Afghans "Feel Pinch" Of Iranian-Border Fuel Blockade
05 January 2011
Afghans "Feel Pinch" Of Iranian-Border Fuel Blockade, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 3 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Afghans are grappling with rising fuel prices and dwindling supplies in the depth of winter, while convoys of relief aid stand idle just across the border with Iran. Thousands of fuel tankers and trucks carrying compressed-gas cylinders used for cooking and heating were stranded after Iranian officials imposed a blockade...
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Frustrated Family Wants CIA Detainee's Remains
05 January 2011
, The Associated Press, 6 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The family of Gul Rahman is still trying to recover his remains for burial, months after learning that he was stripped naked, doused in cold water and then left to die in a CIA-run Afghan prison known as the Salt Pit. Suspected of links to al-Qaida, Rahman was picked up in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2002 from a home in Islamabad...
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US Congress Considers Cutting Civilian Assistance to Afghanistan
05 January 2011
Analysis: New Congress to Hone in on Afghan Aid, Reuters, 5 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The new U.S. Congress will examine cutting civilian assistance to Afghanistan as budget-minded lawmakers seek to curb costs without undercutting military operations at a key moment in a long, unpopular war. But reducing funds for a broad U.S. reconstruction program, which has cost taxpayers $56 billion since 2002, could pose a new challenge to President...
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Taliban Attacks on Vice President, Presidential Palace Foiled: Officials
05 January 2011
Plans for Major Taliban Attacks are Foiled in Afghanistan, Officials Say, Los Angeles Times, 6 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Two significant Taliban attacks in the Afghan capital were thwarted in the last three weeks, Afghan intelligence officials said Wednesday, an indication both of success in foiling such plots and of insurgents' continuing determination to carry them out. One of the planned attacks involved a complex strike aimed at...
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Reintegrated Taliban Fighters Allowed to Join Local Police Units
05 January 2011
Reintegrated Taliban Fighters Allowed to Join Local Police Units, Stars and Stripes, 4 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Surrendering Afghan Taliban fighters are being welcomed into newly created local police units in their home areas, coalition commanders in the north revealed Tuesday. Turning enemy fighters into trusted, trained and armed policemen is a new development for the Afghan Local Police program, a key component of Gen. David Petraeus?...
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Taliban Attack Tribal Elder Negotiating Truce in Helmand
05 January 2011
Afghan Taliban Attack Sangin Truce Talks Elder, BBC News, 4 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The Taliban have attacked an Afghan village elder who has been negotiating a ceasefire on behalf of his village with the country's government. Sayed Badar Agha was beaten after being kidnapped in the town of Sarwan Qala, in Sangin district in Helmand province. Correspondents say there have been similar deals with Sangin elders before, but all have...
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