Afghanistan

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Senators OK After Emergency Afghan Landing

Snowstorm grounds choppers carrying Kerry, Biden, Hagel

(Newser) - Helicopters transporting three US senators over mountains in Afghanistan were forced to make an emergency landing today due to a snowstorm, the Associated Press reports. US troops sent ground transportation for Democrats John Kerry and Joseph Biden and Republican Chuck Hagel, none of whom was injured, and returned them to...

Probe Looms for US Billions to Pakistan

LIttle accounting for use of mammoth payments

(Newser) - The electoral defeat of President Pervez Musharraf may prompt Congress to scrutinize the Coalition Support Funds—billions of dollars paid by the US to Pakistan to foot the bill for military action against al-Qaeda near the border with Afghanistan. US officials approve some $80 million a month despite only vague...

New Afghan Bombing Kills 37
New Afghan Bombing Kills 37
Feb 18, 2008 7:16 AM CST

New Afghan Bombing Kills 37

Target was a NATO convoy

(Newser) - Terrorists targeting a Canadian NATO convoy today in southern Afghanistan killed at least 37 when they detonated a massive car bomb in a crowded marketplace, the Guardian reports. At least 30 more were wounded, including three soldiers. Like yesterday’s bombing, which claimed 100 lives and was the deadliest since...

80 Killed in Afghan Bombing
80 Killed in Afghan Bombing
Feb 17, 2008 5:40 AM CST

80 Killed in Afghan Bombing

Worst Taliban suicide attack since 2001 hits spectators at dog fight

(Newser) - A suicide blast today killed at least 80 in a crowd of spectators watching a dog fight in the Afghan city of Kandahar. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but local authorities believe it was the work of the Taliban, which has a large presence in the area, BBC reports....

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat
Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat
Feb 12, 2008 9:20 AM CST

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat

Ambassador to Afghanistan feared kidnapped near border

(Newser) - Pakistani officials are hunting for their ambassador to neighboring Afghanistan, and the country's president believes he was abducted, Reuters reports. "The Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has been kidnapped while traveling to Afghanistan," Hamid Karzai said. The diplomat went missing yesterday while traveling through the Khyber Pass, a region...

Bush Envoy Wants to Rule Afghanistan, Rumors Say

Ambassador lets political buzz persist

(Newser) - Diplomatic circles are abuzz about a US envoy who reportedly wants to rule Afghanistan next year. Zalmay Khalilzad, ex-US diplomat to Afghanistan and Iraq, hasn't squelched the gossip about his presidential aspirations either. He even joked at Columbia University recently that “I didn’t come here to collect contributions...

Gates Asks Europe for More Afghan Troops

Says Iraq-weary Euros underestimate threat of unstable Afghanistan

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates appealed today to European allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, saying in Munich that the "threat posed by violent Islamic extremism is real" and that NATO's credibility in combating it is at stake, Reuters reports. France has indicated it could send more troops,...

Taliban: Korea Paid $4M Ransom
Taliban: Korea Paid $4M Ransom
Feb 7, 2008 9:40 AM CST

Taliban: Korea Paid $4M Ransom

Commander says Seoul paid millions to release hostages

(Newser) - The Taliban released 21 South Korean hostages five months ago only after Seoul paid at least $4 million in ransom, a senior insurgent commander now claims. Contrary to South Korea's official denial to Newsweek that money changed hands, the commander said freeing the missionaries without recompense "would not have...

Rice Pays Surprise Visit to Kandahar

Bid to reassure Afghan president of NATO commitment

(Newser) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart David Miliband made a surprise visit today to Kandahar, the dangerous city in southern Afghanistan that diplomats rarely visit. Rice and Miliband will meet Hamid Karzai later today to try to reassure the Afghan president that his country remains a...

NATO Faces a Split Over Afghanistan

US says alliance could become 'two-tiered' unless others pull their weight

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today that NATO risks splitting into a "two-tiered alliance" because some members aren't willing to pull their weight in Afghanistan. The vast majority of the fighting against the Taliban in the country is done by Canadian, British, American and Dutch troops, and those...

Afghanistan Could Sunder Canadian Government

PM Harper aims to extend combat mission

(Newser) - Canada could face an early election if a political gamble by PM Stephen Harper over the country's role in Afghanistan fails, the Globe and Mail reports. Harper's Conservatives will introduce tomorrow a motion to extend Canada's presence in Afghanistan, and Harper warned an opposition leader that it will be a...

Hundreds of Taliban Buy Their Freedom

Endemic Afghan bribery results in routine release of militants

(Newser) - Hundreds of Taliban are buying their way out of jail every year, bribing police, judges, and wardens to return to the fields and streets of Afghanistan to fight again. Despite denials from the government, American and Afghan sources—and the Taliban itself—attest to the growing trend. Newsweek reports from...

Dems May Block Record $3T Bush Budget 'Til Next Prez

Mammoth budget combines tax cuts with huge security spending hikes

(Newser) - President Bush today introduces a record $3 trillion budget into opposition from congressional Democrats so fierce that they could hold up the spending plan until the next president takes office, reports AP. Bush's plan envisions at least $400 billion in deficits this year and next, twice 2007's $163 billion debt....

Bhutto Warned of Her Murder by Osama's Son

Names 4 hit squads in chilling posthumous autobiography

(Newser) - Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was told that four suicide bomb squads had been sent to kill her—and names Hamza bin Laden, son of Osama, as the leader of one, the slain leader says in an eerie, posthumously published autobiography. Bhutto's claim appears to bolster intelligence reports that...

Afghan Senate Revokes Call for Execution

About-face is lifeline for journalism student convicted of blasphemy

(Newser) - Following international outcry, the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its call for the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, a 23-year-old student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights. The Senate now calls its previous endorsement of the death penalty for Kambaksh "a technical mistake," raising hopes...

Germany Balks at US Request for Troop Help

Call for reinforcements in southern Afghanistan outside 'point of focus'

(Newser) - Germany has rejected a request from US defense secretary Robert Gates for more troops to fight the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, Der Spiegel reports. German defense minister Franz Josef Jung prefers his troops remain in the country's north, in accordance with Germany's Afghanistan mandate—which says troops will only...

Aussie Hicks May Get Rich on Gitmo Story

Released prisoner could get $1M for TV, book, magazine rights

(Newser) - A worldwide media bidding war has erupted for rights to the story of Australian David Hicks, the only Guantanamo prisoner convicted of terrorism charges, who was released a month ago from an Australian prison. If Hicks sells his story, he would  violate Australian proceeds-of-crime laws, but his advisers are resolved...

Soldier Suicides at Record High
Soldier Suicides at Record High
Feb 1, 2008 4:26 AM CST

Soldier Suicides at Record High

Long deployments are raising stress levels, experts warn

(Newser) - A record number of US soldiers may have killed themselves last year and it's likely linked to the stresses of war, according to the latest figures from the military. The survey found 121 soldiers died in confirmed or suspected suicides last year, a 20% increase over the previous year and...

Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed
Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed
Jan 31, 2008 2:01 PM CST

Top al-Qaeda Commander Killed

Abu Laith al-Libbi was involved in terror planning and training

(Newser) - A top al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan has been killed, CNN is reporting, based on information from an Islamist web site and Western officials. Abu Laith al-Libbi, a veteran jihadist of Libyan descent, is described as the No. 3  al-Qaeda leader, "not far below the importance of the top two...

Afghan Student Faces Death for Blasphemy

Journalist condemned for reading document on women, Koran

(Newser) - Protesters in Afghanistan and abroad have taken up the cause of a journalism student sentenced to death for blasphemy after he downloaded and distributed a document on women and the Koran. Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, 23, was convicted in an Islamic court, and the country's Senate has upheld the ruling. He...

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