Iran Joins High-level Afghan Talks
18 October 2010
, The Associated Press, 18 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Iran took part in a high-level meeting on Afghanistan on Monday after the United States said it has no problem with its participation. The international 'contact group' met in Rome amid a renewed push to end the nine-year-old war in Afghanistan, including bringing Taliban into peace talks. The group gathers the Afghan government, NATO, the EU,...
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Top U.S. Military, Civilian Officials Assert Gains in Afghan War
18 October 2010
, The Washington Post, 17 October 2010
EXCERPT: "With a year-end report card coming due, top U.S. military and civilian officials in Afghanistan have begun to assert that they see concrete progress in the war against the Taliban, a sharp departure from earlier assessments that the insurgency had the momentum. Despite growing numbers of Taliban attacks and American casualties,...
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Australia's PM Warns against Pull-out as MPs Start Debate on Future of Afghan Mission
18 October 2010
Julia Gillard Warns against Afghanistan Pullout, The Australian, 18 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Julia Gillard has warned that withdrawing troops from Afghanistan prematurely could re-establish the region as a safe haven for terrorists. The warning came as parliament prepares for a historic debate on the deployment. [...] However, while the parliamentary debate is the product of a deal struck by Labor and the Greens in order to form government,...
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Battle Story Raises Questions about Local Militia Program, Reconciliation Process: Analyst
18 October 2010
[blog], Afghanistan Analyst Network, 18 October 2010
EXCERPT: "In March 2010, heavy fighting broke out in the northern Baghlan province between Hezb-e Islami fighters and the Taleban. On 7 October 2010, a German soldier was killed by a suicide bomber in the same area. The connection between both events is another example how the establishment of 'militias' (even though they are not called so)...
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Ten Percent of Ballots Nullified amid Election Fraud Probe
18 October 2010
Afghanistan Tosses Out Thousands of Votes Amid Fraud Probe, Los Angeles Times, 19 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Electoral officials sifting through thousands of complaints of vote fraud in last month's parliamentary elections said Monday that ballots from about one-tenth of Afghanistan's voting centers had been tossed out, with more disqualifications likely. The release of preliminary results, now due Wednesday, has been delayed twice...
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Afghan, NATO Troops Launch Critical Assault Near Kandahar
18 October 2010
, The New York Times, 16 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Hundreds of Afghan and American troops on Saturday made an air assault into the horn of Panjwai, a wide area that has served as the main base for the Taliban threatening Kandahar city, Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the commander of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, said. The assault, involving about 800 Afghan soldiers, is the most critical...
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