News on Afghanistan

mlurp · #1 (**permalink**) 01-14-2010, 05:48 PM

Ok lets try this and I invite others to add to this with what they find worth posting.

I'm starting of with you pick up on the news reports. Because this topic was attacked and allowed to go with out.

One person did that and Billo won't be doing it again. I will report him this time.

Each is a link at the site...

Quote:

Suicide attack reveals threat to Obama's Afghanistan plan
- McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo! News - 1 hour ago
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The suicide attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan has exposed the collaboration among militant Islamist groups on the Afghanistan-Pakistan... full storySuicide bomber kills 20 people in Afghanistan - AP via Yahoo! News - 2 hours ago

15 dead in Afghanistan market bombing - CNN - 10 hours ago

Rebuilding Afghanistan: Will government take hold in this post-Taliban town? - The Christian Science Monitor - 2 hours ago

more Afghanistan news....search resultsAfghanistan - Wikipedia

Article about Afghanistan including information about its history and politics.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan - 478k - Cached.Afghanistan Online

News, history, culture, chat room, and more about Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Online - Cached

Afghanistan Guide -- National Geographic
A guide to Afghanistan with articles, photos, facts, videos, and news from National Geographic.
travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/.../afghanistan-guide - 56k - Cached

Afghanistan News - The New York Times
World news about Afghanistan. Breaking news and archival information about its people, politics, and economy from The New York Times.
topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/...?inline=nyt-geo - 162k - Cached

Afghanistan News, Headlines and Latest Stories on Yahoo! News

Taliban militants kill five police forces in western Afghanistan ... Afghanistan will increase its 82,000-strong police force by 15,000 officers ...
news.yahoo.com/topics/afghanistan - Cached

Afghanistan - World Factbook
Provides a map and an overview of the government, geography, economy, and society of Afghanistan.
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html - 366k - Cached

Afghanistan: News & Videos about Afghanistan - CNN.com
Troops with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan have seized more than 6,000 pounds of illegal drugs, the force said.
topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/afghanistan - 134k - Cached

Afghanistan's Web Site
Featuring news, information and links about Afghanistan including discussion forums, proverbs, Dari and Pashto alphabet, and more.
Afghanistan's Web Site: Afghanistan | Afghan | افغانستان - Cached

Afghanistan Times
Afghanistan News and analysis on current events, Afghan business, finance, ... UN Concedes Rebuilding Blunders In Afghanistan CBS News ...
wn.com/Afghanistan - 151k - Cached

Afghanistan Maps
Features country and city as well as thematic, refugee, and historical maps of Afghanistan. From the Perry-Castañeda Map Collection.
Afghanistan Maps - Perry-Castaeda Map Collection - UT Library Online - 58k - CachedSearch
ShortcutAfghanistan… - Videos
Play VideoPlay VideoPlay VideoPlay VideoMore Afghanistan videos.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.More search results Page 1 of 10 or more.

Afghanistan - Yahoo! Search Results

mlurp · #2 (**permalink**) 01-14-2010, 05:55 PM

Each site has some great background info.

Did you know that the history of this country can be traced back to 50,000 BC.

From then to 2001... Afghanistan's Web Site -@ Afghanistan History

mlurp · #3 (**permalink**) 01-14-2010, 05:58 PM

A little over 2 hours ago...

Quote:

Suicide bomber kills 20 people in Afghanistan....

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 43 mins ago

KABUL – A suicide bomber killed 20 people — including three children — Thursday in a market in central Afghanistan in the deadliest attack against Afghan civilians in more than three months.

Suicide bombings and other attacks have become the No. 1 killer of Afghan civilians in the intensifying war between U.S.-led forces and the Taliban. A United Nations report released this week found that the number of Afghan civilians killed in war-related violence rose last year to its highest level of the 8-year-old war — with nearly 70 percent of the deaths blamed on the Taliban and their allies.

Attacks against purely civilian targets are less common in Afghanistan than in Iraq, where most of the violence is between rival Islamic religious communities. The U.N. report said most of the 2,412 Afghan civilians killed last year were caught up in fighting between militants and NATO troops.

Thursday's attacker detonated his explosives in front of a currency exchange shop located in an arcade of stores in the town of Dihrawud in Uruzgan province, a mostly ethnic Pashtun area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the Afghan capital of Kabul. Thirteen people were wounded, according to a NATO statement.

District police chief Omar Khan said the attacker may have been headed for a regular security meeting of NATO and dozens of tribal elders. Khan, who was at the meeting, could not explain why the bomber detonated his explosives before reaching the heavily guarded venue.

Lt. Nico Melendez, a NATO spokesman in Kabul, said he had no indication that the meeting was the intended target.

Khan said 15 bodies were recovered at the blast site, but residents told police that remains of five more victims had been taken away for burial. Another police official, Gen. Juma Gul Himat, said three children were among the dead and that several shops were destroyed.

NATO troops from the nearby Forward Operating Base Hadrian responded to the blast and found a large amount of opium near the scene, the alliance said in a statement.

It was the deadliest attack against civilians since Sept. 29, when a bomb struck a crowded bus on the outskirts of the city of Kandahar, killing 30 passengers.

........................................MORE HERE.............................................

Suicide bomber kills 20 people in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News

Please use the first post to get more info and I will try to keep up..........

mlurp · #4 (**permalink**) 01-18-2010, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Taliban attacks paralyze Afghan capital for hours.......

By ROBERT H. REID and RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writers Robert H. Reid And Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writers – 21 mins ago

KABUL – Taliban militants wearing explosive vests launched a brazen daylight assault Monday on the center of Kabul, with suicide bombings and gunbattles near the presidential palace and other government buildings that paralyzed the city for hours.

Afghan forces along with NATO advisers managed to restore order after nearly five hours of fighting as explosions and machine gunfire echoed across the mountain-rimmed city, sending terrified Afghans racing for cover. Twelve people were killed, including seven attackers, officials said.

The assault by a handful of determined militants dramatized the vulnerability of the Afghan capital, undermining public confidence in President Hamid Karzai's government and its U.S.-led allies.

The attacks also suggested that the mostly rural Taliban are prepared to strike at the heart of the Afghan state — even as the United States and its international partners are rushing 37,000 reinforcements to join the eight-year war.
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In the first assault, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at Pashtunistan Square, a major intersection near the gates to the presidential palace, the Central Bank and the luxury Serena Hotel, which is frequented by Westerners.

Clashes broke out as other militants fought with Afghan troops, who converged quickly on the scene in pickup trucks and armored vehicles. Police sealed off the area and helicopters buzzed overhead.

Several attackers then stormed into a nearby shopping mall, prompting a standoff with security forces. Two bombers were killed when their explosives detonated, setting the four-story building ablaze.
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It was the biggest assault on the capital since Oct. 28, when three gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff, killing at least 11 people including five U.N. workers. Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen also struck government buildings in the capital in February 2009, killing more than 20 people.

But Monday's fighting persisted longer than any initiated by the Taliban in the capital since they were driven from power by the U.S. and its allies in 2001.
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NATO officials speculated that Monday's attack may have been timed to upstage preparations for a Jan. 28 major international conference in London on ways to shore up the Afghan government.

U.S. Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Afghanistan, blamed the attack on the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked Afghan Taliban faction based in Pakistan. The group also was believed to be linked to the Dec. 30 suicide bombing against a remote CIA base that killed seven of the agency's employees in Afghanistan's Khost province.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the Taliban behind the attack were part of a set of extremist groups operating in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"They are desperate people; they are ruthless," he said from New Delhi after a trip to Afghanistan. "The people who are doing this certainly will not survive the attack, nor will they succeed. But we can expect these sort of things on a regular basis."

___

Associated Press writers Amir Shah, Kim Gamel and Slobodan Lekic in Kabul, Raphael G. Satter in London and Kathy Gannon in Islamabad contributed to this report.

.................................................. ..MORE HERE.................................
Taliban attacks paralyze Afghan capital for hours - Yahoo! News

mlurp · #5 (**permalink**) 01-20-2010, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Afghans plan dramatic increase in security forces

By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer Kathy Gannon, Associated Press Writer – 51 mins ago

KABUL – The Afghan government and its international partners agreed Wednesday to significantly increase the country's security forces and outlined plans to lure Taliban militants from the fight and to combat corruption in a bid to turn the tide of the war.

A joint panel of officials from Afghanistan, the U.N. and troop-contributing nations approved plans to train more than 100,000 more security forces by the end of next year. The decision comes ahead of a Jan. 28 conference in London, which is aimed at boosting international support for Afghanistan in the face of a resurgent Taliban and complaints about runaway corruption in President Hamid Karzai's government.

The London conference will endorse the decisions and solicit international funding for the programs, U.N. spokesman Aleem Siddique said.

With as much as we already spend I would hope we don't have to foot larger bills for this effort, which is needed. But it isn't up to defict tormented American to go much deeper into debt. Lets hope the other countries get up to bat.

Officials said the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board agreed to increase the size of the Afghan National Army from the current figure of about 97,000 to 171,600 by the end of next year. The Afghan National Police will be boosted from about 94,000 today to 134,000.

The board set a long-term goal of expanding the Afghan security force to 240,000 soldiers and 160,000 police within five years if conditions require. Officials said that figure may not be necessary if the U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban succeeds in crippling the insurgency.

Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak said he believed the proposed 400,000-strong security force — including army and police — was "the minimum requirement" for Afghanistan but that the country's international partners were concerned over how to pay for such a large force and sustain it after the U.S. and its allies leave.

President Barack Obama's administration believes the key to stability in Afghanistan is a strong national security force that can protect the country and allow U.S. and other foreign troops to go home. Obama has said he plans to begin withdrawing forces in July 2011 if conditions permit.

In the meantime, the United States and NATO are sending about 37,000 reinforcements to Afghanistan to try to reverse the rise of the Taliban, which the U.S. and its Afghan partners drove from power in 2001.

U.S. officials have said the military effort cannot succeed without major reforms in the weak and corrupt Afghan government.

....................................MORE HERE.............................................. .

Afghans plan dramatic increase in security forces - Yahoo! News

mlurp · #6 (**permalink**) 01-23-2010, 01:02 PM

Most people love dogs. This is about some special dogs..... But seems the military needs to realize these dogs need to be fed...

Quote:

Dog surge along with troop surge in Afghan war....

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer Eric Talmadge, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 57 mins ago

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan has led to a dog surge — and unexpected problems in procuring high-quality dog food with enough protein and nutrients for hundreds of canines used to find explosives and perform other energy-intensive missions.

Along with about 37,000 U.S. and NATO troops, the number of military working dogs being brought into the country to search for mines, explosives and to accompany soldiers on patrol is increasing substantially, according to Nick Guidas, the American K-9 project manager for Afghanistan.

Guidas, a civilian contractor who primarily oversees dog operations in southern Afghanistan, said he has 50 dogs on operational teams and about 20 more awaiting missions. He expects that number to go up to 219 by July.

"It may go as high as 315 dogs in Afghanistan," he said Saturday at a crowded kennel full of highly trained German and Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Labradors on this air base, the hub of U.S. and international security forces' operations in the volatile Kandahar area.

"Because of the surge there is more need for working dogs. But one of my main problems is getting dog food," he said. "It's hard to convince people sometimes that it's a priority, but it's a necessity if we are to keep these dogs working."

Guidas said because of the energy-intensive demands of their missions, the dogs require special food and can't just eat scraps.

The dog food, which is made commercially in the United States and has extra protein and nutrients to keep the dogs healthy while working in the heat and cold, must be shipped to Pakistan and then trucked to Kandahar.

But space on trucks is limited and prioritized. Food and supplies for humans come first, and logistics planners are still adjusting for the eating needs of the bigger pack of dogs to be put to work.

"It doesn't get a higher priority than a Coke or some potato chips," Guidas said of the dog food. "It moves when it moves."

Even so, the dogs have become an essential component of many units because of their versatility. They can be trained to search for a wide variety of explosives and parts used in making improvised bombs.

In the past month alone, military dogs in southern Afghanistan have made 20 finds of unexploded devices, weapon caches and other materiel.

The U.S. has about 2,800 military dogs, the largest canine force in the world. It has used dogs in combat since World War I.

The dogs don't come cheap. It costs about $40,000 per dog a year, and each goes through about five months of training. This year, Guidas expects the cost of the dog food that he needs to reach $200,000, up from about $80,000 last year.

He said each dog can work for five or six years, but the demands of the terrain and of the mission are harsh, particularly on the dogs' joints. If a dog is injured or sick, it is not sent out on operations.

Only two military dogs have been lost in southern Afghanistan in the past five years, Guidas said.

"We take very good care of these dogs," he said. "In some cases they are treated better than us."

Dog surge along with troop surge in Afghan war - Yahoo! News

mlurp · #7 (**permalink**) 01-28-2010, 03:31 PM

Karzai govt invites Taliban to peace meeting

By David Brunnstrom and Myra MacDonald David Brunnstrom And Myra Macdonald – 1 hr 45 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – The Afghan government on Thursday invited Taliban insurgents to a peace council of elders as part of efforts to find a way out of a conflict which is trying the patience and resources of Afghanistan's Western allies.

In an indication of the quickening pace of diplomacy, a U.N. official said members of the Taliban's leadership council had secretly met the United Nations representative for Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of laying down their arms.

As leaders and ministers from 60 nations convened in London to discuss Afghanistan, the official told Reuters members of the Taliban's Quetta Shura had met U.N. Special Representative Kai Eide on January 8 in Dubai.

"They requested a meeting to talk about talks. They want protection, to be able to come out in public. They don't want to vanish into places like Bagram," the official said, referring to a detention center at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

The official said it was the first time such talks had taken place with members of the Taliban's top council, which U.S. officials say is based in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

At the London conference, nations agreed that Afghan forces should aim to take the lead role in providing security in a number of provinces by late 2010 or early 2011, opening the road for a reduction in foreign troops.
............................MUCH MORE HERE..............................................
Karzai govt invites Taliban to peace meeting - Yahoo! News

Billo_Really · #8 (**permalink**) 01-28-2010, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlurp

One person did that and Billo won't be doing it again. I will report him this time.

I didn't attack the thread.

I posted my own articles about Afghanistan.

If you want to report those, go ahead, but it won't stop me from doing what I have a right to do.

However, in light of the fact the other thread caused you so much grief, this will be my only post in this thread.

I don't stay anywhere I'm not welcome.

mlurp · #9 (**permalink**) 01-29-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billo_Really

I didn't attack the thread.

I posted my own articles about Afghanistan.

If you want to report those, go ahead, but it won't stop me from doing what I have a right to do.

However, in light of the fact the other thread caused you so much grief, this will be my only post in this thread.

I don't stay anywhere I'm not welcome.

Billo your welcome to post facts in this or any thread. Notice I try not to inject any of my opinions... Just the FACTS is what the readers want.... But to post them as QUOTES like I do it does require I put in something... Or it won't post.

Can we agree on this. I don't want to debate this topic, just report it...

mlurp · #10 (**permalink**) 01-30-2010, 02:51 PM

Video's at the site........

Quote:

Anger as NATO airstrike kills 4 Afghan soldiers

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer Robert H. Reid, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 30 mins ago

KABUL – A joint U.S.-Afghan force called in an airstrike on what turned out to be an Afghan army post after taking fire from there before dawn Saturday, killing four Afghan soldiers and prompting an angry demand for punishment from the country's defense ministry.

Both NATO and Afghan authorities described the clash around a snow-covered outpost in Wardak province southwest of Kabul as a case of mistaken identity. NATO called the attack "unfortunate" and promised a full investigation.

Nevertheless, the deadly strike threatens to strain relations between NATO and the Afghan government at a time when both sides are calling for closer partnership in the fight against the Taliban. The fighting came on the heels of several cases of bloodshed between Afghans and Americans in recent weeks.

NATO and Afghan officials said an Afghan interpreter angry over "job issues" shot and killed two U.S. soldiers Friday before he was gunned down by an American service member in the same district as the airstrike. NATO officials said the two attacks appeared unrelated.

Just how does the Afgan President explaine these events?

Saturday's fighting erupted about 3 a.m. when a group of U.S. Special Forces and Afghan commandos approached a remote Afghan army outpost that was set up about 18 months ago to guard the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar.

NATO said the Afghan soldiers believed the unit was the Taliban and started shooting.
Dang just what are the communications problems. Didn't the Afgans know these special troops were in the area? Questions to simple answers is part of the fog of war...

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President Hamid Karzai has urged international forces to do more to protect civilians as part of a plan to build public support and lure Afghans away from the Taliban. Karzai announced a plan in London this week to offer jobs and other incentives to Taliban fighters willing to quit the insurgency and to reach out to the Taliban leadership.

On Saturday, the Taliban denied reports that their representatives met with a senior U.N. official to discuss prospects for peace. A statement sent to news organizations said reports of a meeting between the U.N.'s Afghanistan chief, Kai Eide, and representatives of the militants were "futile and baseless rumors."

Eide has not publicly acknowledged such a meeting but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.N. official wanted to "get his own conclusion about the mindset of some of the Taliban members."

The Taliban statement said the report was part of a U.S.-orchestrated "propaganda campaign" and promised to continue the war.

___

Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Kim Gamel contributed to this report.

Anger as NATO airstrike kills 4 Afghan soldiers - Yahoo! News

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