Afghan Police: Civilians or Combatants?
07 April 2011
Discrepancies in the number of civilian casualties of war in Afghanistan and the varying levels of blame attributed to warring parties by the UN and human rights organizations could, in part, be due to different interpretations of the legal status of the Afghan National Police (ANP). There appear to be at least two different takes on which groups constitute civilians, and consequently the number of civilian casualties at any given time. A 9...
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Insecurity Nearly Wipes Out Canada’s Hopes to Eradicate Polio in Afghanistan
07 April 2011
Canada’s fight to eradicate polio from Afghanistan seemed within reach when it was announced three years ago. But hopes of having the debilitating disease wiped out by now remain a work in progress, having fallen victim to the precarious security situation, particularly in the south. As it shifts focus to a training role this summer, Canada continues in its struggle to eradicate polio, one of its so-called signature projects that was supposed...
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NATO Denies Al-Qaeda Reviving in Afghanistan
07 April 2011
The NATO-led force in Afghanistan on Thursday denied a report that Al-Qaeda was staging a comeback in Afghanistan, saying the militants remained under pressure in the country's east. Al-Qaeda's "actions do not equate to a return in force, and it is thus a stretch to equate it to a large comeback," Lieutenant Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal reported...
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In It for the Long Haul?: Australia's Aid to Afghanistan
07 April 2011
This study was commissioned by the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) Afghanistan Working Group (AWG) to provide a clearer overview of the key aid modalities used by the Australian Government in Afghanistan. Particular attention was paid to aid delivered by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as part of its counterinsurgency efforts in Uruzgan Province. The study...
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Taliban Attack Kandahar Police Base, Kill Six
07 April 2011
At least six members of the Afghan security forces were killed on Thursday when a vehicle that appeared to be an ambulance exploded next to a police and military training center in southern Afghanistan. Before the vehicle arrived, the center in Kandahar came under attack by heavily armed gunmen wearing explosives-laden vests, and the site, also used to house some offices of the provincial police, was quickly cordoned off. But police guards, thinking...
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