Potential Fallout Of A Pakistani Militant's Death

The Potential Fallout Of A Pakistani Militant's Death: 

"Retired Pakistani Brigadier-General Mehmood Shah followed Rehman's ascendancy within the TTP's hierarchy.
He notes that TTP members referred to Rehman as "Maulvi" and "Mufti" -- titles bestowed because of his religious education and authority.
"His loss means that the Taliban have lost a key symbolic figure whose understanding of religious issues was very important," Shah says. "Now they don't have anyone among their ranks that they can turn to interpret complex issues of Islamic jurisprudence."

US Report Card On Itself In Afghanistan

The number of insider attacks (Afghans in uniform attacking their Coalition partners) has been on the rise, from two attacks in 2008 to 46 attacks in 2012. The 2012 attacks resulted in 62 Coalition deaths, 35 of them U.S. personnel. 

This accounts for more than 11% of all U.S. casualties and 15% of all U.S. casualties resulting from hostile actions in 2012. 
Full Report

Britain's wars fuel terror. Denying it only feeds Islamophobia

Britain's wars fuel terror. Denying it only feeds Islamophobia | Seumas Milne: 

"What is indisputable is that there were no jihadist attacks in Britain before 9/11, itself claimed as a response to US support for Arab dictatorships, Israeli occupation and murderous sanctions on Iraq. Wars supposedly fought to keep Britain safe have been shown to do the exact opposite.
Given the bloodshed, torture, mass incarceration and destruction that US-British occupation has inflicted on Afghanistan and Iraq, and the civilian slaughter inflicted in the drone war from Pakistan to Yemen, the only surprise is that there haven't been more terror attacks."

The FBI murder of Ibragim Todashev

The FBI murder of Ibragim Todashev—the man who knew too much? - World Socialist Web Site: 
"The killing of Todashev, and the rapid disintegration of the government’s official story—that he was shot after lunging at interrogators with a knife—is an extraordinary event. It casts into further doubt everything that has been said so far about the Boston Marathon bombings.
The report that Todashev was unarmed was followed Thursday by a press conference in Moscow, where the murdered man’s father, Abdulbaki Todashev presented a series of photographs of his son’s body taken at a Florida morgue showing that he had been shot six times in the torso and once in the crown of his head."

American general: 'Not feasible' to completely destroy the Taliban

American general: 'Not feasible' to completely destroy the Taliban in Afghanistan - World News: 
"If we think the Taliban will be completely destroyed, that's not feasible. They'll continue to show up," Major General Lee Miller told reporters at the Pentagon during a briefing via satellite from Afghanistan.

"

Sectarian Clashes Erupt in Lebanon - Clip

Rush For The Afghan Exits

Afghan war costs UK over £37bn so far

Afghan war costs UK over £37bn so far: 
"Ledwidge, who has also been a civilian adviser to the British government in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, says Helmand is no more stable now than when thousands of British troops were deployed there in 2006. Opium production that fell under the Taliban, is increasing, fuelling corruption and the coffers of warlords.
“Rendering the Afghan armed forces capable of securing the province [Helmand] is regarded by many ordinary British soldiers as little short of ridiculous,” Ledwidge writes.
Though British and other foreign troops were sent to Afghanistan to stop al-Qaeda posing a threat to Britain’s national security, “of all the thousands of civilians and combatants, not a single Qaeda operative or ‘international terrorist’ who could conceivably have threatened the United Kingdom is recorded as having been killed by NATO troops in Helmand,”

British lawyers demand access to detainees in Afghanistan

British lawyers demand access to detainees in Afghanistan - latimes.com:
Perhaps there would be less 'danger to British troops' if they weren't part of an occupation force.
"Richard Stein, a human rights lawyer defending a detainee, told the BBC he had been denied even phone access to his client “despite repeated efforts.”
“We recognize the risk to British forces but it can’t be a justification to detain people unlawfully.”
Shiner told the BBC the Defense Ministry had finally granted him access to two clients.
He acknowledged the British government faced a dilemma: it has no legal internment powers in Afghanistan but officials do not feel they can transfer suspects to the Afghan legal system while it is suspected of using torture. But, he said, Britain "could have trained the Afghan authorities to detain people lawfully and make sure they are treated humanely. They could have monitored that facility with ad hoc inspections to make sure that the Afghans were obeying the law. They have chosen not to do so.”"

Afghan insurgents attack Red Cross in Jalalabad

Afghan insurgents attack Red Cross | SBS World News: 

"Afghan officials say insurgents have attacked a guest house used by the International Committee of the Red Cross in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, says the attack began Wednesday evening and that a gun battle was still going on.
Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal also confirmed the attack on the guest house."

One guard confirmed dead in early reports.

Pakistan: Deadly 'US drone strike' in Waziristan

BBC News - Pakistan: Deadly 'US drone strike' in Waziristan:
"Any drone strike is against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan and we condemn it," the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
It was unclear whether those killed were the intended targets. Four people were also reported to have been wounded.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that the strike is also the first since Pakistan's 11 May elections which have brought to the fore groups that feed on anti-Americanism and oppose such attacks."

Bagram - Another Secret Detention Centre

BBC News - UK confirms extended detentions of up to 90 Afghans: 
"UK lawyers acting for eight of the men being detained said their clients were arrested by British soldiers in raids in villages in Helmand and Kandahar provinces and have been held for between eight and 14 months without charge.
They claimed it amounted to unlawful detention and internment.
Lawyers for the men, whom the BBC has chosen not to name over fears for their safety, launched habeas corpus applications at the High Court in London on 18 April, with a full hearing due in late July."

10 die in Afghanistan bomb blasts

10 die in Afghanistan bomb blasts: 
"Ten people including Afghan security forces have died and six others have been injured in two bomb explosions in Afghanistan.
The first bomb attack was carried out early on Tuesday near Qarabagh District of the northern province of Parwan.
Provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said that the vehicle of Amin Ramin, the managing director of Afghan Wireless Communications Company, was the target of the bombing.
He said that Ramin had survived the attack, which killed eight people including his five bodyguards, and injured three others."

Seven Afghan police killed in checkpoint attack

Seven Afghan police killed in checkpoint attack - CBS News: 

"The police chief of volatile Kandahar district said that the two attackers were former policemen who had rejoined the force only two days previously. Gen. Abdul Razaq said they fled in a police vehicle with their dead comrades' weapons after the attack in the remote district of Arghistan late Monday.
Ahmad Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the two were dinner guests invited by the commander to eat with him at his checkpoint. He said they picked up weapons after dinner and opened fire."

EU Divided On Armed Interference In Syria

Why are Cameron and Hollande so keen to get embroiled in Syria? Many Senior US securocrats argue against it. The answer lies, as it often does, in Tel Aviv.

German military planning to purchase drones

German military planning to purchase several drones | News | DW.DE | 28.05.2013: 
"According to the report, which cited a paper which the ministry prepared in response to a parliamentary query from the opposition Social Democrats, Washington has already approved the purchase.
It also said that de Maiziere would reserve the right to arm German drones. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is expected to sign off on the deal at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The report comes just two weeks after the defense department announced that it had scrapped plans to build the high-altitude Euro Hawk reconnaissance drone."

Many Afghan Interpreters Abandoned

"Sir, We welcome the decision to grant some Afghan interpreters the right to resettle in the UK. The principle was established in Iraq, and there is no reason to treat our brave Afghan interpreters differently.
However, the proposed relocation package falls short of guaranteeing protection and safety for many brave individuals. Specifically, the asylum offer may only apply to those working on or after January 1, 2013; excluding hundreds who risked their lives alongside UK troops in this decade-long war."

I ask the question again. Why don't they want to stay in Obama and Cameron's 'New Afghanistan'. Because they know what is going to happen and are voting with their feet.

Sea-Borne Drone Weaponry Launched

It tells an eloquent story about the tenor of Reuters reporting that they present this almost as a science report. Get the flags and streamers out.

Memorial Day - US Vets Return War Medals

Syrian War Spilling Into Lebanon

Italian Casualties in Latest Taliban Attack

The Taliban militants say they have attacked a convoy of US-led forces in Afghanistan™s western province of Farah and five Italian soldiers have been killed in the assault, Press TV reports.
There are conflicting reports on the casualties of the attack, which was carried out on Monday when a bomber blew up his explosive-laden car near a convoy of the foreign troops in Bala Buluk District.
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has also confirmed the attack, but it says only two Italian soldiers have been wounded.
Meanwhile, locals said two civilians were wounded in the bomb blast.
More than 3,000 Italian troops are stationed in Afghanistan.

12 Killed In Mosque Blast

Authorities in eastern Afghanistan say explosives transported by suspected Taliban fighters accidentally detonated while they were stopped at a mosque, killing 12 people.Local official Qasim Desewal said Saturday that four civilians and eight militants died in the blast during evening prayers the night before in Ghazni province's district of Andar.
He said that the Taliban had apparently stopped at the mosque while traveling and the explosives they were carrying went off while they were inside.

Afghan interpreters may move to the UK – security forces have no safe haven

Afghan interpreters may move to the UK – security forces have no safe haven | Jon Boone | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: 
"It is a fact that the young men who lived and worked alongside foreign troops are among those Afghans who have done most well out of the 9/11 decade. Paid about $700 a month, they are among the very highest earners in a country where gross national income per head is just $40 a month. They are also resourceful and relatively highly educated. David Cameron and Hamid Karzai had a point when they said Afghanistan can ill-afford to lose such skilled young people."

American Foreign Policy Update

Al Qaeda in Africa ~ Bad. 

Al Qaeda in Syria ~ Good. 

Al Qaeda in Libya ~ Were good...now very very bad.

Chomsky On Obama On Drones

The Sooner The US and Satraps Exit The Better

First, there is no military solution to Afghan political problems, many of which don’t even originate in Afghanistan. In fact, efforts to pacify the Afghan insurgency by force have only backfired. The security situation in Afghanistan today is worse than it was before the surge in 2009. A failure to achieve a negotiated political settlement with regional stakeholders will almost certainly mean a fourth decade of war in Afghanistan — fomenting the same conditions which led to the rise of Al Qaeda in that country. For 12 years, the US has given military solutions every chance to work. It is clear these efforts have failed. Inclusive political negotiations are extremely difficult in the best of conditions. As violence grows, any efforts are very unlikely to bear fruit without first securing a ceasefire between international and Afghan forces and the insurgency. Second, no regional agreement can be reached without Pakistan. It is true that one of the biggest challenges to stability in Afghanistan comes from outside its borders. The Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, target of most of the 368 US drones strikes in Pakistan, has become a heavily militarized insurgent haven. The insurgency causes great instability, but is not the only undercurrent that matters regarding political violence in the FATA, in other areas of Pakistan or in Afghanistan. MORE

Major attack In downtown Kabul

Taliban launch major attack on downtown Kabul - Times LIVE: 

"The blasts hit the centre of Kabul at about 4:00 pm (1130 GMT) on Friday, the weekly holiday in Afghanistan, and gunfire was continuing sporadically two hours later.
Security forces killed two of the gunmen who were firing and throwing grenades from a building, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told the Tolo news channel, without saying how many attackers remained.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP the initial explosion was close to a hospital run by the NDS intelligence agency and the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF), which provides security for clients including international firms, supply convoys and aid groups."

When a Bomb Goes Off in Afghanistan

When a Bomb Goes Off in Afghanistan - The Daily Beast: 

"I have spent the past four years as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press in Afghanistan. I have been one of about a dozen international reporters across various news outlets charged with telling the American public what's going on "over there." It makes for a strange workday: rushing out to bomb sites, counting suicide attacks and emailing with the Taliban.
People call the news the first draft of history. Working for a wire service in Afghanistan is like being there for the brainstorming session, then publishing your notes. It's a terrifying job. There's a lot more chance of getting something wrong than right, and there's the fear of losing a bit of your humanity in covering the daily death toll of war.
But in return you get to be one of the people trying to find a narrative in the chaos. You get to be one of the people to ascribe meaning.
And these days what scares me most is that with every passing month there are fewer people doing that job in Afghanistan. It takes an intense surge of effort by scores of people pulling 14-hour days to tell you about just one explosion. And that reporting machine is what keeps Afghanistan alive in the American consciousness."

UK soldier killed in London in reprisal for Afghanistan and Iraq

UK soldier killed in London in reprisal for Afghanistan and Iraq wars - World Socialist Web Site: "For reasons yet to be explained, it reportedly took up to 20 minutes for police to arrive on the scene. In that time Adebolajo spoke to several passers-by and was filmed by one making an extensive statement confirming that the attack was motivated by anger at the actions of British imperialism in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere."

British soldier fired for stabbing Afghan boy

British soldier fired for stabbing Afghan boy | UK news | The Guardian: 
"After being traced by the Guardian, the boy's father said the attack had left his impoverished family bitter and financially burdened. More than 18 months after the attack, his son is still unable to go to school. He said British forces were "in Afghanistan to build the country and remove insurgents, not to stab a child".
The unpublicised conviction of Crook is the latest in a series of prosecutions mounted against British military personnel accused of causing civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
The Guardian has learned that in a separate case, another soldier is being investigated on suspicion of murder after allegedly shooting dead an Afghan civilian who was digging near a military base."

Soldier hacked to death in Woolwich was Afghanistan Vet

Soldier hacked to death in Woolwich was Lee Rigby, an Army drummer - UPI.com: 

"Army officials said Lee Rigby, 25, nicknamed Riggers, was married with a 2-year-old son, The Guardian reported. He enlisted in 2006 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.
Rigby, apparently targeted because he was wearing a T-shirt for the soldiers' charity Help for Heroes, was hacked to death Wednesday outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in the Woolwich district of London."

Killing Americans - Drones Have Become Scary

Woolwich Attack

A few thoughts amongst the shit-storm and terror-fest in the MSM. One of the guys who carried out the attack explained the reasons for it. The motive would have been obvious to any informed person even if he hadn't explained it. Terror is wrong whether by machete in Woolwich or drone/missiles/bullets in NATO-occupied Muslim countries. The connection between the two is glaring. The securocrats-for-hire and laptop bombardiers are having a field day. Will there be any comment on innocent deaths yesterday in Afghanistan, for example, other than on sites like this (not that there are many)? Have a guess.

US Admits Killing 4 US Citizens With Drones

Seminary Students Killed By US Troops

US-led forces opened fire on a group of seminary students in western Afghanistan, killing at least two and injuring several others.

Security sources in the Herat province said the students were attending a ceremony at the Aziz-Abad village when the shooting happened.

Following the incident, a group of protesters, including local elders, gathered outside the governor™s office, demanding the arrest of the culprits.

'Exhausted' Karzai To Retire

Karzai addressed concerns that Afghanistan might suffer as Iraq did from an increase in violence after the departure of foreign troops. "We are pained to see Iraq suffer. I can tell you with a strong measure of confidence that Afghanistan will not see that," he said."But we do fear the continuation of terrorism as it has been affecting us for years now," he said. LINK

 He really is exhausted.

The CIA's Bags Of Cash

The Real Costs of CIA Cash | Human Rights Watch: 

"The CIA has a long history of using cash to buy allegiance in Afghanistan. A retired CIA officer once told me unabashedly over lunch at the Cosmos Club in Washington of payments in the late 1990s to the anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massoud. As Human Rights Watch's Afghanistan researcher ten years ago, I saw firsthand how the CIA paved the way with cash during the military campaign against the Taliban in late 2001. While investigating abuses by a warlord named Ismail Khan in western Afghanistan, I learned the CIA had provided him with enough cash and weapons that he was soon in control of this part of the country (which also gave him control of 70 percent of national revenue derived from customs taxes on the Iranian border). Khan became so powerful that he soon called himself the "Emir of Herat.""

Afghan Interpreters

It is undeniable that the interpreters who have served their NATO masters so well deserve some kind of reward.
But the subtext of the asylum for interpreters story is a different one. What happened to the 'New Afghanistan', the viable, democratic, vibrant society that the US and NATO have been spinning to the world for nearly 12 years of their disastrous occupation. Why don't the interpreters want to stay there? Quite simply because it doesn't, never has and never will exist. NATO/ISAF have been killing Afghans and getting killed for 11 years on the back of a fantasy. 
The intepreters know that the Taliban are just biding their time.

Afghan interpreters to be offered chance to settle in Britain

Afghan interpreters to be offered chance to settle in Britain - UK - News - London Evening Standard: 
"The proposals could see all interpreters who have been in the job more than 12 months and put themselves in physical danger offered a resettlement package.
They will need to have worked between December 2012 and December 2014, when troops are due to leave, to be eligible.
It is estimated that about half the interpreters - roughly 600 - will qualify for resettlement in the UK."

'Britain sent seven children to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq'

'Britain sent seven children to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq' - UK - News - London Evening Standard: 
In the period 2007-10, a total of seven personnel, who were all 17 years old, were confirmed as having entered an area of operations, four on Op Telic, Iraq, and three on Op Herrick, Afghanistan.
"We take immediate action to correct any breach of our policy as soon as it is discovered.

Torture Victim’s Body Is Found Near U.S. Base, Afghans Say - NYTimes

Torture Victim’s Body Is Found Near U.S. Base, Afghans Say - NYTimes.com: 
"Mr. Mohammad’s body was found about 200 yards outside the perimeter of the Nerkh base, which is now occupied by Afghan special forces after the American unit was removed following protests by Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai. Mohammad Hanif Hanafi, the Nerkh District governor, said it was found by laborers digging a water ditch when they unearthed what appeared to be a military-style black body bag.
Relatives of Mr. Mohammad said his corpse was largely complete, except both of his feet had been cut off. They took his remains to the Nerkh district government center in protest. The partial remains and clothing of another missing person were earlier found near the base, family members and Afghan officials have said."

Return of The Taliban

The Taliban are already running a proxy government in Afghanistan. Seen that on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, France 24 or read it in the Murdoch or AIPAC press? Thought not. This is not good, but it doesn't justify the continued pretence and fantasy that something has been, or is being, achieved in Afghanistan. What remains of the mission, if there ever really was one, is a travesty and debacle. CLIP HERE

Afghan Parliament Blocks Women's Rights Bill

When it all started to crumble in Afghanistan many years ago, NATO/ISAF started to spin the 'mission' as a campaign for women and girls' education and rights. They were a dollar short and a day late with that bright idea of trying to save face. This development buries their desperate ploy even deeper in the scrapheap of history. Even Afghan women voted against it.

Deadly car bombs kill at least 31 people in Iraq

Deadly car bombs kill at least 31 people in Iraq - Independent.ie:

Baghlan Provincial Council Head Killed in Suicide Attack

Baghlan Provincial Council Head Killed in Suicide Attack: 
Baghlan Police Chief, General Asadullah Shirzad said that the incident happened at 10 am which killed 13 and injured 10 civilians. The killed included four bodyguards of the Council Head and eight civilians.
Several visitors at the Council Head's office are also among the injured and killed. They were there in the office for various works.
The injured have been rushed to the Pul-e-Khumri and Nasaje hospitals in the province.

Benghazi - This is what US Foreign Policy Discourse Has Descended To

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Soldier Box - New Book By Joe Glenton

Attacks kill 10 police in Afghanistan

Attacks kill 10 police in Afghanistan - thenews.com.pk: 

The victims were members of the 18,000-strong Afghan Local Police, a village-level force formed in 2010 to provide security in areas where the better-trained national police and army are scarce.
Also on Sunday, four Afghan border police were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in eastern Nangarhar province.

Karzai to seek military aid on visit to India amid border tensions with Pakistan

Afghan president to seek military aid on visit to India amid border tensions with Pakistan

"Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi says the president will discuss recent border skirmishes with Pakistan when he visits New Delhi starting Monday. He added that Karzai would seek Indian help in "strengthening of our security forces.""

District Police Chief Killed

Ghani had led an anti-Taliban campaign in Farah that had resulted in the killing or capture of several local Taliban leaders.No one has assumed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes as the Taliban has stepped up their attacks against international and Afghans security forces ahead of NATO’s pullout next year. LINK

Boston Bomber Cited Iraq, Afghanistan Invasions as Motive

Endless War with No Borders

Washington gets explicit: its 'war on terror' is permanent | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: 
"Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade. Given the way al-Qaida continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight. . . . That timeline suggests that the United States has reached only the midpoint of what was once known as the global war on terrorism.""

CIA Agent Tried To Recruit Russian

Two Nato truck drivers gunned down near Afghan border

Two Nato truck drivers gunned down near Afghan border - thenews.com.pk: 

"The first driver was killed in the Jamrud area of Khyber. “Two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a Nato truck and killed its driver,” local official Asmatullah Wazir told AFP.
 In a separate attack, gunmen opened fire on another Nato supply truck in a suburb of Peshawar, killing its driver, senior police official Muhammad Faysal Murad told AFP."

Afghans tell of US soldier's killing rampage

Afghans tell of US soldier's killing rampage: 
"The soldier wasn't listening. He pointed his pistol at Masooma to quiet her and pushed her husband into the living room.
"My husband just looked back at me and said, 'I will be back.'" Seconds later she heard gunshots, she recalled, her voice cracking as she was momentarily unable to speak. Her husband was dead.
Masooma, who like many Afghans uses only one name, defied tribal traditions that prohibit women from speaking to strangers to talk to The Associated Press while — half a world away — the military prepares to court-martial a U.S. serviceman in the killing of her husband and 15 other Afghan civilians, mainly women and children." LINK

Kabul Attack - Report Clip

Six Americans Killed in Kabul Car Bomb Attack

Six Americans Killed in Kabul Car Bomb Attack - ABC News: 
"The attack happened just after 8 a.m. The bomber drove a car filled with explosives directly into a military convoy as it drove through the city. The explosion was so powerful it reduced a series of vehicles to piles of twisted, mangled metal, and set nearby buildings on fire. The scene was quickly secured by NATO troops, as fires smoldered on the freshly blackened street. Some of the bodies were so badly burned they were difficult to identify."

Attack On NATO Convoy in Kabul

Early reports say that 6 'locals' including 2 children were killed in the suicide attack on the convoy this morning. Details sparse on Nato casualties but it seems inevitable from remarks by officials that there are some. The picture was taken by Afghan TV at the scene.

 

Obama Calls Benghazi Media Frenzy a 'Circus'

The Kill Team: Murderous Reality of the US war in Afghanistan

The Kill Team: The murderous reality of the US war in Afghanistan: 
"Gibbs may have been the immediate instigator of the crimes and deserves punishment, but he is also something of a scapegoat. The real criminals, responsible for the rivers of blood in Afghanistan and elsewhere, are those who decided on and carried out the policy of aggressive, illegal war. They are to be found in the White House, the Pentagon, Congress and the comfortable offices of America’s leading media outlets."

Troops 'humiliated' Afghan detainees

Troops 'humiliated' Afghan detainees: 
"In February last year, the Australian monitoring team reported via cable from Kabul that detainees at Parwan had raised ''serious concerns'' about searches of ''groin and buttocks areas'' being carried out in open view. ''The US advised that, in accordance with US policy, these searches were not invasive enough to be conducted in private by medical personnel'', the cable says. ''As such they would continue to be conducted in public by the guardforce.''"

Drones - The Future of 'Warfare'? Future of 'Tragedies' They Mean

The war-porn pundits drool over this kind of hardware sales-pitch. These machines and the clowns who operate them are the ones who call their frequent mistakes (dead villagers, wood-gatherers, wedding parties etc.) 'tragedies'. The first tragedy is that there are dupes willing to buy the arms industry/securocrat PR.

A Flag-Burning In Afghanistan

More trivial than what we usually report but interesting for the condescending attitude of the WSJ as much as anything. Apols for the advert.

Twin bombs strike at Afghan checkpoint near governor's compound

Twin bombs strike at Afghan checkpoint near governor's compound, killing 1, wounding 9:
"The explosions struck in the early morning in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. The first bomb wounded a policeman, and the second was remotely detonated minutes later as police swarmed to the blast scene to secure it.
The second explosion killed one police officer and wounded five policemen and three civilian passers-by who were on their way to a nearby park, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor"

Afghans Claim to Have Video of U.S. Special Forces Torturing Civilians

Afghans Claim to Have Video of U.S. Special Forces Guy Torturing Civilians | Danger Room | Wired.com: 

"The video is only one component of the evidence Afghans told the paper they’ve compiled against Kandahari and the Special Forces A-Team that was in Wardak’s Nerkh District. A 16-year old named Hikmatullah said Kandahari picked him up on incorrect suspicion of being an insurgent. “Mr. Kandahari beat and kicked him until his shoulder was dislocated. He was released after three days, he said,” the paper reports, “but his brothers are missing.”
The suspicion helps explain why President Hamid Karzai abruptly called in February for U.S. special operators to leave Wardak Province. It took only a few weeks for Karzai, the recipient of CIA money, to soften his position: the elite troops immediately left Nerkh, but they’re still working out a timetable with the Afghan government to vacate Wardak entirely."

NATO says roadside bomb kills 4 US troops in South

NATO says roadside bomb kills 4 US troops in southern Afghanistan - The Washington Post:
"The attack follows a truck bombing a day earlier on a NATO outpost in Helmand province that killed three Georgian soldiers. So far this year, 58 international service troops have been killed in Afghanistan, according to an Associated Press count. Of those, 44 are U.S. service members.
Earlier Tuesday, a bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle ripped through a packed market in the village of Safar in Helmand, according to Omer Zawak, the spokesman for the provincial governor. Three people were killed and seven were wounded in the blast, he said, warning that the toll could rise."

La Turquie Embourbée dans la Crise Syrienne

Three Georgian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Attack

Three Georgian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan Attack: 
"It was the second bloodiest encounter for Georgian forces in Afghanistan, after a September 2010 attack that left four troops dead.

In all, 22 Georgian military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan.

With some 1,600 troops, Georgia has the largest non-NATO contingent in Afghanistan."

Afghans Say an American Tortured Civilians

Afghans Say an American Tortured Civilians - NYTimes.com: 
"They say they have testimony and documents implicating Mr. Kandahari and his unit in the killings or disappearances of 15 Afghans in Wardak. Mr. Kandahari is of Afghan descent but was born and raised in the United States, they say. Included in the evidence, the Afghan officials say, is a videotape of Mr. Kandahari torturing one of the 15 Afghans, a man they identified as Sayid Mohammad.
Mr. Mohammad was picked up by the unit in Wardak six months ago and has not been seen since, the officials said. The partial remains of Mohammad Qassim, another of the 15 Afghans, were found in a trash pit just outside the fence around the unit’s base in the Nerkh district, according to Mr. Qassim’s family and Afghan officials."

US-Afghan Relations strained over Charges of Soldier's role in Torture, Killings

PressTV - US-Afghan ties strained over charges of soldier's role in torture, killings: 

"These officials say, according to the report, they have “testimony and documents” implicating Kandahari and his unit in the killings or disappearances of 15 Afghans in Wardak, further noting that Kandahari is “of Afghan descent but born and raised in the United States.”
At the center of the allegations mentioned by Afghan officials is an American Special Forces A team that has been based in the Nerkh district until recently. "