Kabul

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Taliban Govern Large Areas of Afghanistan

Residents turning to Taliban 'rulers' to settle criminal, civil disputes

(Newser) - The Taliban is regaining significant ground in Afghanistan, running a harsh but effective parallel government that wields more power than the official administration, reports the Observer. Taliban influence has spread as far as the outskirts of Kabul, and is firmly entrenched in large parts of the south and east.

Afghanistan's Insurgency Endures

Attacks highlight security decline

(Newser) - The insurgency in Afghanistan is mushrooming, and targeting the refurbished highway that provides a weak connection between the country's ethnic halves, the New York Times reports. A series of deadly attacks in June has exposed the tribulations of the United States' 6-year-old effort to defeat the Taliban.

Pakistan Aided Kabul Embassy Attack: US

Messages between militants and spy agency intercepted

(Newser) - American intelligence has determined that members of Pakistan's powerful spy agency helped to plan July's bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, reports the New York Times. US authorities based their findings on intercepted messages between the attackers and Pakistani intelligence officers. American officials also obtained new evidence that the...

Taliban Targets Attacks for Maximum Panic in Kabul

Incapable of large strikes, insurgents aim to strike fear into populace

(Newser) - Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan lack the firepower to spark a massive attack, but they’re doing their best to wage psychological warfare on Kabul, Newsweek reports. Creating a sense of instability through frequent small-scale attacks, “we can create panic and undermine the last vestiges of support for the regime,...

Obama Declares Afghanistan 'Precarious and Urgent'

Candidate pledges more US troops

(Newser) - Calling the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent," Barack Obama today urged the Bush administration to make Afghanistan—rather than Iraq—"the central front in our battle against terrorism." In his first interview since arriving in the country yesterday, the Democratic candidate told Lara Logan on...

Obama Meets Afghan Prez
 Obama Meets Afghan Prez 
Jul 20, 2008 7:18 AM CDT

Obama Meets Afghan Prez

Candidate lunches with the leader he criticized a week ago

(Newser) - World-touring Barack Obama sat down with Hamid Karzai today, joining the Afghan president for lunch at his Kabul palace. Although Obama criticized the leader's government as recently as last week, he expected to steer clear of arguments in today's meeting, Reuters reports. "I'm more interested in listening than doing...

Kabul Bomb Kills 41 at Indian Embassy

Deadliest attack this year in Afghan capital

(Newser) - A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside the Indian embassy in Kabul today, killing 41 people and injuring 141. Several diplomats were among the dead, as well as children, security guards and visa seekers on the crowded street in the Afghan capital, reports CNN. The huge blast was the...

Afghan Sex Trade Thrives Despite Taboos

900 foreigners hustle in Kabul brothels, but locals do it secretly

(Newser) - Sex is selling in Afghanistan despite Islamic laws that make prostitution punishable by death, the AP reports. At least 900 women do it in Kabul, but residents admit only to brothels full of Chinese prostitutes; to be a native Afghan hooker is "very, very bad," one expert said....

In Afghanistan, Laura Bush Urges Support

Int'l community dare not pull out during 'crucial' Taliban uprising

(Newser) - During an unannounced visit to Kabul today, Laura Bush urged the international community not to pull support from Afghanistan, highlighting successes in reconstruction and improved women’s rights, Reuters reports. The first lady's visit came even as Afghan, US, and NATO forces fight to contain a Taliban guerilla war in...

Al-Qaeda Involved in Karzai Shooting Plot: Kabul

Taliban, Pakistani militants gain strength

(Newser) - The Afghan government today implicated al-Qaeda in the botched Sunday shooting attempt on President Hamid Karzai, the New York Times reports. Security forces captured or killed several suspects linked to the assassination plot. Among them was a man with links to militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is based in Pakistan’...

Afghan Prez Escapes Assassination Attempt

Taliban boasts attack proves group's power

(Newser) - One person was killed and 11 wounded in a Taliban attack this morning in Kabul aimed at assassinating Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The president escaped the rockets and gunfire unhurt. The attack occurred as Karzai, government ministers, foreign diplomats, and military top brass gathered for the 16th anniversary of the...

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat
Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat
Feb 12, 2008 9:20 AM CST

Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat

Ambassador to Afghanistan feared kidnapped near border

(Newser) - Pakistani officials are hunting for their ambassador to neighboring Afghanistan, and the country's president believes he was abducted, Reuters reports. "The Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has been kidnapped while traveling to Afghanistan," Hamid Karzai said. The diplomat went missing yesterday while traveling through the Khyber Pass, a region...

Afghan Deputy Governor, 5 Others Killed in Mosque Attack

Bombing comes amid 'failed state' warnings

(Newser) - A suicide bomber in Afghanistan killed six people, including the deputy governor of the dangerous Helmand province, in an attack inside a mosque today. At least 11 others were injured in the explosion in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, a focus of reconstruction programs led by the British army,...

Afghan Children Turning to Life on Street

Begging or selling, many are family's only source of income

(Newser) - An estimated 60,000 children in Afghanistan spend their days hawking trinkets or begging on the streets, and many are their families' sole source of income. Aid workers say the kids are a legacy of the country's 25 years of nearly continuous war, NPR reports. "The majority of them...

Kabul Hotel Attack Kills 6
Kabul Hotel Attack Kills 6
Jan 14, 2008 7:31 PM CST

Kabul Hotel Attack Kills 6

US citizen and Norwegian reporter die in brazen downtown strike

(Newser) - A quartet of Taliban militants killed six people in a Kabul hotel today and sent Norway's foreign minister scrambling to the hotel basement, BBC reports. One attacker set off a suicide bomb as three others fired machine guns in the 5-star hotel. A Norwegian reporter and a US citizen were...

Euro Envoys Booted by Afghanis for Taliban Talks

Diplomatic row over alleged Taliban meeting

(Newser) - European officials were scrambling today to block Afghanistan's ordered expulsion of two high-ranking foreign officials because of an alleged link to Taliban insurgents, the BBC reports. Afghan authorities claim that the men, one an Irish envoy from the EU and the other a British UN official, met with Taliban members...

UK Wants to Talk to Taliban
UK Wants to Talk to Taliban
Dec 12, 2007 8:13 AM CST

UK Wants to Talk to Taliban

Brown to announce major revision of Afghan strategy, rankling Washington

(Newser) - Just back from Kabul, Gordon Brown is poised to announce a major strategic revision in Afghanistan that will involve dialogue with the Taliban. Senior British officials believe that treating the loose-knit organization as a unified terrorist actor is counterproductive, the Independent reports, and they want to move from fighting militants...

Afghanistan Aid Squandered, Charity Says

Despite billions in donations, poverty remains rampant

(Newser) - The US approved another $6.4 billion in aid for Afghanistan this year, but a leading charity says too much development funding is being wasted on short-term quick fixes. An Oxfam assessment attests that "non-Afghan resources" and "high expatriate salaries and living costs" are soaking up aid, leaving...

Laura Bush Will Skip APEC Trip to Australia

First Lady's pinched nerve could indicate surprise stops for president

(Newser) - Laura Bush plans to sit out the president's trip to Australia early next month for the APEC summit, due to a pinched nerve. Washington Post blogger Mark Silva speculates that the First Lady's decision may presage other stops being added to the president's itinerary for the trip, which comes just...

Police Raid Frees Kabul Hostage
Police Raid Frees Kabul Hostage
Aug 19, 2007 6:49 PM CDT

Police Raid Frees Kabul Hostage

Kidnappers call themselves 'a special network,' police say they are not Taliban

(Newser) - Afghan police stormed a secret location in Kabul today and freed a German aid worker held by kidnappers this weekend, CNN reports. Her abductors had circulated a video of her asking for the release of unknown prisoners and pleading for her own freedom. The captors said only that they are...

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