10,000 Afghan Refugees Return from Pakistan
31 March 2008
'10,000 refugees returns in first month of repatriation from Pakistan', United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 31 March 2008
EXCERPT: "Approximately 10,000 Afghan refugees repatriated from Pakistan under the UN Refugee Agency's first month of assisted voluntary repatriation, a significant decrease compared to the same period last year when nearly 40,000 non-registered Afghans returned. The high number of last year's return...
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New Joint Effort Aims to Empower Afghan Tribes
31 March 2008
'', The Washington Post, 31 March 2008
EXCERPT: "Afghan, British and U.S. officials have launched a new security initiative to empower tribes and other residents -- including former Taliban -- to guard their communities in southern Afghanistan against insurgents and criminals. The controversial multimillion-dollar program, approved last month by President Hamid Karzai...
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NATO: Overtaxed Allies Assess Role In Afghanistan
31 March 2008
'NATO: Overtaxed Allies Assess Role In Afghanistan', Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, 31 March 2008
EXCERPT: "As NATO leaders meet in Bucharest on April 2-4, they will take stock of the situation in Afghanistan and the toll the conflict has taken on the alliance. The patience of the countries that are bearing the brunt of the fighting against the insurgency in Afghanistan's restive south is wearing thin. More than 200 international...
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First Pakistan-Afghan-NATO "anti-terror" border centre opens
31 March 2008
'', Agence France Presse, 30 March 2008
EXCERPT: "Afghan, NATO and Pakistan officials Saturday [29 March 2008] opened the first of six intelligence-sharing centres to be dotted along the nations' troubled border to boost anti-terrorism efforts. The centre opened in key Afghan border town Torkham, and the others, will improve coordination between Afghanistan, Pakistan...
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Georgia offers 500 Troops
31 March 2008
'Georgia offers 500 Troops to NATO Afghan force', Reuters AlertNet', 31 March 2008
EXCERPT: "Georgia is offering to send a 500-strong force to join NATO operations in Afghanistan, a defence ministry source said on Monday [31 March 2008], two days before an alliance summit considers Georgia's application for membership. "Talks on sending up to 500 Georgian peacekeepers to Afghanistan are now under way," the source, who did not...
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Afghanistan And Regional Instability: A Risk Assessment
28 March 2008
Heidi Kjaernet and Stina Torjesen, '', Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 27 March 2008
EXCERPT: "The report offers a stocktaking of Afghanistan's regional challenges. It finds that domestic instability in Pakistan, strains in Pakistan?Afghanistan relations and insecurities associated with the US?Iran stand-off on Iran's nuclear programme continue to pose the most significant...
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Fraud in Arms Supply to Afghanistan
28 March 2008
'', The New York Times, 28 March 2008
EXCERPT: "When the United States Army decided this week to suspend the main supplier of munitions to Afghan security forces from future federal work, it did so after a field investigation documented what it called an act of fraud. Last Nov. 25, the president of the company, Efraim E. Diveroli,...
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Russia Offers Help "If NATO Curbs Eastward Expansion"
28 March 2008
'Russia Offers Help "If NATO Curbs Eastward Expansion"', Forbes, 28 March 2008
EXCERPT: "Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko told Interfax his nation is ready to help NATO on Afghanistan, provided that Moscow's security interests, including a halt to eastward expansion of the alliance, are respected. Russia is 'considering the possibility of deepening' cooperation with NATO over Afghanistan, but this will not happen...
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Canada Confident NATO Will Help Its Troops
28 March 2008
'Canada Confident NATO Will Help Its Troops', Reuters, 27 March 2008
EXCERPT: "The Canadian government left little doubt on Thursday [27 March 2008] that NATO allies would send additional troops to southern Afghanistan, fulfilling a condition that Canada had set for keeping its own soldiers there. Briefing reporters ahead of next week's NATO summit in Bucharest, officials said Canada's discussions with its allies over providing new...
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Taliban Declares New Afghan Offensive
28 March 2008
'Taliban Declares New Afghan Offensive', Reuters, 28 March 2008
EXCERPT: "The Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan, promising 'painful strikes' to force all enemy soldiers to leave, according to a Web message seen by a U.S.-based monitoring service on Thursday [27 March 2008]. NATO-led forces have conducted wide-ranging offensives in southern Afghanistan to disrupt the insurgents ahead of spring, which each...
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