US Homeland Security to Triple Agents in Afghanistan in Fight against Smuggling
04 January 2011
, The New York Times, 1 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Janet Napolitano, the United States homeland security secretary, said Saturday that her department planned to triple the number of agents in Afghanistan to train border and customs workers ? an effort that is partly aimed at curbing the smuggling of cash out of the country. The department is sending 52 former agents, who will work on contract,...
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Afghan Peace Council Visits Pakistan
04 January 2011
, The Washington Post, 4 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Members of an Afghan peace council left for an ice-breaking visit to Pakistan on Tuesday. The 17-member delegation was set to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, whose jobs are now in jeopardy after a key political party pulled out of the ruling coalition in parliament this week. Afghan officials and...
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22,000 Unpaid Volunteers Prop up Afghan Health System
04 January 2011
Unpaid Volunteers Prop Up Health System, IRIN News, 3 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Some 22,000 community health volunteers in Afghanistan are vital to the country's health system but some are beginning to wonder if they might provide a more effective service if they were paid, and had formal work contracts. From the implementation of immunization campaigns to the delivery of basic healthcare services and dissemination of critical health messages,...
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US Funded Infrastructure Deteriorates under Afghan Control: Report
04 January 2011
, The Washington Post, 4 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Roads, canals and schools built in Afghanistan as part of a special U.S. military program are crumbling under Afghan stewardship, despite steps imposed over the past year to ensure that reconstruction money is not being wasted, according to government reports and interviews with military and civilian personnel....
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Thousands Killed in 2010: Civilian Deaths Up 20%, Police Deaths Down 7%
04 January 2011
Afghan Violence in 2010 Kills Thousands, Reuters, 3 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The number of Afghan police killed during 2010 fell about seven percent to 1,292, the government said on Monday, despite violence spreading across the country as the war entered its tenth year. Foreign military and civilian casualties are at record levels despite the presence of about 150,000 NATO-led troops, with 2010 the bloodiest year on record since the Taliban...
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US Air Force to Deploy "Revolutionary" Airborne Surveillance System
04 January 2011
, The Washington Post, 2 January 2011
EXCERPT: "This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which will be able to transmit live video images of physical movement across an entire town. The system, made up of nine video cameras mounted on a remotely piloted aircraft,...
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Prominent Tribe Agrees to Help Stop Taliban Attacks in Helmand
04 January 2011
Afghanistan Hopes Tribal Uprising Will Bring Peace, The Guardian, 3 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Afghan and western officials are pinning their hopes on a tribal uprising to bring peace to the notoriously violent district of Sangin just three months after the UK left a town that had become a death trap for British troops. The Taliban stronghold has been bitterly contested by insurgents and drug traffickers ever since British troops arrived...
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