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NEWS ABOUT: Afghanistan

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Taliban: Prince Harry Shouldn't Kill

'Captain Wales' to return to Afghanistan this year; he'll be Taliban target

(Newser) - Newly qualified Apache helicopter pilot Prince Harry is expected to return to Afghanistan for a tour of duty this year, and the people he might be shooting at aren't happy about it. "A prince should use his position to help people, not to come and kill people around... More »

CIA Fills Void in Iraq, Afghanistan

Agency expects to maintain large stations there for years

(Newser) - US troops may be leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, but the CIA isn't. The agency's stations in the two countries may see staffing levels fall off a bit, but they'll remain its biggest overseas locations for years, officials tell the Washington Post . The Obama administration is counting on... More »

US Eyes Switch to Special Ops in Afghanistan

Focus to be on training, special missions, not policing

(Newser) - The United States may be wrapping up its combat operations in Afghanistan a year early, but the fight against insurgents and terrorists will continue in the form of US special forces, who are expected to stay in the country well after 2014, reports the New York Times . According to the... More »

Afghan Civilian Deaths Hit New High

More than 3K killed, mostly by Taliban

(Newser) - Last year was the worst for violence against Afghan civilians since the UN started keeping track five years ago, with 3,021 killed, according to the AP . The UN report attributed the 8% rise in civilian killings to a surge in roadside bombs and suicide attacks by insurgents, with Taliban-affiliated... More »

Panetta: US Combat Role in Afghanistan Over in 2013

But American, NATO troops will still have 'robust' advisory role

(Newser) - At some point next year, the US will no longer be fighting a war in Afghanistan for the first time in a decade. "Hopefully by mid to the latter part of 2013 we’ll be able to make a transition from a combat role to a training, advise, and... More »

Backed By Pakistan, Taliban Set to Retake Afghanistan

ISI providing direct assistance, says secret NATO report viewed by the BBC

(Newser) - Big news from the BBC this morning: It says it has viewed a secret NATO report that suggests the Taliban will retake Afghanistan as soon as NATO exits the country, thanks in part to assistance it is receiving from Pakistan's ISI. The report was compiled following 27,000 interrogations... More »

Afghan Man Strangles Wife for Having Girl

He's at large, mom who aided him busted: cops

(Newser) - An Afghan militiaman strangled his wife for giving birth to a third daughter instead of a son, according to law enforcement authorities. The 28-year-old victim was killed in her home in the northern province of Kunduz by her husband and his mother just three months after the woman had the... More »

Sarkozy Wants Out of Afghanistan Next Year

France will withdraw combat troops by the end of 2013

(AP) - France and Afghanistan agree NATO should speed up by a year its timetable for handing all combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, President Nicolas Sarkozy said today, raising new questions about the unity of the Western military alliance. Sarkozy also announced that all French combat troops will leave the... More »

Afghan Asylum Seekers Reach 10-Year High

Human smuggling in Afghanistan, Pakistan worth $1B annually

(Newser) - In the tenth year since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, more Afghans sought asylum abroad last year than any time since the war began, reports the AP . A UN report says that more than 30,000 Afghans applied for political asylum around the world from January to November, a 25%... More »

Hatred Fueling Afghan Army Attacks on Allied Troops

Mutual contempt behind most attacks on NATO troops from within: report

(Newser) - Even before today's attack on French troops , the number of deadly attacks on US and other coalition troops by Afghan soldiers was steadily rising. And while the military continues to describe the attacks as isolated incidents, a classified report obtained by the New York Times tells a very different... More »

After Afghan Soldier Kills 4 Troops, French to Withdraw?

6 other coalition troops killed in helicopter crash

(Newser) - France suspended its training programs in Afghanistan today after an Afghan National Army soldier shot and killed four French troops and wounded 16 others. The soldier, who opened fire at a base in eastern Afghanistan, has been arrested, the BBC reports. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says France may now withdraw... More »

'No Surprise' Marines Urinated on Taliban

War always dehumanizes, but America's torture policies make it worse

(Newser) - The video of US Marines urinating on the corpses of several Taliban members in Afghanistan may have shocked many and earned widespread condemnation —but that shock shows a basic misunderstanding of war, which is inherently dehumanizing, writes Sebastian Junger in the Washington Post . "Of course they have dehumanized... More »

Marines in Urination Video ID'd

Hillary Clinton calls incident possible war crime

(Newser) - Investigators have identified the four Marines shown in a video apparently urinating on Taliban corpses, and they could be charged today, CBS News reports. The military has interviewed at least two of the men on the matter as officials scramble to address its fallout. "Anyone, anyone found to have... More »

Panetta Calls Karzai Over Marines' Video

Two of the four servicemen have been identified

(Newser) - The US went into full damage control mode today over a video that surfaced yesterday that appeared to show four Marines urinating on Taliban fighters' corpses . Leon Panetta called Hamid Karzai to decry the video, and he issued a statement calling the actions "entirely inappropriate," the Wall Street ... More »

US-Taliban Peace Talks Could Resume Within Weeks

Hamid Karzai just needs to give the OK

(Newser) - Peace talks between the US and the Taliban could resume within weeks, just as soon as Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives the go-ahead. The last tentative deal, which involved transferring five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan custody, fell apart in December because Karzai would not cooperate, the Washington ... More »

Video Allegedly Shows Marines Urinating on Bodies

USMC is investigating clip apparently of dead Taliban fighters

(Newser) - The Pentagon has a potentially nasty scandal on its hands: The US Marine Corps says it is investigating a 40-second video that surfaced today on YouTube and elsewhere that appears to show four Marines urinating on the corpses of three Taliban fighters, reports the Air Force Times . The men joke... More »

We're Wasting Billions in Afghanistan Aid

US has spent $73B since 9/11, but accounting is too lax: James R. Petersen

(Newser) - The US has poured $73 billion in reconstruction aid into Afghanistan since 9/11, but only a small fraction of that has reached the intended recipients, writes a former government auditor. "Where has all the money gone?" asks James R. Petersen, who worked in Afghanistan and later with the US... More »

Karzai to US: Hand Over Bagram Prison

Miffed Afghan president accuses US of human rights abuses

(Newser) - Hamid Karzai today demanded that the US give up control of its prison in Bagram by the end of the month, over what his office called "many cases of violations of Afghan Constitution … and human rights." It's a familiar demand—Afghan officials announced they had a... More »

Taliban Leaders at Gitmo to Be Freed

Part of peace negotiation 'concessions,' according to sources

(Newser) - High-ranking Taliban leaders will be released from Guantanamo Bay as a good-faith showing in advance of planned Afghanistan peace negotiations with US officials, sources are telling the Guardian . Rumors that such a move was underfoot began circulating early last month , but preparations are now being formalized after the Afghan insurgents... More »

Taliban to Open Qatar Office for US Peace Talks

Talks eschew Hamid Karzai's Afganistan government

(Newser) - The Taliban admitted publicly for the first time today that it is in the midst of peace talks with the US, announcing that it would open a “political office” in Qatar to conduct them. The militant organization’s statement pointedly made no mention of the Kabul-based Afghan government, however,... More »

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