Afghanistan NGO Safety Office Bi-Weekly Security Report
21 June 2011
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While May concluded with the reporting of extraordinary levels of conflict related activity (surpassing the previous peak recorded in August 2010), the opening period for June indicates a continuation of this momentum, reporting similarly high levels of incidents (see p. 7). This periods figures also reveal that despite security force efforts at interdiction and disruption of AOG networks (both manpower and supply related) through the winter and...
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Afghanistan Worst Place in the World for Women: Report
15 June 2011
Targeted violence against female public officials, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty make Afghanistan the world's most dangerous country in which to be born a woman, according to a global survey released on Wednesday. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Pakistan, India and Somalia feature in descending order after Afghanistan in the list of the five worst states, the poll among gender experts shows. The appearance of India, a country...
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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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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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Afghanistan among 13 Countries where Journalists Are Killed with Impunity: Report
01 June 2011
CPJ’s annual Impunity Index, first published in 2008, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only the 13 nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained. Impunity...
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Powerful Blast Kills Seven NATO Members, Two Afghan Police
26 May 2011
Eight NATO service members were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, including seven who died when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot, the international military coalition and Afghan police said. Two Afghan policemen also died and two others were wounded in the explosion in mountainous Shorabak district of Kandahar province, 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the Pakistan border, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, chief of the Afghan...
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Bundeswehr Admits German Soldiers "Deliberately Fired" on Demonstrators
20 May 2011
Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, has released new and explosive details about a violent altercation between demonstrators and German soldiers in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday that left 12 dead and dozens wounded, including two German soldiers. In a statement posted on its website Friday morning, the military contradicted its earlier claims and admitted that German soldier had deliberately fired upon the demonstrators. The Bundeswehr also said...
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12-year-old Suicide Bomber Kills Four in Paktika Province
02 May 2011
On the first day of the Taliban's self-declared spring offensive, insurgents attacked in two Afghan provinces, killing more than half a dozen people, including a district council leader, and wounding another 20, officials said. Early Sunday, a 12-year-old suicide bomber struck at a bazaar in the Barmal district of eastern Paktika province, killing four people, including a woman and the chairman of the district council, Shir Nawaz Khan, according...
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Osama bin Laden's Death Sparks Questions about Afghanistan War
02 May 2011
Opponents of the war in Afghanistan are saying today that Osama bin Laden's death marks a turning point that should spur President Obama to bring the troops home. Mr. Obama, as well as most other political leaders, have acknowledged that bin Laden's death marks a significant victory in the fight against al Qaeda -- but they insist the fight is not over. It remains to be seen how the administration will change course in Afghanistan, where troop...
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