Women Brave Social Barriers to Join Afghan Police Force
09 June 2011
A mother of three, Maryam is one of the women who make up less than one percent of Afghanistan's National Police. They wear knee-length olive green skirts over thick trousers with navy hijabs. "I am serving my country, which needs kind, honourable and honest women who are able to solve specifically women's problems. We need policewomen as well as men," Maryam, who only gave her first name, told Reuters. [...] The 22-year-old's eyes light up when...
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Kazakh Senate Rejects Plan to Deploy Troops in Afghanistan
09 June 2011
Kazakhstan's upper house of parliament on Thursday rejected a plan to send servicemen from the mainly Muslim Central Asian state to join NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, after the Taliban threatened severe consequences. The decision by the senate overturned a vote by the lower house in May to send four servicemen to join the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and is a rare instance of discord between the two parliamentary chambers. It...
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Achieving Durable Peace: Afghan Perspectives on a Peace Process
09 June 2011
While momentum continues to shift towards pursuing a peace settlement for Afghanistan, ambiguities remain in the US political and military strategy, and there are questions about the ability of the Afghan government to successfully lead a process and the insurgents’ interest in one. A burgeoning body of commentary focuses on international and US strategy, but to be durable a settlement will need to involve some broad-based political and social...
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Al Qaeda Deputy Vows Jihad in bin Laden Eulogy
09 June 2011
Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda's long-time number two, has vowed in a video eulogy to Osama bin Laden that he will pursue his late leader's jihad against the West, SITE Intelligence Group reported on Wednesday. "We will pursue the jihad until we expel the invaders from Muslim lands," he was quoted as saying in the eulogy to bin Laden who was killed in a US raid in Pakistan on May 2. "The man who terrified America in his life will continue to terrify...
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Pakistan Based Nazir Group Vows to Escalate Fight in Afghanistan in Response to Drone Strikes
09 June 2011
One of Pakistan's most powerful militant groups plans to step up its fight against American troops in neighboring Afghanistan in response to intensified U.S. drone missile strikes on its territory, two of its commanders said on Wednesday. The Central Intelligence Agency has been pounding an area of South Waziristan along the Afghan border controlled by Maulvi Nazir, one of Pakistan's most influential militant leaders. Since Friday, at least 34 militants...
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Gunmen Kill Nine at Afghan Wedding Party
09 June 2011
A gang of masked gunmen stormed a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, killing the groom and eight others in an attack blamed on Taliban-linked insurgents, officials said. The groom was a cousin of the local district chief, while women and children were among the casualties in the attack at the family party in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, the provincial spokesman told AFP. The gunmen were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and stormed...
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No Let Up for Afghan Air War, Despite Karzai’s Threat
09 June 2011
Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a “last warning” to the U.S.-led coalition: cut way back on your bombing runs — or else. NATO’s response to Karzai’s threat has been to launch 12 airstrikes a day, a slight increase in the rate of attack runs that coalition planes have typically flown this year. NATO aircraft fired their weapons on 48 sorties in the four days following Karzai’s pronouncement, according...
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