Afghanistan
Afghanistan Clinic Attack by NATO and Afghan Forces Violates Geneva Convention
Source : Agencies | 017 Dec 2012
NATO and Afghan forces attacked and occupied a non-profit health clinic in Afghanistan in October, the aid group that runs the clinic said Thursday after meeting with the international officials to discuss the violation of the Geneva Convention.
Pakistan's Endgame in Afghanistan?
By Aparna Pande | HuffPost | 05 Dec 2012
As preparations for the American draw down from Afghanistan get underway, there appears to be another game in town: played by Pakistan's leaders, strategists and for lack of a better word, sympathizers. The argument put forth is this: all problems would be solved if only India would stop playing a role in Afghanistan and if the world, especially the U.S., understood (read 'supported') Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan. In itself this sounds simple, however, in reality it is not.
Review details how Afghan execs looted Kabul Bank
By Deb Riechmann | AP | 28 Nov 2012
Hundreds of millions of dollars from Kabul Bank were spirited out of Afghanistan — some smuggled in airline food trays — to bank accounts in more than two dozen countries, according to an independent review released on Wednesday about massive fraud that led to the collapse of the nation’s largest financial institution.
France ends combat mission in Afghanistan
By AFP | 20 Nov 2012
France ended its last combat mission in Afghanistan on Tuesday, withdrawing troops from a strategic province northeast of Kabul as part of an accelerated departure from the war-torn country.
Paris has said all French combat soldiers will leave next month, two years before allied nations contributing to the 100,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the United States are due to depart.
KSA to fund $ 100 m Kabul Islamic center
Source : Arab News | 30 Oct 2012
Saudi Arabia will build a massive Islamic center complete with a university and a mosque in Afghanistan, an Afghan minister said yesterday, describing the project as “grand and unique.”
Estimated to cost up to $100 million, the center on a hilltop in central Kabul will house up to 5,000 students, Dayi-Ul Haq Abed, the acting Haj and religious affairs minister told AFP.
Afghans ready if NATO pull-out early: Karzai
Source : AFP | 19 Oct 2012
Afghanistan is ready to take responsibility for its own security even if NATO forces leave the country earlier than planned, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.
Karzai was speaking at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who had earlier confirmed that the alliance’s combat mission in Afghanistan would end as scheduled in 2014.
“Afghanistan is ready to expedite the process if necessary,” Karzai said. “In case we do it before time we will be ready and happy too,” he added.
Kabul denies hand in US troops’ killing
Source : Agencies | 17 Oct 2012
Afghanistan’s security service is denying claims that the suicide bomber who killed two American troops and four Afghans in a weekend attack was a member of the country’s intelligence agency.
The service’s spokesman, Shafiqullah Tahiri, said yesterday the attacker wore an Afghan uniform to gain access to the intelligence headquarters in Kandahar’s Maruf district.
Tahiri says the attacker blew himself up as a group of NATO troops and Afghans were arriving to deliver new office furniture to the facility on Saturday.
Russia Asks Afghanistan for Help With Soviet MIAs
By Slobodan Lekic | AP | 16 Oct 2012
Russia appealed Monday to the Afghan authorities and public to provide information on over 200 Soviet troops listed as missing since Soviet forces ended their occupation of Afghanistan in 1989 — including 30 to 40 who may still be alive.
Russian ambassador Andrey Avetisyan said the two countries are preparing an agreement that would regulate future efforts to recover the servicemen, who went missing during a decade of guerrilla warfare in the impoverished nation.
