US to Lose a "Savvy" Leader in Afghan War Efforts
20 April 2011
No U.S. general has spent more time in Afghanistan than Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez. He is the primary author of the U.S.-Afghan war plan, a 600-plus-page classified document that is a catalogue of the lessons he has taken from three years of fighting the war. [...] Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former top commander in Afghanistan, calls him the “best combat leader I have ever known.” But Rodriguez will not be leading the war in Afghanistan...
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Afghanistan Announces Salvation Plan for Scandal-Plagued Bank
20 April 2011
The Afghan government announced Wednesday that the scandal-plagued Kabul Bank, the nation’s largest private financial institution, whose shareholders had ties to high-ranking politicians, would be split in two as part of a drastic overhaul to save it from failure, stabilize the country’s financial system and reassure foreign lenders and donors. Under the overhaul plan, the government will divide Kabul Bank into a “good bank”...
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Iranian Engineers Kidnapped in Western Farah Province Freed
20 April 2011
Twelve Iranian engineers kidnapped in western Afghanistan have been released along with three Afghan colleagues, police and officials in the two countries said on Wednesday. The men, who were working on a road construction project, were snatched at gunpoint on Monday in the Post-i-Road district of Farah province, which borders Iran. "All the 12 hostages were released at around 5:00 pm (1230 GMT) today. They were released with the help of local elders...
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ANA Reviews Recruitment after Attack, Claims Attacker Was Outsider
20 April 2011
The Afghan army is reviewing recruitment after several high profile attacks by assailants in Afghan security force uniforms, including one inside the Defence Ministry this week, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. Defence Ministry spokesman Zaher Azimy said the man who penetrated the army's nerve centre was actually an insurgent disguised in an army uniform, but suggested collaborators within the army could have helped him get access to the building....
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