guardian's local correspondent by telephone. Farid is the chief of staff to the governor of Kunar Province, where the missile strike took place.

By Jacob Chamberlain | Agencies | 12 Feb 2013

The use of torture within prisons controlled by Afghan security forces trained by the US military is still rampant in the country, according to the results of a two-week "fact-finding mission" by an internal Afghan government commission.

The findings, released Monday, confirm a U.N. report released last month that exposed widespread abuses among Afghan forces.

B Jon Queally | Agencies | 22 Jan 2013

As the war inside Afghanistan grinds on, a new UN survey shows that US- and NATO-backed Afghan security forces have been ruthless in their treatment of detainees with widespread reports of systematic torture, gross mistreatment and possible disappearances happening in the country's growing system of detention centers and prisons.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | 03 Jan 2013

The Taliban has likened the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan to America’s pullout from Vietnam, calling it a “declare victory and run” strategy in a statement on Wednesday.

The announcement by the militant group said the ongoing transfer of security operations from U.S. troops to Afghan forces was merely a retreat similar to the American withdrawal from South Vietnam prior to the communist victory there in 1975.
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By Andrea Germanos | Agencies | 02 Jan 2013

Humanitarian assistance is failing the dire needs of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons in Afghanistan who have fled one life-threatening situation to find another as cold temperatures leave them struggling to survive.

Last winter over 100 children died from the cold in the many makeshift camps around the Afghan capital.

Source : Agencies | 26 Dec 2012

A suicide bomber killed three people in an attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the same base that is believed to be used by the CIA and which a suicide bomber attacked three years ago killing seven CIA employees.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the eastern town of Khost, saying they had sent a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives to the base.

"The target was those who serve Americans at that base," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

Source : Andrea Germanos | Agencies | 20 Dec 2012<

The US Army announced on Wednesday that it would seek the death penalty for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who stands accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers, including women and children.

RT reports:

By Reuters | 18 Dec 2012

Afghan father-of-four Mohammad Nasir has a secret he’s been keeping from his family.

The aid worker pulls a television bench out from the living-room wall of his Kabul home. Behind it is a carved out shelf, hiding what he hopes will keep loved ones safe when Western troops withdraw by the end of 2014 -- an AK-47 assault rifle.

Arms purchases are soaring in Afghanistan, along with the price of weapons, a sign that many Afghans fear a return of the Taliban, civil war or rising lawlessness.

Source : The Express Tribune | 13 Dec 2012

In an effort to promote trade an economic cooperation, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey on Wednesday set up ‘trilateral trade council’ at a summit meeting among the presidents of the three countries. 

By Rob Crilly and Ben Farmer | The Telegraph | 11 Dec 2012

The blueprint, obtained by the McClatchy news agency and confirmed by a source close to the talks, would also see Islamabad take over Washington's role in co-ordinating talks between insurgents and the government in Kabul.