Pakistan's Taliban Backs Zawahri as al Qaeda Chief
17 June 2011
Pakistan's Taliban movement, regarded as one of the world's most dangerous militant groups, said on Thursday it backed Ayman al-Zawahri as al Qaeda's new leader and vowed to carry out attacks against Western targets.Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan described Zawahri as an "capable person" and said the former Egyptian doctor would inspire the group to take on the West. [...] Omar Khalid Khorasani, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander,...
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Reporting in Times of War: Press Freedom in Afghanistan 2008-2011
17 June 2011
This document has been produced by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) for the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association and other partners and affiliates in Afghanistan. Journalism in Afghanistan continues to be scarred by seemingly endless conflict but is able, when occasion arises, to celebrate significant achievements At the official commemoration of World Press Freedom Day in 2011, the country’s Minister for Information,...
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Afghanistan Could Face Insolvency within a Month: Officials
17 June 2011
The Afghan government will struggle to pay its bills "within a month" after the International Monetary Fund rejected proposals for resolving the Kabul Bank scandal, western officials have warned. Although the war-torn country's biggest bank nearly collapsed last September, the government of Hamid Karzai and the international community are still at loggerheads over plans to fund an $820m (£507m) bailout as well as how the disgraced former managers...
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Cross-border Rocket Attack Kills 4 Afghan Children
17 June 2011
A rocket fired during fighting Friday in Pakistan's tribal region landed in eastern Afghanistan, killing four children in an area where militants launch attacks on U.S.-led forces, officials said. The rocket landed in Sirkanay district of Kunar province, an area where more than 100 rockets have landed in the last few days from across the border, provincial police chief Gen. Ewaz Mohammad said. It was unclear who fired the rocket, though Mohammad...
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