Afghanistan

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Rumsfeld Denies Role in Tillman Cover-Up

On Hill, ex-Pentagon chief rejects personal responsibility

(Newser) - Donald Rumsfeld took no responsibility today for the bungled handling of the reporting and investigation of Pat Tillman’s death, saying he always stressed honesty at the Pentagon. Before a House committee, the ex-defense secretary denied allegations he was involved in the military plot to claim the ex-NFL star was...

General Censured in Tillman Death
General Censured in Tillman Death
Aug 1, 2007 6:26 AM CDT

General Censured in Tillman Death

Chief misled probe after friendly fire cut down ex-NFL star

(Newser) - A retired three-star general has been censured for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" following the friendly-fire death of ex-NFL star Pat Tillman, the AP reports. Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger misled investigators probing Tillman's death, which was initially said to be the result of...

Body of Second Korean Hostage Found
Body of Second Korean Hostage Found
Jul 31, 2007 4:35 AM CDT

Body of Second Korean Hostage Found

More will die unless prisoners are freed, kidnappers warn

(Newser) - Afghan police have found the body of a second Korean hostage killed by the Taliban, Reuters reports. The man was shot in the head, and his body found in a clover field close to the spot where 23 Korean missionaries were kidnapped last week. The kidnappers have threatened to kill...

Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death
Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death
Jul 30, 2007 1:56 PM CDT

Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death

(Newser) - The Taliban has killed a second South Korean hostage, a spokesman for the extremist group told CNN in a telephone interview today, adding that the corpse was dropped off in the province of Ghazni in central Afghanistan. Officials have not located any bodies in that area. The militants already murdered...

‘Collateral Damage’ Is an Exact Science

Military projects civilian body count before operations

(Newser) - Technology allows US forces to know with precision how many civilians will die in targeted bombings—and at the beginning of the Iraq war, only those attacks expected to kill more than 30 civilians required approval from Rumsfeld or Bush, Salon reports. “‘Accident’ is not the right word,...

Afghan Hostage Talks Stall as Threats Escalate

Karzai blasts Taliban, saying abductions are 'against Islam'

(Newser) - The Taliban will kill 22 South Korean hostages tomorrow if the Afghan government does not release insurgent prisoners, a spokesman for the kidnappers said today. The Taliban leadership council issued the most recent death threat since the abductions Wednesday, signaling its seriousness, Reuters reports. And Afghan and foreign troops are...

Force May Be Used to Free Korean Hostages

In phone call, female hostage pleads for release

(Newser) - One of the 22 South Korean hostages held in Afghanistan spoke to a Reuters reporter today, saying she and the other remaining hostages are continually moved to different locations. She appealed to both the Taliban and the Afghan government to free them. A senior Afghan official said force “certainly”...

Captive Pleads for Rescue From Taliban

Woman says she and 21 other South Korean hostages are ill

(Newser) - A South Korean woman pleaded to be rescued with her fellow hostages yesterday, saying all of church volunteers being held captive by the Taliban are sick and the situation is growing worse. Her captors listened to her conversation with an Afghan reporter, the BBC reports; the 32-year-old nurse wept as...

General Faces Demotion in Tillman Probe

Six other officers will draw career-ending punishments

(Newser) - A retired three-star general who allegedly misled investigators about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan could be stripped of his stars and part of his pension, Pentagon officials told CNN. Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger told inspectors he didn't know the Green Beret was killed by...

Korean Envoy Presses to Save Remaining Hostages

Taliban still holds 22 kidnap victims

(Newser) - A day after militants shot and killed a hostage, a high-level South Korean envoy is rushing to Afghanistan today to try to save the lives of the 22 remaining hostages held by the Taliban. South Korean and Afghan officials insist they won't use force to free the captives, though the...

1 Killed, 8 Freed in Afghanistan Hostage Crisis

Taliban threatens to kill more South Koreans

(Newser) - The Taliban has killed one of the 23 South Koreans it's holding captive today, and vowed to murder the rest by 1 AM local time if the Afghan government does not release insurgents. CNN reports that 8 hostages have been freed, however, while the slain captive's bullet-riddled body was discovered...

75 Taliban Killed; Deadline Extended for South Koreans

(Newser) - Afghan and coalition troops have killed 75 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, while a self-proclaimed spokesman for the Taliban says the deadline has been extended for talks concerning its 23 South Korean hostages. The Afghan militants are threatening to kill the captured Koreans unless 23 of its own jailed fighters...

Injured Veterans Sue US
Injured Veterans Sue US
Jul 24, 2007 4:53 AM CDT

Injured Veterans Sue US

Class action suit targets VA for 'shameful failures' in treatment

(Newser) - Two veterans groups representing troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the US government for "shameful failures" in medical treatment, Reuters reports. The Department of Veterans Affairs is swamped with a backlog of 600,000 health claims and is "abandoning" soldiers returning home, the class-action...

Taliban Ups Demands for 23 Korean Hostages

Kidnappers want full prisoner release

(Newser) - Taliban militants holding 23 Korean aid workers hostage increased their demands today, insisting that  the government release all insurgent prisoners in the province, according to a kidnap spokesman. The militants threatened to kill the hostages  if a response isn't forthcoming by 10:30 a.m. EDT, the AP reports.

Last King of Afghanistan Dead at 92
Last King of Afghanistan Dead at 92
Jul 23, 2007 7:50 AM CDT

Last King of Afghanistan Dead at 92

Zahir Shah reigned for 40 years, returned from exile after occupation

(Newser) - The former king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, has died at the age of 92. Zahir Shah's 40-year reign ended along with the Afghan monarchy in a 1973 coup, and many Afghans have come to look back at the period as a time of peace, prosperity, and modernization. After living in...

Taliban Claims 2 German Hostages Killed

Demand German troop pullout, threaten South Korean captives

(Newser) - Two German citizens abducted in Afghanistan have been shot to death, a Taliban spokesman claimed today. The Taliban had demanded the withdrawal of the more than 3,000 soldiers Germany has stationed in Afghanistan, a demand to which they did not accede. The Germans were working on a dam project...

Taliban Kidnaps 18 South Koreans in Afghanistan

Bus hijacked on road from Kabul to Kandahar

(Newser) - Eighteen South Koreans were kidnapped yesterday in Afghanistan by Taliban gunmen who hijacked the bus they were traveling in from Kabul to Kandahar. The South Koreans were members of a church group, thought to be in the country to do volunteer work. Several dozen armed men stopped the vehicle, drove...

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits
Head of Veterans Affairs Quits
Jul 17, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Head of Veterans Affairs Quits

Secretary's short tenure long on scandals and other woes

(Newser) - The secretary of Veterans Affairs, the head of the second-biggest federal department, is stepping down and will be replaced by October 1, reports the Washington Post. For 2½ turbulent years, Jim Nicholson, a decorated Vietnam vet and former RNC chair, presided over a department beset by criticism and overwhelmed by...

Afghan Deaths Mount in Western Strikes

US, NATO kill more civilians than Taliban does

(Newser) - Of the 500 Afghan civilians killed in the first half of 2007, more were victims of US and NATO strikes than of Taliban insurgents, the LA Times reports. Among the main causes of collateral human damage are Western air attacks on walled compounds and "jittery troops" shooting civilians in...

Taliban Could Engulf Pakistan
Taliban Could Engulf Pakistan
Jun 30, 2007 10:04 AM CDT

Taliban Could Engulf Pakistan

Musharraf warned that militants are moving beyond tribal border areas

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have a foothold in remote regions of Pakistan that could explode into a takeover of that volatile country, the Times reports. A leaked memo from Pakistan's interior ministry warned military president Pervez Musharraf that Taliban fighters active on the Afghanistan border are spilling into the country...

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