afghannews

[+]Karzai terms Nato air strike major error
      Tuesrday, September 08, 2009

KABUL: A Nato air strike believed to have killed scores of Afghan civilians was a major “error of judgement” by German forces, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview published on Monday. “General (Stanley) McChrystal telephoned me to apologise and to say that he himself hadn’t given the order to attack,” Karzai told French newspaper Le Figaro, referring to the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. “Why didn’t they send in ground troops to recover the fuel tank?” Karzai said in the interview with Le Figaro.

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+]Fraud allegations in Afghan vote mounts
      Tuesrday, September 08, 2009

The taint of fraud deepened in Afghanistan’s election on Monday after many thousands of votes were tossed out, as a planned international conference underlined mounting Western anxiety about the nation.

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+]Impatience growing with Afghan war: Gates
      Saturday, September 05, 2009

WASHINGTON: Defence Secretary Robert Gates is taking issue with any notion that the war in Afghanistan “is slipping through the administration’s fingers”. Gates acknowledged during a meeting with reporters at the Pentagon that impatience was growing with the war. But, he said, that must be expected, given that the US has had a presence there for eight years. He said he believed “it is important for us to be able to show over the months to come” that Obama’s strategyfor both Afghanistan and Pakistan is succeeding.

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+]Rush for Afghan exit not an option: Nato chief
      Tuesday, September 08, 2009

BRUSSELS: A rush to withdraw from Afghanistan is not an option for Nato despite mounting political and security problems, the alliance’s leader said on Wednesday. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he is concerned the public debate on Afghanistan “has started to go in the wrong direction”. “Of course, I know why. We are losing soldiers from our countries to Taliban attacks,” he said in remarks prepared for a news conference at a Nato ceremony in the United States that were made available by his office. “The allegations of fraud during the (Aug 20 presidential) elections are disturbing. And there is a sense amongst many people, in many countries, that we are not making progress fast enough.” But he adds: “We must stay in Afghanistan as long as necessary, and we will stay as long as necessary. Let no one think that a run for the exits is an option. It is not.” Nato is trying to help stabilise Afghanistan and defeat an Islamist insurgency. It hopes to avert a public backlash over an air strike in Afghanistan last week which local officials said killed scores of people, many of them civilians.

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+]Zardari rejects Obama's Pak-Afghan policy
      Thursday, September 10, 2009

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has rejected US President Obama's strategy of linking policy on Pakistan and Afghanistan in an effort to end the Taliban insurgency Thursday. In an interview to a foreign newspaper, Zardari said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are two different countries that could not be jointly treated through such policies. He said that Pakistan has very little time to cope with threats facing to the very existence of the country. He said that the war against terrorism would be harmed if Pakistan were not provided foreign assistance soon. "If financial assistance to Pakistan was not dispatched on time then it would compel to do some cutting in development expenditure to fill the losses of terror war," said President Zardari. The Obama administration unveiled in late March a new strategy on fighting militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, considering the Afghan-Pakistani cooperation crucial to the success of its new policy for the region.

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+] Three dead in suicide attack on Kabul airbase
      Wednesday, September 09, 2009

KABUL: A suicide bomber attacked a Nato convoy outside a military airport in Kabul Tuesday, killing three civilians and wounding four foreign soldiers, while 12 Taliban militants and one Afghan policeman have been killed in a six-hour gun battle and related bomb blast in northern Afghanistan, a senior official said on Tuesday The attack wounded six Afghan civilians along with three US soldiers and one from Belgium, officials said.“It was a suicide attack outside the main gate of the military base at the airport,” said Colonel Koziel Bart, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Bart said the airbase had been sealed off. Military air traffic resumed after an hour-long suspension. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, claiming the attack, told AFP by telephone that 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of explosives were used. Meanwhile in Kunduz, twelve Taliban militants and one Afghan policeman have been killed in a six-hour gun battle and related bomb blast in northern Afghanistan, a senior official said Tuesday. Afghan police launched an operation on Monday afternoon in Dahana-e-Ghori district of Baghlan province, where Taliban fighters had taken control of part of the highway, said provincial governor Mohammad Akbar Barikzai. “In the six-hour battle 12 Taliban were killed and 18 Taliban were wounded,” he told AFP

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+] Taliban expand grip over northern Afghanistan
      Tuesday, September 08, 2009

KUNDUZ: The Taliban have made a comeback in several northern provinces of Afghanistan, and local government needs more foreign troops in order to root out the Taliban from Kunduz, said Governor Muhammad Omar. “There are certainly some areas, including Kunduz, where the Taliban has been strengthening,” said US Navy Rear Admiral Greg Smith, head of public affairs for US and NATO troops. He said: “It is a serious situation. We are focusing on Kunduz and other areas to reverse that momentum. We have to maintain security because the Taliban are trying to get into the city. We must intercept them.”

(Courtesy Daily The News, Pakistan)

[+]Britain, France, Germany call for Afghanistan moot
      Tuesday, September 08, 2009

BERLIN: Britain, France and Germany unveiled proposals for an international conference on Afghanistan later this year in order to press Afghans to take more responsibility for their own country. “What is important, and this is our joint view, is to apply pressure in order to find a way to get the Afghans to appreciate that they have to take responsibility step by step,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told a joint press briefing with PM Brown. The conference “is to create some momentum and to say that we are now coming to a transitional phase following the second presidential election” in Afghanistan, she said.