The U.S.-led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan has been a tough slog, a nearly eight-year conflict replete with gloom. Lately a lot of the news from Afghanistan seems particularly grim for the United States and its allies
Tag Archives: afghanistan
Amid the Nation’s Fallen, Kennedy Is Laid to Rest
A story told around Arlington National Cemetery holds that John F. Kennedy paid a visit around Veteran’s Day in 1963. As he stood near the mansion that once was home to Robert E.
British PM pays surprise visit to Afghanistan
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, thanking his nation’s fighting forces for a job "well done." “This has been the most difficult summer in Afghanistan because the Taliban have tried to prevent the elections taking place and I think our forces who I’ve been meeting today have shown extraordinary courage during this period,” Brown said in a televised interview, taped in Afghanistan and aired in Britain. Brown dropped by Camp Bastion in Helmand province, where the country’s service members are based in Afghanistan
Life imitates art as gunmen attack crew of Afghan war movie
When David Whitney traveled to Pakistan to shoot his film about a man forced to flee Afghanistan after falling foul of the Taliban he didn’t expect fiction to turn into reality. But that’s exactly what happened three weeks into shooting political thriller “Kandahar Break” in late 2008
Germany arrests suspect in plot to attack U.S. targets
German federal prosecutors said Friday they have arrested a man suspected of helping a terrorist cell that allegedly plotted attacks against U.S. troops in Germany.
20 dead as suicide bomber strikes in Pakistan
At least 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing Thursday in Pakistan, near its border with Afghanistan, intelligence officials and a local administrator told CNN.
UK: Troops did not die for just 150 Afghan votes
UK officials have sought to play down low voter turnout in Afghanistan’s elections amid reports just 150 people cast their ballots in an area where four British troops died securing it from the Taliban. British media claimed that early estimates of ballots in the former Taliban stronghold of Babaji in Helmand province indicated few exercised their voting rights, despite the efforts of Operation Panther’s Claw, a five-week offensive against militants in the region. The claims have fueled debate in Britain over the country’s continued military role in Afghanistan as the country’s death toll since operations began in 2001 pushes past the 200 mark.
Obama’s Next Move in Afghanistan
The early returns from Afghanistan’s presidential election had the smell of a decorous massage job. With 10% of districts reporting, the incumbent, Hamid Karzai, and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, the former Foreign Minister, were tied, with about 40% each. But few of those votes came from Karzai’s Pashtun strongholds in the south, where turnout was light — owing to Taliban threats — but heavily managed
Red Cross worker among Afghan bomb victims
A Red Cross worker was among the 43 people killed in a massive car bombing in southern Afghanistan, the aid organization said Wednesday.
Nearly 40 dead, up to 80 wounded in Afghanistan truck bombing
Nearly 40 people were killed and up to 80 wounded Tuesday night when a truck bomb exploded in front of a construction company in Kandahar, Afghanistan, chief police commander Fazel Ahmed said. “I have to tell you that I was both angry and I was repulsed by the reception that a convicted bomber, guilty of a huge terrorist crime, received on his return to Libya,” Brown said. Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was released from custody last week on compassionate grounds, as officials say he is dying of prostate cancer and has just three months to live.