20 May 2010
US Launches Criminal Probe on Soldiers in Afghanistan, Reuters, 20 May 2010
EXCERPT: "The United States has launched an investigation into allegations that a number of American soldiers were responsible for the 'unlawful deaths' of at least three Afghan civilians, the U.S. military said on Thursday. 'There are also allegations of illegal drug use, assault and conspiracy,' the military said in a statement, adding that while no charges had...
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Red Cross to Remain in Afghanistan After US Leave
20 May 2010
Red Cross to Remain in Afghanistan After US Leave, Taiwan News, 20 May 2010
EXCERPT: "The Red Cross will keep up its large aid operation in Afghanistan when U.S. troops start to withdraw, its top official said Wednesday. Jakob Kellenberger said it is too early to say if the Red Cross will scale up its activities after an American pullout from Afghanistan, which President Barack Obama wants to start in July 2011. But Kellenberger, president...
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US Not Pushing Drug War in Afghanistan: Russia
20 May 2010
Moscow Furious, Says US Not Pushing Drug War in Afghanistan, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 May 2010
EXCERPT: "Russia's new drug czar, Viktor Ivanov, is spitting mad at NATO. A gruff and graying veteran of the Soviet Union's disastrous military intervention in Afghanistan, he recently made his first return visit to that country. When he came back to Moscow, he had harsh words for the Western alliance, charging that it is enabling...
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Fighting Heats Up Again Around Marjah
20 May 2010
Fighting Heats Up Again Around Marjah in Afghanistan, Dallas Morning News, 20 May 2010
EXCERPT: "A new fighting season has begun around Marjah, a richly irrigated zone of farming villages in Helmand province that was both the center of Afghanistan's opium production and a haven for its insurgency. Three months ago, thousands of Marines and Afghan soldiers swept into this area. The goal was to chase away the Taliban, disrupt the drug trade...
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