NATO Endorses Afghan Transition Plan
14 March 2011
NATO defense ministers endorsed a plan Friday to hand over responsibility for security in three cities, two provinces and much of the capital to Afghan forces over the next several months, commencing the critical first step in a transition to full Afghan control by the end of 2014. But Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates pointedly urged other members of the alliance not to use the milestone as a reason to withdraw their forces. Despite President Obama's...
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Taliban Suicide Attack on Afghan Army Recruitment Centre Kills Dozens
14 March 2011
At least 36 people have been killed in an apparent suicide attack on an army recruitment centre in northern Afghanistan, local officials have said. More than 40 people were also reported to have been injured in the attack in the city of Kunduz. On Friday, the Kunduz province police chief was killed by a suicide bomber. Over the past few years, the once peaceful province has become increasingly unstable as the Taliban have infiltrated the area. The...
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Canada to Employ Local Police in Kandahar
14 March 2011
The Canadian military is warming to the controversial idea of arming local villagers in the Kandahar district of Panjwaii, a tactic credited with stemming violence during the Iraq war but criticized over concerns of insurgent infiltration. The Afghan Local Police program, launched by President Hamid Karzai last August, is an initiative where village-level fighting forces are given guns and undergo a training course to provide security to their communities....
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