08 May 2008

'Bulgarian Troops To Leave Kabul By Summer', Sofia Echo, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The Bulgarian military contingent would leave its responsibility zone in Afghan capital Kabul by summer, Sega daily reported on May 8, quoting unnamed sources in the Bulgarian Defence Ministry. Local authorities had firmly insisted before the Nato command in charge of the operation that the Afghan police take over the security of the city in several months'...

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08 May 2008

'', United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, April 2008

EXCERPT: "Trends in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan have been on an upward trajectory since the early 1990s, accelerating quickly after the fall of the Taliban government. In 2007, opium poppy cultivation reached an all-time high of 193,000 ha with the majority of cultivation (69 percent) occurring in the five southern provinces. Concomitant...

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08 May 2008

'US And NATO Battle On Uneven Afghan Patchwork', Reuters Canada, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Last week U.S. Captain Roger Hill led a patrol into the Jaldez valley, just southwest of Kabul, and was immediately ambushed from three sides by 50 Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades. The army of attackers, robed and bearded, fired somewhere between 25 and 30 grenades at his convoy, Hill said, pinning the patrol down in a furious...

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08 May 2008

'Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Visits Afghanistan', Dutch News, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen began a short visit to Afghanistan on Thursday, reports ANP news service. He will be holding talks with president Hamid Karzai and Sima Samar of the independent Afghan human rights organisation AIHRC about the treatment of prisoners and human rights, says ANP. The minister will also raise the question of capital...

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08 May 2008

'Corrupt Officials Not Receiving Canadian Money: Ambassador', Canada.com, 7 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada assured MPs Wednesday [7 May 2008] that Canadian aid funds are not winding up in the "pockets or bank accounts" of corrupt government officials. Ambassador Omar Samad made the comment at a Commons committee as he urged Canada to support a request by Afghanistan to ensure a greater portion of international...

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08 May 2008

'Inquest Opens In UK's Heaviest Loss Of Life In Afghanistan', Mathaba.Net, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The delayed inquest into 14 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, when a Nimrod reconnaissance plane crashed in nearly two years ago, formally opened Wednesday with a cockpit recording of moments before the aircraft burst into flames. The explosion, which resulted in the heaviest single loss of life for British forces since the Falklands...

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08 May 2008

'Country Strategy Paper: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 2007-2013', ReliefWeb / European Commission, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "The European Commission has been present in Afghanistan since the mid 1980s, with an office in Peshawar, in western Pakistan, covering the country. ECHO had programmes in Afghanistan from the early 1990s delivering humanitarian assistance. With the fall of the Taliban, EC engagement in the country increased to make...

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08 May 2008

'PM Topolanek Visits Czech Soldiers In Afghanistan', Ceske Noviny, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek unexpectedly visited Czech soldiers in Afghanistan today, the Czech Government Office said. Topolanek made the exceptional trip in connection with last week's bomb explosion in the east Afghan province Logar, in which a Czech soldier died and others were wounded. Czech government spokeswoman Jana Bartosova said Topolanek...

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08 May 2008

'"Iran not funneling arms to Afghanistan"', Press TV Iran, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi has rejected claims that Iran dispatches arms to the war-torn country. No Iranian-made arm has been found in anti-terrorism operations which have been conducted nationwide, Azimi said, adding that no concrete evidence has also been found supporting the claim. Although efforts are on the...

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08 May 2008

'Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan Agree An Anti-Drugs Plan Brokered By UN', UN News Centre, 8 May 2008

EXCERPT: "Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have agreed to step up cross-border controls to stop the flow of illegal drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced today [8 May 2009] in Vienna. The three countries, meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran, agreed to establish Border Liaison Offices, on each of their...

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