27 February 2009
'IDPs In Northwest Battle Cold, Diseases And Hunger', IRIN News, 26 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Freezing temperatures, hunger and sickness are unrelenting inside an old tent where Dadullah's family has been living near Qala-e-Nau, the capital of the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis. The family abandoned their home in Moqur District because of recurrent armed conflict between insurgent groups and pro-government forces and...
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27 February 2009
'', AFP, 27 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan remained the largest opium poppy producer, which increasingly fuels the Islamist insurgency there, despite a 19-percent drop in cultivation last year, the US government said Friday. The report, which evaluates anti-drug efforts country by country, said: 'Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan declined in 2008 by 19 percent,...
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Up To 15,000 Taliban In Afghanistan: Minister
27 February 2009
'Up To 15,000 Taliban In Afghanistan: Minister', Herald Sun, 27 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's interior minister has revealed 10,000 to 15,000 Taliban are still fighting in the nation, offering a rare estimate on the insurgency which the new US administration has vowed to tackle. Minister Hanif Atmar dismissed the strength of the insurgents, saying that a wave of high-profile attacks showed the desperation of the...
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Protests Over "Mosque Raid"
27 February 2009
'Protests Over "Mosque Raid"', Al Jazeera, 27 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Hundreds of protesters have clashed with police in southern Afghanistan amid claims international forces opened fire inside a mosque and copies of the Quran were ripped up. Rocks were thrown at police and at least three demonstrators were wounded by gunfire after about 500 people demonstrated in Ghazni on Friday, said Mohammad Zaman, the province's...
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Canada's Afghan Mission Costs $11.3 Billion
26 February 2009
'', Toronto Star, 26 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Canadians can expect a $11.3-billion price tag once the government wraps up its decade-long effort in Afghanistan, the Department of National Defence says. In a newly released accounting, the federal government said that DND estimates a 10-year price tag of $9-billion while other departments including the international development agency,...
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26 February 2009
Darin J. Blatt et al, '', Special Warfare, January - February 2009, Volume 22 Issue 1, p.18-26
EXCERPT: "There is an ongoing discussion about the merits of engagement activities ? activities between coalition military forces and foreign civilian personnel ? as a means of obtaining information, influencing behavior and building an indigenous base of support for coalition and government objectives. During...
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26 February 2009
'Kabul Wants Obama To Promote "Afghanization" Of War Effort', EurasiaNet, 26 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's foreign minister, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, has asked the United States to give more assistance to Afghan institutions in order to press the fight against terrorism and the drug trade. And conjuring up bad memories of an American quagmire from four decades ago, Spanta also has called for the 'Afghanization'...
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Taliban Say Want Peace With Afghans
26 February 2009
'Taliban Say Want Peace With Afghans, NATO Troops Out', Reuters India, 26 February 2009
EXCERPT: "The Taliban are willing to work with all Afghan groups to achieve peace, but the problems of Afghanistan can only be solved if foreign troops withdraw from the country, a senior insurgent leader said. The Taliban have made a strong come-back in the last three years, extending the scale and scope of their insurgency across the south...
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25 February 2009
'Afghan President Considers April Election', VOA News, 25 February 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai is considering holding presidential elections in April, four months earlier than an election date set by the country's Independent Election Commission. Afghanistan's constitution requires that the presidential election be held by April 21, one month before Mr. Karzai's five-year term expires. Last month,...
25 February 2009
'The High Price Of Education In Afghanistan', Embassy, 25 February 2009
EXCERPT: "A bounty was announced in Afghanistan last year; terrorists promised to pay $500 for the killing of a teacher?double the money if it was a female teacher. In the war-torn Central Asian country, all aspects of a functioning education system are a constant target of terrorism, and teaching children is a risky job. Afghanistan's schools...
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