Rogue Militias Accused of Abusing Rural Afghans
17 January 2011
Rogue Militias Abuse Rural Afghans, Al Jazeera, 15 January 2011
EXCERPT: "'The Arbakai, semi-official local militias, have committed tremendous abuses in Afghanistan's northeastern provinces of Kunduz and Baghlan. President Hamid Karzai finally ordered their disarmament last month. These militias are known to collect forced 'taxes' from feeble locals, create illegal checkpoints, seize property, and detain people in private...
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US Military Faced with Deadly Consequences of "Information Overload"
17 January 2011
, The New York Times, 16 January 2011
EXCERPT: "When military investigators looked into an attack by American helicopters last February that left 23 Afghan civilians dead, they found that the operator of a Predator drone had failed to pass along crucial information about the makeup of a gathering crowd of villagers. But Air Force and Army officials now say there was also an underlying cause...
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Canadian Soldiers Use Aid to Divide and Conquer Afghan Sympathies for Taliban
17 January 2011
Canadian Soldiers Try Using Aid to Divide and Conquer Afghan Sympathies for Taliban, The Vancouver Sun, 15 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Months of sometimes tough and bloody fighting by Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces over the summer and fall weren?t enough to pacify a village that remains a refuge for insurgents in southern Afghanistan. That's when the Canadians, with plenty of cash for 'icebreaker' projects designed to get young...
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Roadside Bomb Kills Nine en Route to Wedding
17 January 2011
, AFP, 16 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Nine civilians including a child were killed by a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan as they travelled to a wedding on Sunday, police and local officials said. Six women, two men and the child died in the blast, which happened as the vehicle they were travelling in headed from Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, to a local village on a road often...
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Afghans Protest Fuel Blockade by Iran
17 January 2011
, The Washington Post, 16 January 2011
EXCERPT: "A protracted fuel blockade by Iran sparked protests in Afghanistan for the second day in a row Sunday as tensions rose between the Islamic neighbors, who share a long border and a complicated history. Afghan demonstrators in the western border city of Herat threw eggs and stones at the Iranian consulate,...
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Afghan Army, Police Forces Set to Increase by 42%
17 January 2011
, The New York Times, 16 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The Afghan government and its international partners are set to approve a plan that would expand the nation's army and police forces to up to 378,000 personnel by October 2012, a 42 percent increase over the current level, Western and Afghan officials say. The plan, which is pending, reflects growing confidence in a training mission that...
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