Afghanistan

Stories 541 - 560 | << Prev   Next >>

Taliban Cuts Fingers Off Voters
 Taliban Cuts Fingers Off Voters 
Jun 16, 2014 3:05 AM CDT

Taliban Cuts Fingers Off Voters

Attacks kill dozens as voters defy threats

(Newser) - Voting in this weekend's presidential run-off poll in Afghanistan was "relatively peaceful," the BBC reports—but in Afghanistan, "relatively peaceful" can include Taliban attacks that killed more than 50 voters and mutilated nearly a dozen more. To prevent fraud, Afghans are required to dip a finger...

The US Totally Blew $3M on Boats for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is landlocked, the boats were abnormally expensive, and more

(Newser) - The US has wasted money in many ways in the Afghan war, but the Washington Post highlights a particularly egregious one revealed by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction yesterday: The US spent $3 million in 2010 to buy the Afghan police eight patrol boats. That works out to...

US Accidentally Launches Airstrike on Own Troops

5 dead in one of deadliest friendly-fire incidents in Afghanistan

(Newser) - A coalition aircraft strike killed five American Special Ops troops and at least one Afghan soldier last night, US and Afghan officials tell the New York Times . The war in Afghanistan has seen more than a dozen instances of friendly-fire killings, but this was among the deadliest, the paper notes....

Bergdahl Was Kept in Shark Cage for Weeks

US officials also say he's in decent shape physically; mentally still unready

(Newser) - Bowe Bergdahl tried in vain to escape his Taliban captors, US officials tell the New York Times , and as punishment, he says "they kept him in a shark cage in total darkness for weeks, possibly months," says one official; that's a drastically different scenario than the Taliban...

Taliban: Bergdahl Played Soccer, Read Books

Spokesman describes his 'good conditions'

(Newser) - So how did Bowe Bergdahl while away the five years he spent as a Taliban hostage in Afghanistan? Playing soccer with his captors and reading about Islam seem to be two pastimes, a Taliban spokesman tells the AP . "You can ask him in America about his life (in captivity),...

Taliban: We Found Bergdahl Alone, Cursing Americans

Commanders say they thought it was a trick

(Newser) - The Taliban were just as confused by Bowe Bergdahl as the Afghan villagers who first encountered him after he allegedly wandered off his base, two former commanders say. Fighters rushed to capture Bergdahl after villagers informed them of his presence, and he was found walking alone, acting strangely, and cursing...

'Only Clues' About US Mom Held in Afghanistan Emerge

Family goes public with videos after Bergdahl release

(Newser) - The release of Bowe Bergdahl has the parents of two others held hostage in Afghanistan going public with videos of the couple asking for help. American Caitlan Coleman and Canadian husband Joshua Boyle disappeared while on vacation in Afghanistan 20 months ago. Coleman was pregnant at the time. Then, in...

'High' Bergdahl Headed Right for Taliban: Villagers

Dazed soldier was probably 'smoking hashish,' district intel chief says

(Newser) - Just how did Bowe Bergdahl end up separated from his US military base and in the hands of the Taliban? According to Afghan villagers who met Bergdahl wandering off base shortly before his capture, it seems he headed right for trouble. "It was very confusing to us. Why would...

Clinton Wasn't Real Keen on Bergdahl Deal

Inside the administration debate

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton offered a less-than-ringing endorsement of the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap yesterday, calling the administration's no-man-left-behind ideal "noble," but adding, "I think we have a long way to go before we really know how this is going to play out." Which isn't surprising,...

Taliban: Here's Video of Bergdahl Handover

Afghanistan meeting lasted less than a minute

(Newser) - The moment Bowe Bergdahl saw freedom after five years of captivity is captured in a dramatic video released by the Taliban. In the 17-minute video, a clean-shaven Bergdahl can be seen waiting in a pickup truck while Taliban soldiers stand guard in eastern Afghanistan, Reuters reports. "We told them...

Bergdahl Was a Deserter: Fellow Soldier

He's no 'hero,' writes Nathan Bradley Bethea

(Newser) - Bowe Bergdahl's release is being widely celebrated, but some soldiers from his platoon are calling for him to face trial for desertion —and in the Daily Beast , a soldier from his battalion delves into more detail about what really happened to Bergdahl in 2009. Nathan Bradley Bethea was...

What Bergdahl Faces: a Long, Tough Road

As platoon members say 'deserter' should face trial

(Newser) - The only American POW held in Afghanistan is now free —but experts believe it could take Bowe Bergdahl a very long time to get over the physical and psychological damage of his years in captivity. It's not clear whether he was tortured by his captors, but he is...

Taliban Frees US Hostage Held Since '09

Bowe Bergdahl part of a prisoner swap with 5 at Gitmo

(Newser) - Bowe Bergdahl is finally coming home. The Taliban freed the American soldier it has held hostage for five years, and he is now in US custody, reports the AP . The Idaho native went missing on June 30, 2009, in southeast Afghanistan, and had been the only US soldier held...

US Is Admitting Defeat in Afghanistan
US Is Admitting
Defeat in Afghanistan
OPINION
May 28, 2014 1:44 PM CDT

US Is Admitting Defeat in Afghanistan

And that might not be a bad thing: Max Fisher

(Newser) - President Obama revealed a new Afghanistan exit timeline yesterday , and with it confirmed "what everybody already knew: the war against the Taliban is not one that the US believes it can win, so we're going to stop trying," writes Max Fisher at Vox . That might not be...

Obama to Keep 9.8K Troops in Afghanistan

But next Afghan leader has to sign the BSA

(Newser) - On the heels of his surprise visit to American troops in Afghanistan , President Obama today will put the number of troops he intends to keep there at 9,800, with the intent to call most of those home by 2016. But there's a "but": Kabul, soon to be...

White House Accidentally Outs Kabul CIA Chief

Name included in list of officials for Obama visit

(Newser) - The identity of the highest-ranking CIA agent in Afghanistan was leaked to the media this weekend—by the White House itself. The error occurred in a list of top officials who were joining President Obama during his visit to Kabul yesterday. The military gave the list to the White House...

Obama Drops In on US Troops in Afghanistan

Surprise visit his 4th; won't meet with Karzai in clear snub

(Newser) - President Obama secretly slipped into Afghanistan under the cover of darkness today for a weekend visit with US troops serving in the closing months of America's longest war. Air Force One landed at Bagram Air Field, the main US base in Afghanistan, after an overnight flight from Washington. Obama...

Pakistan: No More Refugees, Please

Country cracks down on illegal Afghan immigrants, fearing flood after US withdrawal

(Newser) - If violence erupts when the US leaves Afghanistan, refugees are going to find the world a very unwelcoming place. Pakistan is cracking down on illegal immigrants from its turbulent neighbor, in anticipation of just such a surge, the Washington Post reports. Police squads in Karachi are actively hunting Afghan immigrants,...

Afghan Landslide Village Now a 'Cemetery'

More than 2K are feared dead

(Newser) - An Afghanistan village buried in a landslide yesterday is now considered a "cemetery," says a government official in Badakhshan province. The last of the rescuers gave up hope today of finding survivors in the mud that devastated the village of Abi Barik in the mountainous and remote northeast,...

2K Missing After Afghan Landslide

UN confirms at least 350 deaths so far

(Newser) - A huge landslide in northeast Afghanistan is already registering catastrophic casualties. The UN says at least 350 people are dead, reports AP , and authorities say about 2,000 are missing. Mud and rocks buried homes in a remote, mountainous area of Badakhshan province near the border with China, following days...

Stories 541 - 560 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser