29 March 2011

Taliban insurgents seized a district in Afghanisan's remote northeast after a brief battle with police, provincial officials said on Tuesday, underscoring the difficulty Afghan and foreign forces face in securing the increasingly violent region. Hundreds of Taliban fighters had captured the Waygal district centre in mountainous Nuristan province in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday, said Mohammad Zarin, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Nimatullah...

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29 March 2011

President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday ordered the release of a prominent presidential aide two hours after his arrest on corruption charges, according to two officials in the office of Afghanistan’s attorney general. [...] A spokesman for Mr. Karzai did not respond to requests for comment on Mr. Delawari’s release. “I heard the president was extremely displeased and felt they should never have announced this and ruined someone’s...

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29 March 2011

After the expulsion of the Taliban in 2001 Afghanistan was presented with an opportunity to rebuild the state and its governance institutions. Yet despite concerted international efforts, and funds, to promote good governance, this remains one of the key challenges the country is facing today. This report tries to explore the difficulties of strengthening governance in a conflictual context where the limited reach of the Afghan central government...

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29 March 2011

Afghan civilians compensated for deaths, injuries and property damage caused by British forces received £1.3m last year from the Ministry of Defence – but this was, on average, less than half of what they asked for. The lowest payment for a death was £542 after a girl was killed in a fire started by a rocket. The highest was £5,000 for each victim paid to families of a number of Afghans killed by a strike involving Hellfire...

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