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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Kabul

Kabul stories: 51 news summaries

1 - 20 of 51 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

KARZAI INAUGURAL

 Clinton Makes 
 Surprise Afghan Visit 

Secretary arrives amid heightened security, meets with McChrystal

(AP) - Hillary Clinton made an unexpected appearance in Afghanistan today to attend the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai and meet with Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It's Clinton's first trip to Afghanistan since becoming secretary of state. Clinton called the visit "a specific opportunity for everyone to take stock of where we... More »

 UN Evacuates Afghan Staff  

Hundreds pulled out after deadly Kabul attack

(Newser) - The United Nations is pulling more than half of its 1,100 international staff in Afghanistan out of the country as the security situation deteriorates. Some of the 600 staffers would return after new security arrangements were made, while others will be permanently relocated, said a spokesman. Much of the... More »

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UPDATED

 UN Staffers Among 
 Dozen Killed in 
 Kabul Attacks 

Taliban claims responsibility for attacks on guest houses

(Newser) - Six United Nations staffers and six others were killed today when militants armed with automatic weapons, grenades, and suicide vests stormed two guest houses in downtown Kabul where international workers were sleeping. One of the dead was American. The nationalities of the others was not immediately known. Rockets hit another... More »

UPDATED

 Blast Kills 17 Outside 
 Indian Embassy in Kabul 

Rush hour car bomb attack kills street cleaners

(Newser) - At least 17 people were killed and dozens injured when a powerful car bomb exploded in central Kabul today, rattling buildings up to a mile away. The bomb went off across the road from the Afghan Interior Ministry and the Indian embassy, which is believed to have been the target.... More »

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(AP) - A suicide car bomber attacked an Italian military convoy on a road in Afghanistan's capital today, killing six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, the AP reports. The bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into two Italian military vehicles, Italy's defense minister said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying in a... More »

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 Obama to Let 
 Bagram Prisoners 
 Challenge Detention 

Representatives would amass evidence, witnesses for detainees

(Newser) - The White House plans to give some 600 detainees at a US-run prison in Kabul greater power to dispute their custody, the New York Times reports. After an expected rubber stamp from Congress, the Obama administration will send representatives to Bagram Air Base to amass evidence and witnesses for detainees.... More »

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 Kabul Embassy 
 Whistleblower 
 Sues Security Firm 

Manager says he was forced out after trying to stop embassy guards visiting brothels

(Newser) - A former manager who says he tried to lift the lid on bad behavior by guards at the US Embassy in Kabul is suing security contractor ArmorGroup, CNN reports. James Gordon says he was forced out of his job after asking the company and the State Department to investigate guards'... More »

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 Suicide Bomb Rocks 
 NATO Base at Kabul Airport 

At least two civilians dead; foreign troops may also be victims

(Newser) - A suicide bomber blew up his car outside a NATO military base at Afghanistan's main airport today, killing at least two civilians and wounding six others, Reuters reports. Eyewitnesses saw huge flames rising from the airport, which has endured Taliban rocket attacks and suicide bombs in the past. An Afghan... More »

(AP) - The US Embassy in Afghanistan says it has fired eight security guards following allegations of lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters. The management team of the private contractor that provides the guards is also "being replaced immediately," officials at the Kabul embassy said today. The... More »

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 Sex Acts Tied to 
 Promotion at Afghan 
 Embassy: Guard 

Private contractor encouraged nude, drunken parties, worker says

(Newser) - One of the guards at the rowdy US embassy in Kabul went public last night, telling ABC News that new recruits had to participate in naked parties and perform sex acts with other men in order to get promoted or be assigned preferable shifts. The guard, one of 12 who... More »

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(AP) - Guards hired by the State Department to protect diplomats and staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan live and work in a Lord of the Flies environment in which they are subjected to hazing and humiliation by supervisors, a government oversight group says. In a 10-page letter to Hillary Clinton,... More »

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(Newser) - Taliban fighters wearing explosive-laced vests stormed a government-run bank in central Kabul today, precipitating an hours-long shootout with Afghan forces 24 hours before the presidential election. A Taliban source said that 20 militants had entered Kabul, a day after a suicide bomb and a rocket attack rocked the capital. Afghan... More »

(AP) - A suicide car bomb exploded early today outside the main gate of NATO's headquarters, killing seven and wounding 91 in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six months.  The bomber evaded several rings of Afghan police and detonated his explosives on the doorstep of the international military... More »

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(AP) - A massive truck bomb near Kabul killed 25 people today, including 13 primary school students, and sent pieces of the vehicle flying more than a mile from the blast, reports the AP. The truck overturned in the road last night, and when police arrived this morning to clear the way... More »

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(Newser) - Kabul Zoo officials have locked up the only known pig in Afghanistan to allay visitors' fears that it might spread swine flu, Reuters reports. Pork is illegal in Afghanistan for religious reasons; the country’s lone porcine resident is a zoo animal. “For now, the pig is under quarantine,... More »

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Karzai Takes Ex-Warlords as Afghan Running Mates

Qasim Fahim held the post until 2004

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai tapped a former mujahedeen warlord as one of his two vice-presidential candidates today, the New York Times reports. Muhammad Qasim Fahim was Karzai’s vice president from the beginning of his administration through 2004, and still holds sway with political parties made up of former guerrillas.... More »

(Newser) - Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, arrived in the region yesterday as waves of killings were washing over both countries, the BBC reports. While touring Pakistan’s volatile frontier region, a local official was killed by a roadside bomb. At the same time in... More »

(Newser) - Gunmen launched coordinated suicide attacks on three government buildings in Afghanistan’s capital today, killing at least 19 and injuring more than 50, the BBC reports. Attackers armed with AK-47s, grenades, and in some cases explosive vests hit the prison directorate and the justice and education ministries. The Taliban claimed... More »

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 Power Returns 
 to Kabul, but 
 Bribes Persist 

Deal boosts electricity access, business in struggling Afghan capital

(Newser) - For the first time since the fall of the Taliban, the glow of light hangs over Kabul late into the night, GlobalPost reports. An energy deal with Uzbekistan is bringing unprecedented access to electricity to the Afghan capital, where most neighborhoods only had power for about four hours every second... More »

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ANALYSIS

Kidnap Rise Adds to Afghan Woes Awaiting Obama

Obama faces an increasingly challenging scenario as government falters in Kabul

(Newser) - A rash of kidnappings has struck Afghanistan, a symptom of the deteriorating security situation there, writes Masha Hamilton in Salon. Kabul is no longer viewed as a safe haven as the Taliban and criminal gangs seize foreigners and Afghans alike—sometimes for ideological reasons, often just for a ransom payment.... More »

1 - 20 of 51 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>