27 May 2011
Attacks against NGOs by armed opposition have remained stable and low throughout the Q1 (p.3), although the overall level of incidents, including criminal acts, has grown by 38%. The criminal sector saw an increase of 50% (p.4) with attacks by AOG increasing by a lower rate of 29% (or just four actual attacks). A total of seven persons have been killed, comparable to eight at Q1 2010, all by small arms fire either as a result of deliberate intent...
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Afghanistan War Tactics Profoundly Wrong: Former UK Ambassador
27 May 2011
Britain's former ambassador to Afghanistan has attacked the conduct of the war by the US commander, General David Petraeus, describing the future CIA chief's tactics as counter-productive and "profoundly wrong". Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, who also served as the UK's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, added that Petraeus should be "ashamed of himself" for making claims of the number of insurgent commanders his forces had killed. "He has increased...
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Afghan Government Struggles to Spend Donated Funds
27 May 2011
For Afghanistan's government, getting foreign money to build desperately needed roads, schools, wells and clinics isn't the hard part. Spending it is. Hundreds of millions in donor funds have not been paid out for things like jobs programs, health clinics and drinking water systems in the past five years. Afghan officials say much of the money comes with too many strings attached, or arrives later than promised, but they are also working within a...
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