16 January 2009

'Government Abandons Voter Registration At Health Centres', IRIN News, 14 January 2009

EXCERPT: "Mounting security concerns have forced the Afghan government to stop using health centres across the country in the election process, but the use of schools will continue, officials said. 'The president [Hamid Karzai] has ordered the election commission to move all voter registration sites out of hospitals and other health facilities,'...

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16 January 2009

'Press Freedom Getting Worse In Afghanistan, RSF Says', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 15 January 2009

EXCERPT: "Press freedom has become worse in Afghanistan and threats against Afghan journalists have risen in recent years, a media watchdog said today, urging the government to free a reporter jailed for 20 years for blasphemy. Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for press freedom, said they found progress and development...

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16 January 2009

'Homemade Bombs Now Top Threat In Kandahar, Canadians Say', The Globe and Mail, 16 January 2009

EXCERPT: "The number of homemade bombs littering the Kandahar landscape has more than doubled in the past year, Canadian military officials say, making these improvised explosives the No. 1 threat against coalition troops in the province. The homemade bombs, which insurgents have planted at a furious pace on roads and in ditches...

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16 January 2009

'US To Change Tactics In Afghanistan', Radio Netherlands, 15 January 2009

EXCERPT: "The United States has set out plans for new tactics in Afghanistan which it hopes will turn the tide of increasing violence in the country. Part of the plan includes an influx of troops and bringing local militias on board - a strategy similar to the one used to improve security in Iraq. But the mission will be more difficult because Afghanistan...

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