03 July 2008

'"Afghan Army Has Made Huge Progress"', Press TV, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "A senior Canadian official confirms that the Afghan army has made a "huge progress" and is now capable of leading missions against Taliban. 'We see huge progress with the Afghan army,' General Walt Natynczyk, Canada's Chief of Defense Staff, told reporters on Wednesday [2 July 2008]. 'What is terrific to see here, through the Arghandab piece,...

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03 July 2008

'UK PM Brown Rejects Plea For Afghan Pullout', The Herald, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Gordon Brown yesterday urged some coalition partners to make a 'bigger contribution' to frontline fighting in Afghanistan as he made clear he would not set an artificial timetable for British troop withdrawal. The Prime Minister faced a call from Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing Labour MP, to rethink strategy with a view to the withdrawal of British troops 'as...

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03 July 2008

'Deadly Bomb Targets Afghan Governor', Al Jazeera, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "A suicide bomb attack targeting the governor of Nimruz province in Afghanistan has killed other people. An assailant jumped onto a car in the convoy of Governor Gjulam Dastageer and detonated an explosives belt  in the western province on Wednesday [2 July 2008]. Dastageer was unhurt in the attack which occurred as he was leaving the city of Zaranj, the provincial...

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03 July 2008

'Pakistan Offensive Felt In Eastern Afghanistan', The Journal of Turkish Weekly, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Fighting erupted in eastern Afghanistan on June 30 and July 1 after militants crossed the border from Pakistan to attack Afghan and international forces, according to NATO and Afghan officials. In at least one of those cases, NATO officials said, the fighters were chased out of Afghan territory only to be set on by Pakistani troops....

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03 July 2008

'Britain Gives Pakistan ?1 Billion To Fight Extremism', Times Online, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Britain is doubling its aid to Pakistan to almost $1 billion, reflecting concern over rising Islamic militancy which threatens the battle against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan. About a third of the money is expected to be spent in provinces abutting the porous western border, where the Taleban and other militant forces are increasingly...

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03 July 2008

'Iran Has Spent $300 Million To Rebuild Afghanistan', Mathaba, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Iran ambassador to Kabul said Iran has spent 300 million dollars to rebuild Afghanistan during several last years [sic]. In a ceremony for opening customs office in the border of S. Khorassan province and Afghanistan on Wednesday, Ambassador Fada Hossein Maleki said, 'Iran and Afghanistan have had good political, cultural and economic relations and no...

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03 July 2008

'Top UN Official Highlights Plight Of Children', IRIN News, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Nowhere in the world are children suffering as much as in Afghanistan, a top UN official has said. Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, told reporters in Kabul on 3 July that during her six-day visit to Afghanistan she had found that 'it takes an Afghan child a very long time to smile.'...

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03 July 2008

'', ABC News, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 North Carolina-based Marines now serving in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and return home to Camp Lejeune in early November rather than October, Marine Col. David...

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03 July 2008

'', China View, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "The Afghan Foreign Ministry Thursday summoned the charge-de-affairs of the Pakistani Embassy to Afghanistan and lodged a protest over the remarks of Pakistani militants' leaders, a statement of the ministry said. 'The foreign ministry described the remarks of Pakistani militants' leaders Mullah Nazir and Mullah Hafiz Gul Bahadir as intervention...

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03 July 2008

'UN Official Urges Regional Cooperation To Stabilize Afghanistan', VOA News, 3 July 2008

EXCERPT: "A senior United Nations official says greater cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan is key to stabilizing the region. The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, says the Afghan and Pakistani governments should enter into a political dialogue to counter the growing insurgency in their border region. Eide made the comments Thursday on...

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