Afghanistan

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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...

NATO Raid Kills Ex-Gitmo Detainee in Afghanistan

He became al-Qaeda operative after leaving Gitmo, say officials

(Newser) - NATO and Afghan forces killed a former Guantanamo detainee who had become a key al-Qaeda affiliate after returning to Afghanistan, officials said today. Sabar Lal Melma, who was released from Guantanamo in 2007 after five years of detention, had been organizing attacks in eastern Kunar province and funding insurgent operations,...

For US Forces in Afghanistan, August Deadliest Month Yet

Killing of 30 in helicopter spiked death toll

(Newser) - With 66 American troops killed in Afghanistan so far in August, this month has been the deadliest for US forces since the war began in 2001, reports the AP . Before this August, the deadliest month had been July 2010, when 65 US soldiers died. Nearly half of this month's...

Afghans Leaked US-Taliban Talks to End Them

US contact Tayyab Aga has fled to Europe

(Newser) - Someone in the Afghan presidential palace intentionally leaked the news that the US was negotiating with the Taliban, scuttling the talks and sending the US contact into hiding, sources tell the AP . Hamid Karzai didn't trust the US and feared any deal between it and the Taliban would diminish...

Hero&#39;s Dog Guards His Coffin
 Hero's Dog Guards His Coffin 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 28, 2011 1:09 PM CDT

Hero's Dog Guards His Coffin

Hawkeye waits for his master's voice

(Newser) - A loyal Labrador retriever kept a faithful vigil at his master's side this week even as friends and family wept at his human's coffin. "Hawkeye" waited patiently at the Iowa funeral for a word or a whistle from downed Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson, 35, killed with 29...

Marines Ban Audible Farts in Afghanistan
 Marines Ban 
 Audible Farts 
 in Afghanistan 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 28, 2011 9:11 AM CDT

Marines Ban Audible Farts in Afghanistan

Bend over backwards to avoid offending Afghans

(Newser) - US military leaders, sensitive to winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan, have instituted several unloved regulations on troops there—no swearing, no talking about volatile subjects like politics or girls. But now leaders apparently want to win ears and noses, too, as they have introduced an unusual no-no—no farting,...

Afghan Militants Kill 12 in Pakistan

Latest in series of raids that has increased tension

(Newser) - Hundreds of militants crossed the Afghan border today and attacked three security checkpoints in northwestern Pakistan, killing 10 paramilitary soldiers and two policemen, officials said. It was the latest of a series of attacks that Pakistani officials say have been launched from an area of eastern Afghanistan where the US...

US Troops May Stay in Afghanistan Until 2024

Telegraph : Deal would keep 'thousands'

(Newser) - The US already has spent a decade fighting in Afghanistan, and the Telegraph suggests it might spend a decade or so more. The British paper reports that US and Afghan officials are close to a deal that would keep "thousands" of US troops in the country until 2024—not...

10 Dead in Attack on British Council in Kabul

Five insurgents involved; Taliban claims responsibility

(Newser) - A coordinated attack today on a British compound in Kabul involving two suicide bombers and a five-hour long firefight between Afghan security troops and attackers who penetrated the complex killed at least 10 people, Afghan officials say. The attack on the British Council occurred as Afghans celebrated Independence Day, marking...

Air Force Plane, Drone Collide
 Air Force Plane, Drone Collide 
Aug 17, 2011 8:49 AM CDT

Air Force Plane, Drone Collide

Accident renews criticisms of using drones in civilian airspace

(Newser) - A C-130 cargo plane made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, after colliding with a 12-foot-by-20-foot RQ-7 Shadow unmanned drone, reports the Wall Street Journal . The cargo plane was only slightly damaged and none of its crew was injured, but the incident is expected to step up criticisms...

$360M Lost to Insurgents, Criminals in Afghanistan

'Reverse money laundering' turned clean money dirty

(Newser) - While the US military has known for some time that a chunk of the money being spent in Afghanistan on logistics ends up in the hands of the Taliban and criminals , at last the military has an estimate of just how big those losses are—$360 million, according to a...

Witnesses Recount Helicopter Tragedy

Chinook burst into flames, crashed in pieces

(Newser) - As soon as the Chinook helicopter carrying 30 American troops and eight Afghans was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a hillside, it burst into flames, a witness tells the AP . "After it started burning, it crashed. It came down in three pieces. We could see it burning...

US-Taliban Talks Collapse
 US-Taliban Talks Collapse 
Aug 11, 2011 10:07 AM CDT

US-Taliban Talks Collapse

Taliban unhappy over media leaks

(Newser) - The US-Taliban talks have been cut off, thanks to media leaks. Western diplomats tell the Telegraph that confidentiality was a key condition of the talks, held in Germany and Qatar in March and April, but they were halted after just three meetings because details were leaked. Among other things, the...

NATO Strikes Kill Taliban Helicopter Shooters

But second Taliban leader gets away

(Newser) - A NATO strike on Monday took out the Taliban forces responsible for downing a Chinook helicopter, reports Reuters , in a tragedy that killed all 38 Afghan and American soldiers aboard last weekend. "The strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mohibullah and the insurgent who fired the shot associated with the...

Drone Strike Kills 20 in Pakistan

Latest strike kills militants belonging to the Haqqani network

(Newser) - American-fired missiles killed 20 Islamist militants in northwest Pakistan today, most of them members of a powerful insurgent network fighting the US presence in Afghanistan, say Pakistani intelligence officials. Two missiles slammed into a house in North Waziristan, a militant hotspot that lies just across the border from Afghanistan. Unnamed...

Was Crashed Copter's Rescue Mission Necessary?

Investigators probing that question

(Newser) - A heartbreaking twist in the helicopter tragedy that claimed 38 US and Afghan lives: The rescue mission the troops were en route to may not even have been necessary. Special Operations forces in the remote Tangi Valley requested assistance after coming under fire from "several" insurgents, even though they...

NATO: Taliban Rocket Likely Downed Helicopter

Officials working to recover every single piece

(Newser) - The helicopter that crashed over the weekend in Afghanistan, killing 30 US troops and eight others, was likely shot down by a Taliban rocket, NATO forces said today. Though the Taliban was quick to claim responsibility, Western officials had been tight-lipped until today's announcement, Reuters notes. The Navy SEALs...

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