Children Suicide Bombers Associate Bombs with "Heaven": Analysis
02 June 2011
An alarming number of children in Pakistan and Afghanistan believe immortality is at their fingertips -- provided they're pressing a button detonating the bombs strapped to their bodies. And while most people associate a bomb blast with the finality of the grave, one young would-be suicide bomber told RFE/RL that he associates it with "heaven." A 15-year-old Afghan who was educated in a madrasah, or Islamic religious school, in the Pakistani city...
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Deaths of Afghan Ethnic Minority Leaders Threaten Peace Efforts
02 June 2011
As thousands paid their respects this week to a slain northern Afghanistan police commander, a top lawmaker sounded an ominous warning: He and three other minority faction leaders are on a Taliban hit list and could be next. Conflict between the Taliban — who come mostly from the country’s biggest group, the Pashtuns — and members of its ethnic minorities is nothing new in a nation whose history is scarred by bloody civil strife....
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Officials Identify Bin Laden’s Trusted Confidante
02 June 2011
The courier who led U.S. intelligence to Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan hailed from the Swat Valley, a one-time stronghold of militant Taliban fighters, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday. The officials identified the courier as Ibrahim Saeed Ahmed. He and his brother Abrar were shot dead in the daring Navy SEAL raid May 2 that also killed bin Laden and two other people. The brothers apparently linked up with bin Laden after they...
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Polish Troops Cleared over Afghan Civilian Deaths
02 June 2011
A military court on Wednesday cleared seven soldiers over the deaths of a group of civilians in Afghanistan at the end of the first ever Polish court martial involving troops fighting the Taliban. Announcing his verdict, the presiding judge said the court had been unable to gather key evidence or hear from witnesses to the incident in southeastern Paktika province, giving it no option but to pass a not guilty verdict. "There is a lack of evidence...
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