Middle East
‘Former Taliban’ in the Afghan peace puzzle
For months, Burhanhuddin Rabbani, the elderly statesman charged by the Afghan president to explore peace talks with the Taliban, communicated with a man he thought was an emissary for the armed movement s senior leadership. Abdul Hakim Mujahed, Rabbani s deputy and the highest ranking "former member of Taliban" in the peace council, perceived as an important interlocutor in the talks, had not been consulted about the commutations.
Suicide bomber strikes Afghan funeral, killing parliament member and 18 others
A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday just after a funeral in northern Afghanistan, killing 19 people, including a member of the national parliament, the Interior Ministry said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Over the past year, the Taliban have repeatedly struck at officials and other prominent figures in an apparent effort to paralyze the government. In September, a suicide attacker killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former Afghan president and head of the nation s peace council.
Big security challenge in Afghanistan
US-led foreign combat troops are expected to pull out of Afghanistan within three years, but a decade into their mission, security still remains precarious. In Sar Howza in Paktika province, a new district governor has been appointed - the second in just four weeks - after the previous governor was killed in a Taliban attack.
US defence chief sees progress in Afghanistan
Bonn talks on Afghanistan – Doomed to fail?
Suicide Bombers Kill Scores of Shiite Worshipers in Afghanistan
Afghan conference beset by boycotts
Karzai: The Efforts in Afghanistan Are a Shared Responsibility
NATO foreign ministers are gathered in Bonn on Monday to discuss the way forward in Afghanistan. SPIEGEL spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will be leading the conference, about how much international involvement will be required following the 2014 withdrawal and about his rocky partnership with the US.
Karzai Warns US over Night Raids
Power Plays in Afghanistan Laying the Groundwork for Civil War
The Bonn conference on Afghanistan aimed to paint an optimistic future for the war-torn country. But the country's inhabitants have no illusions: They know that their military cannot protect them, and that the warlords are jockeying for position. Meanwhile, the Taliban are just waiting for the Americans to leave.
Jailed Afghan Woman Freed but Urged to Marry Rapist
Afghanistan faces $4bn defence funding shortfall
Afghanistan's security forces face a $4bn ( 2.5bn) funding shortfall after 2014 - when they are supposed to take over the main responsibility for fighting the insurgency - raising questions over whether the Kabul government will have the resources to keep the Taliban at bay, the Guardian has learned
Pakistan ‘to boycott Afghan Bonn talks’ after Nato raid
Pakistan is to boycott talks on Afghanistan's future in protest at a Nato air strike which killed 24 of its soldiers at the weekend, officials say. The night-time attack took place at the Salala checkpoint in Mohmand agency, about 1.5 miles from the poorly delineated border with Afghanistan, early on Saturday morning. The Pakistani army said helicopters and fighter aircraft hit two border posts, killing 24 people and leaving 13 injured. Unnamed Afghan officials quoted in The Wall Street Journal said Saturday's air strike was called in to shield Nato and Afghan forces who had come under fire.
Haqqani Militants Use Death Squads in Afghanistan
As targeted killings have risen sharply across Afghanistan, American and Afghan officials believe that many are the work of counterintelligence units of the Haqqani militant network and Al Qaeda, charged with killing suspected informants and terrorizing the populace on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Afghan Troops Will Expand Security Control
Saving lives – and billions – in Afghanistan
If Senator Jeff Merkley's "expedite the drawdown from Afghanistan" amendment to the National Defense Authorisation Act makes a strong showing, it could tip the Obama administration towards a faster drawdown. That would likely save hundreds of US and Afghan lives - not to mention all the people who wouldn't be physically and psychologically maimed - and could easily save the US hundreds of billions of dollars, at a time when the alleged need for fiscal austerity is being touted as a reason to cut Social Security benefits and raise the Medicare retirement age.
Six Afghan Children Are Killed in NATO Airstrike
Six children were among seven civilians killed in a NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Thursday. The deaths occurred on Wednesday in Zhare District of Kandahar Province, an area described by coalition forces as largely pacified in recent months, and two insurgents were also killed, the Afghan officials said.
Afghans protest against long-term US pact
Afghan council endorses US security pact
Delegates at an Afghan national assembly have endorsed a proposal by Afghanistan's president for a long-term security pact with the United States, officials said. More than two-thirds of the delegates said on Saturday they will support President Hamid Karzai's call for a security agreement, but only if the US accepts certain conditions.
Afghan police killed during Nato night raid
Two Afghan police officers have been killed in a clash with Nato-led forces who were conducting a night-time raid, say officials in Afghanistan. The "friendly fire" incident happened in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul. Two other Afghan soldiers were injured, according to the provincial governor.
Doubt cast over glowing Afghan survey
Afghan president backs US pact in tribal elders talks
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told a meeting of tribal elders that a security pact with the US is in the best interests of both nations. He was addressing the gathering, or loya jirga, in the capital, Kabul, amid tight security. The president said that any deal with the US could only work if Afghan sovereignty was respected.
Afghan finance minister admits doubts over Kabul Bank’s missing $1bn
Taliban ‘has Afghanistan loya jirga security plan’
Afghanistan mother and daughter stoned and shot dead
Calvin Gibbs Convicted of Killing Civilians in Afghanistan
Haqqani network suspected in suicide attack on Afghan office
Deadly roadside blast hits Afghan district
At least 11 people have been killed by a roadside bomb in northwest Afghanistan, sources say. Two officers and eight civilians were among those killed after the blast struck a police vehicle and another car behind it in Badghis province late on Monday, Faizullah Azimi, the province's council chairman, said.
US removes Afghanistan commander Peter Fuller for criticising Karzai
Major General Peter Fuller, a top US commander in Afghanistan, has been relieved of his duties after criticising the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), relieved Fuller as deputy commander of the effort to train Afghan security forces after Fuller told Politico that Afghan leaders were "isolated from reality", a US defence official said.
Afghanistan ‘suicide attack’ hits city of Herat
Afghanistan security summit opens in Turkey
13 Americans Said to Be Among Killed in Kabul Attack
U.S. Troops Battle to Control Key Afghan Route
Karzai: we have failed to provide proper security to the Afghan people
Afghanistan marks 10 years since US invasion
Afghanistan is marking the 10th anniversary of the start of the US-led invasion of the country amid growing security concerns and questions over what the next decade will hold. For some Afghans, the Friday anniversary of the offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaeda marks a time of reflection on what the war has meant for their country.
Afghanistan civil war a significant risk, ‘cold-eyed’ British review to warn
Afghanistan is losing time for a peaceful solution and the Taliban know it
After the initial US invasion Taliban recognising defeat wanted to talk peace: a formal surrender, the transfer of vehicles and weapons, an end to fighting in Kandahar, all in return for assurances their leaders could be able to return to their villages. That night Obaidullah sent bread for Karzai, in a gesture of conciliation. In retrospect, it was a tantalising opportunity for a smooth post-Taliban transition and, perhaps, a novel political dispensation. But it wasn't to be. Furious after the 9/11 attacks, the US war machine pursued the Taliban hard. Karzai, the new leader, acquiesced. And the Taliban leadership slunk across the border into Pakistan to lick their wounds and plan the resurgence that is racking the country today.
Kabul: Rabbani killing plotted in Pakistan
The killer of Afghan peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani was a Pakistani, a statement from Afghanistan's presidential palace has said, quoting investigators. Evidence shows that the former president's death last month "was plotted in Quetta and the person who carried out the suicide attack against Rabbani was a citizen of Pakistan," the statement released on Sunday said.
Two killed at Kabul CIA station
Taliban stay quiet on killing of former Afghanistan president Rabbani
Afghan Peace Council Chief Killed in Attack on His Home
The most prominent Afghan official trying to negotiate a reconciliation with the Taliban was assassinated Tuesday night by a suicide bomber with explosives tucked in his turban who had been brought to his home by a trusted emissary, officials said. The assassination was a potentially devastating blow to the Afghan-led peace process aimed at ending 10 years of war.
British dead and wounded in Afghanistan, month by month
The long road to justice in Afghanistan
Kabul attacks ‘not a big deal’ says US ambassador
Militants Attack U.S. Embassy in Kabul
Ten years after 9 11
Mullah Omar Says The Taliban Are Ready To Talk
For years, the Taliban s position about negotiating an end to the decade-long war with Hamid Karzai s government or the United States has been straightforward: U.S. troops have to leave Afghanistan first. While analysts have long speculated that the Taliban isn t really as rigid behind closed doors, its leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, now leaves no doubt. The Taliban is already negotiating with the U.S., Omar confirmed.
US has wasted $30bn on Iraq and Afghanistan contracts, report finds
Taliban raid from Afghanistan kills 25 Pakistan troops
Karzai Denounces Use of Child Suicide Bombers
Uzbekistan-Afghanistan Railway Starts Operations
Arbiters Change Outcome of 9 Afghan Elections
The country s beleaguered election commission gave in to political pressure on Sunday and declared that it would change the results of the latest parliamentary elections. The Independent Election Commission announced at a news conference on Sunday that nine members of Parliament would be removed, after having ruled that the election results were final and saying that even the commission could not change the outcome. Nine candidates, previously disqualified over electoral irregularities, would have their seats restored.
Afghan governor shoots at attacker in Taliban raid on government compound
Afghan widows form community on Kabul hill
C.I.A. Claim of No Civilian Deaths From Drones Is Disputed
On May 6, a Central Intelligence Agency drone fired a volley of missiles at a pickup truck carrying nine militants and bomb materials through a desolate stretch of Pakistan near the Afghan border. It killed all the militants - a clean strike with no civilian casualties, extending what is now a yearlong perfect record of avoiding collateral deaths.
U.S. House of Representatives Report: Warlords Provide Security for U.S. Supply Chain in Afghanistan
Security for the U.S. Supply Chain Is Principally Provided by Warlords. The principal private security subcontractors on the HNT contract are warlords, strongmen, commanders, and militia leaders who compete with the Afghan central government for power and authority. Providing "protection" services for the U.S. supply chain empowers these warlords with money, legitimacy, and a raison d etre for their private armies.
Copter Downed by Taliban Fire – Elite U.S. Unit Among Dead
In the deadliest day for American forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter on Saturday, killing 30 Americans, including some Navy Seal commandos from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, as well as 8 Afghans, American and Afghan officials said.
On the Departure of President Karzai’s Spokesperson, Waheed Omer
Afghan president’s senior aide quits
The Afghanistan president's communications director and spokesman has resigned. Waheed Omer, who had been in the post for nearly two years, had the tough job of managing President Hamid Karzai's relations with Afghan and international media amid increasing violence in the country and tense ties between the president and his Western allies.
Mullen focuses on Afghanistan-Pakistan border havens
Afghanistan bombs kill 23 civilians on bus and tractor
Roadside mines have killed 23 civilians in southern Afghanistan, with a minibus and a tractor struck separately by explosives in Helmand province, according to officials. The minibus was travelling from Nahr-e-Saraj district to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, when it hit a mine and all 19 people inside were killed, said Kamaluddin Shirzai, deputy police chief for Helmand.
Costs of British military operations in Afghanistan estimated at £18bn
Suicide Bombers Attack Tirin Kot, Afghanistan
A team of three to six suicide bombers orchestrated a surprise attack Thursday on the government compound and two other compounds in the capital of southern Afghanistan s Oruzgan Province, killing at least 19 people - including several women and children in a hospital maternity ward - and wounding at least 37, according to hospital officials there.
British Apache helicopter injures children in Afghanistan
Five Afghan children have been injured, some seriously, by cannon fire from a British Apache helicopter, according to UK defence officials. It is believed they were hit by stray bullets during an intended attack on an insurgent as they worked in a field in the Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province, on Saturday.
Report Finds Vast Waste in U.S. War Contracts
Lashkar Gah : Nato hands over volatile Afghan city
The murder of Hamid Karzai’s brother means the war is going worse than we thought
Gen. David Petraeus stepped down as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Monday, just as the Taliban's strength seems to be on the rise. The militants' growing power comes not from conventional military victories - on that score, Petraeus has racked up considerable advances in the past year - but, rather, from what may be a shift in the real war that's going on: the war for the favor (or at least complicity) of the Afghan people.
Helmand handover: ‘People are happy the foreigners are leaving’
The Assassin, the CIA, and the Killing of Ahmad Wali Karzai
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the half-brother of the Afghan president, lived under constant fear of assassination. His death last week was the latest of 10 attempts to kill him. The seventh bomb to target me was so big that hundreds of cats fed on human flesh for days afterwards, he told me last July. The man who finally killed Karzai was someone he trusted with his life. Not only was Sardar Mohammed a close confidant, but he also worked as an informant for the CIA, according to relatives, Karzai s friends and the Afghan intelligence agency.
Taliban in Pakistan ‘police killing’ video
Karzai Adviser Is Killed at Kabul Home
The Afghan Enforcer I Knew
SENIOR American and NATO officers in Afghanistan have wanted Ahmed Wali Karzai gone - set aside, retired, out of the country or worse - for many years now. His killing by a close family associate yesterday may have granted their wishes. But what now follows the death of the most powerful political broker in southern Afghanistan may be much worse than Mr. Karzai ever was.
Violence surrounds Wali Karzai’s funeral
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has led mourners at the funeral of Ahmed Wali Karzai, his influential younger half-brother, who was assassinated on Tuesday in Kandahar by a member of his own security team. Thousands of people gathered on Wednesday morning amid tight security outside the provincial governor's compound from where Ahmed Wali's body was transferred to the family's home village of Karz, some 20km away. Many more piled on to buses to join the funeral procession.
French soldiers killed in Afghanistan attack
At least five French soldiers have been killed, along with one civilian, in a suicide attack in Afghanistan, Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, has said. Four other soldiers were seriously wounded in Wednesday's incident in Joybar in the country's eastern Tagab valley, Sarkozy said in a statement a day after he returned home from a visit to the country.