Afghanistan

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Post-2014 Plan: Keep 10K Troops in Afghanistan

But Karzai must still agree

(Newser) - The White House has settled on the number of troops it wants to leave in Afghanistan post-2014: 10,000. Gen. John Allen had recommended keeping between 6,000 and 15,000 troops there after formal combat ends to train Afghan troops and fight terrorism. The Obama administration's final choice...

Suicide Bombers Penetrate Kabul's Green Zone

2 dead in suicide attack; Taliban claims responsibility

(Newser) - A suicide attack hit Kabul's Green Zone today, the fortified area housing government officials, diplomats, and US military, killing two Afghan security guards. The Wall Street Journal says a single bomber attempted to occupy an unfinished building, from which he could have fired into the CIA compound and nearby...

Karzai to Afghan Troops: Take Back Our Prison

President orders Afghan forces to retake control of Bagram prison

(Newser) - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says the US has not abided by an agreement to hand over the prison at Bagram Air Base to Afghan forces, so he today ordered those forces to take over the prison, the New York Times reports. Karzai says the two-month grace period to complete the...

US Nears Decision on Post-2014 Afghan Presence

Gen. John Allen's recommendations under review as scandal grabs him

(Newser) - In the coming weeks, the US will make a decision on the number of troops to remain in Afghanistan after the planned drawdown in 2014, Reuters reports. "My hope is that we'll be able to complete this process in the next few weeks," says Defense Secretary Leon...

Afghan Villagers Pleaded to Bales: 'We Are Children'

Soldier's hearing in massacre under way in Washington state

(Newser) - Residents of the Afghan village Robert Bales stands accused of shooting up in a blood-soaked rampage that killed 16 took their turn on the witness stand last night as part of the Army sergeant's military hearing, reports the AP , and the details were as graphic as they were awful....

Afghan Troops Switch From US Copters to Donkeys

Technological gap yawns wide as US hands off bases

(Newser) - Just how big a void is the US leaving in Afghanistan? Well, let's put it this way: Whereas the US used helicopters to access its remote bases in rocky regions, Afghan forces are now using … donkeys. "Donkeys are the Afghan helicopter," one colonel tells the Washington ...

Bales Thought He 'Was Doing Right' in Afghan Massacre

Was surprised when told to drop weapons

(Newser) - The US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March was baffled when fellow soldiers told him to relinquish his weapons: Robert Bales told a fellow soldier "I thought I was doing the right thing," that soldier told the court at a hearing yesterday. Bales had been...

Hearing Begins for Soldier Accused in Afghan Massacre

Robert Bales appeared in court today

(Newser) - Robert Bales , the US soldier accused of slipping away from his outpost and slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in March, made his first appearance in a military courtroom today for the beginning of his preliminary hearing, after which an investigative officer will recommend whether the case should proceed to a...

Afghan Police: Man Killed Wife for Wanting a Job

Mohammad Anwar confessed to the stabbing, police say

(Newser) - Police say a man in western Afghanistan has confessed to stabbing his wife to death to prevent her from taking a job outside the home. Mohammad Anwar was arrested in the provincial capital for the murder; he said he killed his wife Ghulam during an argument Friday over whether she...

Afghan Woman Beheaded, Refused to Sleep With Man

Her in-laws, husband sought to turn her into prostitute

(Newser) - A 20-year-old Afghan woman was beheaded for refusing to sleep with a man to comply with her husband and his family's plan to make her a prostitute, according to police. The wanna-be customer, Najibullah, and the in-laws and husband of the victim Mah Gul have been arrested for the...

CIA Operative Killed in Afghanistan

He was a victim in weekend 'green-on-blue' attack

(Newser) - A senior US defense official says an agent for the CIA was among those killed in a suicide bombing at an Afghan intelligence office — the latest so-called "insider attack" in the war. The attack Saturday in Kandahar province killed four Afghan intelligence officials and two US intelligence officers....

5 UK Marines Charged With Murder in Afghanistan

Arrests made after video found on laptop

(Newser) - Five Royal Marines have been charged with murder over a death in Afghanistan last year, Britain's Ministry of Defense said today. They are the first British troops to be charged with murder in the country since 2001. The five are among nine marines arrested—seven on Thursday and two...

US Gives Up on Taliban Peace Deal

 US Gives Up on 
 Taliban Peace Deal 
Plus: Al-Qaeda in North Africa
Oct 2, 2012 7:27 AM CDT

US Gives Up on Taliban Peace Deal

And sees fresh danger from al-Qaeda in North Africa

(Newser) - The US has essentially given up hope of negotiating a peace settlement with the Taliban, once a key piece of its strategy for ending the Afghan war, generals and civilian officials tell the New York Times . Their new, more modest goal is to lay the groundwork for the Afghans to...

US General: We're 'Mad as Hell' About Insider Attacks

As fresh attack by suicide bomber in police uniform kills 14

(Newser) - The US is "mad as hell" over the rash of green-on-blue attacks it's facing in Afghanistan, the top US commander there says, even as a fresh attack today killed 14 people in the country's east. "We're going to get after this," Gen. John Allen...

In New Insider Attack, US Toll in Afghanistan Hits 2K

Latest 'green on blue' strike pushes US to grisly milestone

(Newser) - An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, killing two Americans and at least two fellow members of Afghanistan's army in a shooting that marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th US...

Cartoon, Film Protests Break Out in Afghanistan

France will again close embassies in 20 countries

(Newser) - Small protests broke out in Afghanistan today over both the French nude Mohammed cartoons and the Innocence of Muslims. About 300 students in Kabul gathered to chant "death to France, death to America," the AFP reports, and hundreds more gathered nearby. The demonstrations were peaceful, however. Reaction to...

British Soldier Gives Birth in Afghanistan

Gunner didn't know she was pregnant

(Newser) - War zone medics more accustomed to treating bullet wounds delivered a baby boy at Afghanistan's Camp Bastion after a British soldier came to them complaining of severe stomach pains. The mother, a gunner in the Royal Artillery, had no idea that she was pregnant before the baby arrived, healthy...

Army Tests Body Armor 'for Her'

New tactile vests are shorter, lighter

(Newser) - A group of female soldiers about to deploy to Afghanistan is taking along a brand-new style of body armor designed specifically for women. Old gear was restricting, making it difficult for women to bend over, fire rifles mounted on their shoulders, or maneuver in and out of tight spaces, reports...

US Halts Joint Afghan Patrols After Insider Ambushes

12 international workers, 2 others also killed in violence over film

(Newser) - It's becoming so dangerous for US troops to patrol with the nation's Afghan allies that American officials are halting joint military patrols to protect US soldiers from "insider" ambushes. Afghan troops have attacked NATO forces 36 times this year, killing 51, most of them American, reports CBS...

Iran: We Will Hunt Down Video Makers

Producer goes into hiding; actress posts 'scared' letter

(Newser) - As rage over an anti-Islamic video erupts into more violent protests— Afghanistan and Pakistan are among the latest—Iran is vowing to hunt down the makers of Innocence of Muslims, the Telegraph reports. "The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns ... this inappropriate and offensive action," said...

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