Afghanistan

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Afghanistan Routinely Tortures Prisoners: UN

'Even stones confess here,' one guard said; Kabul promises reform

(Newser) - A UN investigation has uncovered “a compelling pattern … of systemic torture and ill-treatment” in Afghan prisons, with prisoners reporting being beaten and shocked with electrical cables, hung by their hands, and having their genitals twisted until they passed out, the New York Times reports. Nearly half of all...

McChrystal: US View of Afghan War 'Frighteningly Simplistic'

Now we've only met half our goals, he says

(Newser) - After a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, the US and its NATO allies are only "a little better than" halfway to meeting their war goals, Gen. Stanley McChrystal warns. The former commander of coalition forces says the slow progress is largely due to the US not knowing what it...

US Had Secret Talks With Haqqani Network

Meeting was set up by Pakistan's ISI

(Newser) - The US held at least one secret peace negotiation this summer with the Haqqani Network, the militant group at the center of its current public spat with Pakistan, senior officials tell the Wall Street Journal . The meeting was set up by Pakistani intelligence, which the US says confirms its suspicions...

Afghan Spies Foil Karzai Assassination

One of his body guards, several college students arrested

(Newser) - Afghan intelligence officials say they have foiled an assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai, arresting six people in Kabul who they say are affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Haqqani militant group. Those arrested included one of Karzai's body guards, three college students, and a university professor, according to an...

Taliban's New Muscle Flexing: Cell Phone Outages

Awaiting US exit, they fight mind games

(Newser) - Every evening like clockwork, all the cell phones in Afghanistan's Wardrak Province stop working—and every resident knows why. The Taliban have taken to shutting off cell towers all across Afghanistan, threatening to blow them up if operators don’t cooperate, the New York Times reports. “Our main...

Haqqani Denies Link With Pakistan

And insists it didn't assassinate peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani

(Newser) - The Haqqani network has no ties to Pakistan’s ISI and isn’t responsible for the assassination of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani , Siraj Haqqani tells the BBC . Siraj is the son of Haqqani network founder and namesake Jalaluddin Haqqani, and is a major leader within the group. “We’...

NATO Nabs Haqqani Leader in Afghanistan

'Revered elder' in Taliban-affiliated group is captured

(Newser) - NATO says it captured a leader of the Haqqani network, the militant group that has emerged as major anti-American player in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ("The Sopranos of the Afghanistan war," as the New York Times described the clan in a previous profile .) Haji Mali Khan reportedly oversaw...

Afghanistan Ditches 3-Way Peace Talks

Won't attend US-Pakistan meetings after ex-president's assassination

(Newser) - Fuming at Pakistan over its alleged role in the assassination of a former Afghan president , Kabul is abandoning a trilateral attempt at peace in the region. A meeting between US, Afghan, and Pakistani officials had been scheduled for Oct. 8, with the three intending to work toward bringing the Taliban...

Pakistanis Double-Crossed Americans in '07 Ambush

One American killed in attack covered up by both governments

(Newser) - With US-Pakistani tensions on the verge of boiling over , the New York Times today has a shocking account of a 2007 incident in which the Pakistanis allegedly opened fire on American and Afghan military officials after a meeting to discuss a disputed border post. As the officers were getting into...

Gunman Kills American at Kabul CIA Station

Not yet clear whether attacker was connected to Taliban

(Newser) - An Afghan employee who “had the trust” of American CIA agents in Kabul shot and killed one US citizen and injured another last night at a compound believed to hold a CIA station. No motive is yet known, and it’s not clear whether the attacker—who was shot...

Afghan &#39;Snuff Films&#39; Degrading Brit Troops: Documentary
 Afghan 
 'Snuff Films' 
 Degrading 
 British Troops 
says documentary
Sep 26, 2011 4:00 AM CDT

Afghan 'Snuff Films' Degrading British Troops

But military says films shown to inform troops and help morale

(Newser) - It's not exactly must-see TV. British troops in Afghanistan have been watching "Kill TV," featuring gruesome footage of helicopter attacks cutting down people, reports the Independent . The revelation comes from a documentary soon to air on British television. In one video, an Afghan woman is referred to...

Taliban: Peace Talks Lured Rabbani to His Doom

Assassin promised to bring Taliban leaders to the table

(Newser) - Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated yesterday by a pair of "articulate and well-trained" fighters who won his trust by promising peace talks, a Taliban spokesman gloats. The killer—a suicide attacker who blew up a bomb in his turban—and his accomplice "were telling Rabbani that...

US to Build Huge New Prison in Afghanistan
 US to Build Huge New 
 Prison in Afghanistan 
Glenn Greenwald
Sep 20, 2011 12:30 PM CDT

US to Build Huge New Prison in Afghanistan

And never mind prison overcrowding at home

(Newser) - The Obama administration is supposedly determined to cut hundreds of billions in spending, so it struck Glenn Greenwald of Salon as ironic when he noticed that the military last week started soliciting bids for the construction of a massive prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. The facility is to hold approximately 2,...

Ex-Afghan President Rabbani Assassinated

Suicide bomber entered his Kabul home with explosives in turban

(Newser) - Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated today, dealing a harsh blow to peace efforts after a decade of war. Officials say a suicide bomber concealing explosives in his turban entered Rabbani's house in Kabul and blew himself up; four of Rabbani's bodyguards also died and a key...

In Prep for US Embassy Siege, Militants Wore Burkas

Siege is over, nearly 21 hours after it began

(Newser) - This morning—almost 21 hours after the attack on the US embassy and other buildings in Kabul began—the last of the six attackers have been killed and the area is locked down. But questions are being raised about why it took so long to secure the high-rise building used...

Attacks Rock Kabul, US Embassy

Taliban takes credit for concerted strikes

(Newser) - Blasts rang out today in Kabul's embassy district, with the Taliban taking credit for a coordinated series of attacks that included suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades, and at-times heavy gunfire, reports the Wall Street Journal. The US embassy was among those targeted, with one western diplomat reporting gunfire within its...

Afghan Bombing Injures 77 Americans

Taliban claim responsibility for suicide bomber at outpost

(Newser) - Nearly 80 American soldiers were wounded and two Afghan civilians were killed in a Taliban truck bombing targeting an American base in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said today, a stark reminder that the war in Afghanistan still rages 10 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The attack was carried out...

US Soldier Killed BBC Reporter

Inquiry overturns earlier report he was killed by insurgents

(Newser) - BBC journalist Ahmed Omed Khpulwak was accidentally killed by US troops in July after being mistaken for an insurgent, the International Security Assistance Force announced yesterday after a review of the incident, reports the BBC . Khpulwak was originally reported to have been killed by insurgents in a militant attack in...

Missing Hikers Shot to Death in Afghanistan

Bodies found today in the Hindu Kush mountains

(Newser) - Two Germans who disappeared nearly three weeks ago while hiking in the Hindu Kush mountains were shot to death, a police general said today. A rescue team reached the bodies in the late afternoon after a four-hour trek on foot from the main road, and found the two men with...

Afghan Desertion Rates Soar as US Withdraws

Officials blame poor Afghan leadership, but increase a concern

(Newser) - Desertions from the Afghan army are soaring this year, amounting to one in seven of the country's 170,000 soldiers in the first six months of 2011, and casting doubts on the government's ability to maintain its own security, reports the Washington Post . The trend—more than twice...

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