Afghan Insurgent Faction Backs Regional Gas Pipeline
20 December 2010
Afghan Insurgent Faction Says Backs Gas Pipeline, Reuters, 19 December 2010
EXCERPT: "An Afghan insurgent faction has voiced its backing for construction of a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline through Afghanistan and even pledged to provide security on a project stalled for over a decade by politics and violence. Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India this month signed a preliminary agreement to push ahead with the "TAPI"...
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2010 Foreign Troops Toll in Afghanistan Passes 700
20 December 2010
2010 Foreign Troops Toll in Afghanistan Passes 700, Reuters, 19 December 2010
EXCERPT: "[...] The grim milestone of 700 was reached after a member of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed overnight by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Another was killed in a separate homemade bomb attack later on Sunday. ISAF gave no other details of the incidents. A total of 521 foreign troops were killed in 2009,...
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Afghanistan Guardedly Backs U.S. Review
20 December 2010
Afghanistan Guardedly Backs U.S. Review, Reuters, 20 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Washington has failed to address many of Afghanistan's concerns, including civilian casualties and the need for reconciliation talks with the Taliban, in its war strategy review, the Afghan president's office said on Monday. A five-page summary of the non-classified sections of the two-month review was released last Thursday, but Afghan President Hamid...
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Afghan Aid Fuels War, Inequality: Australian Expert
20 December 2010
Caught in a Taliban Trap: Afghan Aid Fuels War and Inequality Coalition Told, The Age, 20 December 2010
EXCERPT: "MUCH of the billions of dollars in international aid to Afghanistan is ending up in the pockets of the Taliban and fuelling the insurgency, according to a Defence counter-insurgency expert. Poverty reduction and the building of infrastructure is also counterproductive and is undermining efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan,...
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Two Kidnapped Bangladeshi Engineers Freed
20 December 2010
, AFP, 20 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Two Bangladeshi construction workers kidnapped in Afghanistan three days ago have been freed and say that the five other hostages captured with them are safe, Dhaka's foreign ministry said Monday. One Bangladeshi engineer was killed and seven other workers taken hostage on Friday when gunmen stormed a remote road-building camp run by a South Korean construction...
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Deadly Taliban Attacks Target Security Forces in Kunduz, Kabul
20 December 2010
Afghanistan Attacks Target Army Bases, Killing 13, BBC News, 19 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Suicide attackers have targeted Afghan military bases in two cities, leaving 13 members of the security forces dead, along with at least five assailants. In the northern city of Kunduz, suicide bombers stormed an army recruitment centre, sparking a long gun battle. On the outskirts of Kabul, attackers ambushed an army bus outside the country's...
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