Home » Afghanistan
Taliban are against Peace: NDS
June 04, 2012
KABUL - The Taliban are against peace and stability in the country and are trying to increase their insurgent activities together with the terrorist groups in Pakistan, NDS officials said Sunday.
Spokesman for the National Directorate of Security Sahfiqullah Taheri said that as the international community is putting more pressure on ...
US Could have Done Better in Afghanistan: Karzai
June 03, 2012
KABUL - In a recent Interview with the Time Magazine World, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that US could have done better in Afghanistan if it respected the homes of Afghans and fought terrorism elsewhere.
"In its time here the United States could have done a lot better for Afghanistan," President Karzai has told Time Magazine.
"But then they did not regard the homes of Afghan villagers as homes that gave the United States and NATO a welcome."
"And in the name in ...
EU Suspends $37mln Aid to ANP
June 03, 2012
KABUL - The European Union blocked the release of $37 million to a UN-run fund that financed Afghan National Police (ANP), a Western Official in Kabul told Wall Street Journal.
The European Union, US and Japan are the key donors of the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA), while EU has pledged to spend ...
Afghan Mission will Prompt NATO Reform: Canada
June 03, 2012
SINGAPORE - The NATO alliance will emerge strengthened from its decade-long mission to crush Taliban militants in Afghanistan with a general will to reform the 28-nation bloc, Canada's defense minister said on Saturday.
Peter MacKay, in an interview with Reuters, said both Canada and NATO ...
Canada Made Enormous Sacrifices to Assist Afghans: Envoy
June 03, 2012
KABUL - Canada's new Ambassador to Afghanistan Glenn Davidson formally assumed charge on Saturday when he presented his credentials to President Hamid Karzai.
Succeeding William Crosbie, Davidson said: "For more than a decade, Canada has made enormous sacrifices to assist the Afghan people ...
No Intention to Stay in Office beyond Term: Karzai
June 02, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai has rejected stories in the western press as fictional that he was trying to seek a third term as president of Afghanistan.
"No, not at all. I think two terms is a very long time. You need fresh energy, you need fresh thinking, someone with more...untested ideas should come forward and build on what we could not improve upon. The western press is full of stories, though, about my trying to seek a third term," Karzai told Time Magazine during an hour long ...
Senate to Vote on Afghan-US Pact
June 02, 2012
KABUL - Meshrano Jirga or the upper house of parliament will vote on the strategic partnership accord between Afghanistan and the United States this Sunday, an official said Thursday.
President Hamid Karzai and his American counterpart Barack Obama signed the crucial agreement at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on May ...
Strategic Pacts Won’t Affect Ties with Russia: Karzai
June 02, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Thursday said the signing of strategic cooperation agreements with other countries would not affect the good relations between Afghanistan and Russia.
During a meeting between Karzai and Russia's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Zamir Kabulov, current regional security ...
6mln Afghan Children Facing Major Threats
June 02, 2012
KABUL - Around 6 million Afghan kids are currently facing poverty and other serious threats in the country, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Work and Social Affairs, Ali Iftikhari ...
No Special Electoral Tribunal for Upcoming Polls: FEFA
June 02, 2012
KABUL - There should be no special electoral tribunal for the upcoming Afghan elections and none of the election committee commissioners should be prosecuted, Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) said Thursday.
Reviewing the authorities and organizational structure of the ...
ANF to Win Next Presidential Polls: Dostam
May 31, 2012
KABUL – Founder and Leader of Junbish party and Afghanistan National Front (ANF) leader Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam on Wednesday said that ANF would win the next presidential elections if the polling was transparent.
Dostum told a gathering of Tens of thousands of people in northern Takhar province that if the next election was fraud-free, the front's will certainly win the polls".
The ANF chairman, Ahmad Zia Massoud, Hezb-i-Wahdat leader Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, former intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh ...
579 Civilians Killed in Four Months: UNAMA
May 31, 2012
KABUL - A top United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) official said about 579 civilians had been killed in the first four months of this year and most of the killings were carried out by militants.
Speaking at a news conference in Kabul, the UNAMA head Jan Kubis, said 79 percent of the casualties were caused by militants, nine ...
Iran to Increase Fuel Transit to Afghanistan
May 31, 2012
TEHRAN - Senior Iranian Oil Ministry officials announced that the country will soon boost transit of oil products to Afghanistan and Iraq, Fars reported.
"At present we don't need to swap oil products but we can raise the volume of gasoline and gasoil transit to Iraq and Afghanistan via ...
Etisalat Group Delegation Visits Afghanistan on Asia Operations Tour
May 31, 2012
KABUL - Jamal Aljarwan, chief regional officer Asia Cluster, Etisalat Group, recently made his first stop of an Asia-wide tour in Afghanistan, where he was joined by high-ranking officials to visit the Group's operations in Afghanistan and discuss the development of the Group's initiatives in the country, as well as the recent pilot of the ...
Leaders’ Death Dent Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan: Pentagon
May 31, 2012
WASHINGTON - The death of Sakhr al-Taifi, the second highest Al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, is a major blow to the terrorist's outfit in the war torn country, the Pentagon said.
"Sakhr al-Taifi was responsible for commanding foreign insurgents and directing attacks against coalition and Afghan forces," said Pentagon Press Secretary, George ...
Senators Condemn Pakistan Push to Expel ‘Illegal’ Afghans
May 31, 2012
KABUL - Afghan senators have condemned the decision of Pakistan to expel "illegal" Afghan refugees and immigrants by June 1, and called for the government to help resolve the issue using diplomatic channels.
Afghan refugees living in Pakistan's semi-autonomous region Kheybar ...
Strong Global Effort Needed to Combat Drugs: Karzai
May 30, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday lamented that Afghanistan was blamed for drug menace, while some parties benefited from the lucrative narcotic trade and called for concerted global action to stem the scourge.
During a meeting in Kabul, Karzai and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov discussed a gamut of drug-related issues -- including efforts to combat narcotic proliferation. First, the president heard a report presented by the UNODC on the situation and appreciated the office for its cooperation ...
Taliban Accused of Poisoning Hundreds of Schoolgirls
May 30, 2012
WASHINGTON - Taliban "Religion of Peace" fundamentalists are suspected of spraying Afghan girls' schools with poison, and also of poisoning a well near a girls' school, CNN reports.
A hospital in northern Afghanistan admitted 160 schoolgirls Tuesday ...
US Plans to Arm Italy’s Reaper Drones, Deploy to Afghanistan
May 30, 2012
KABUL - The Obama administration plans to arm Italy's fleet of Reaper drone aircraft, a move that could open the door for sales of advanced hunter-killer drone technology to other allies, according to lawmakers and others familiar with the matter.
The sale would make Italy the first foreign country besides Britain ...
Over 200,000 Afghans Leave Iran
May 29, 2012
BAKU - More than 200,000 unmarried Afghan nationals have left Iran, an official of Iranian Ministry of Interior said on Monday.
Mohammad Tahouri told the Mehr News Agency that the resident unmarried Afghan nationals have given the opportunity by June 20 to announce their situation.
Meanwhile, he said that the deadline for Afghan nationals residing in Zanjan, Qazvin, Markazi, Golestan, Mazandaran, Semnan, Bushehr, South Khorasan, Qom, Yazd, Fars and Alborz has ...
Afghanistan ‘Winding Down’: Obama
May 29, 2012
WASHINGTON - President Obama on Monday commemorated the first Memorial Day since troops were finally withdrawn from Iraq last year by remembering some of the more than 4,000 American troops who died in the conflict and promising to continue to wind down the war in ...
Afghanistan to Ink Long-Term Pact with China
May 29, 2012
KABUL - The Afghan Government will ink long-term partnership agreement with China, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said Sunday. "Afghanistan would sign long-term partnership agreement with the People Republic of China and the agreement will probably be inked during President Hamid Karzai's participation at the Shanghai Cooperation ...
Niazi Satisfies WJ over Alleged Anomalies
May 29, 2012
KABUL - Haj and Islamic Affairs Minister Mohammad Yousaf Niazi was able on Monday to satisfy the Wolesi Jirga (WJ), lower house, after he was summoned to brief lawmakers about alleged anomalies during last year's haj operations. On Sunday, some lawmakers claimed the minister had sent 700 people to ...
Panetta Defends Obama Admin Plans for Afghanistan
May 28, 2012
WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is defending the Obama administration's plans to wind down the more than decade-long war in Afghanistan.
According to AP, speaking Sunday, May 27, on ABC's "This Week," the Pentagon chief said the U.S. still has a fight on its hands, but is on the right track.
Panetta says he supports the decision to set a firm timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops, a position criticized by Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama's probable Republican opponent in this fall's ...
Govt. Ready to Meet Taliban’s Reasonable Conditions: Fahim
May 28, 2012
KABUL CITY - First vice president on Sunday said that government was ready to meet Taliban's reasonable conditions, but the leader of the Afghanistan National Front (ANF) described the Taliban as a terrorist group and killers of Jihadi leaders.
Addressing a ceremony marking the first death anniversary of Gen. Daud ...
Afghan-US Talks on Security Deal Underway: Rassoul
May 28, 2012
KABUL - Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul on Sunday said talks with the United States officials on a detailed security agreement had begun as part of a recently signed strategic partnership accord.
Describing the parliamentary approval of the strategic agreement ...
MTN Mobile Clinic Treats 1150 Patients
May 28, 2012
KABUL - MTN mobile clinic visited different areas in Kabul city and treated around 1150 patients for free. The people appreciated this humane act of MTN Foundation and asked for the Continues visits mobile clinic to the areas where people are poor and ...
WJ Approves US-Afghan Strategic Pact
May 27, 2012
KABUL - Wolesi Jirga or lower house of Parliament on Saturday approved the US-Afghan strategic partnership agreement by an overwhelming majority.
Of the 199 parliamentarians present, 195 MPs approved the deal and only four members of the Jirga rejected the agreement.
The crucial national interest document was signed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his American counterpart Barak Obama on May 1st.
It was presented to the general session of the Parliament by the foreign affairs commission of the house on ...
Pakistan’s Interests Interlinked with Afghanistan: Khar
May 27, 2012
KABUL - Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that the country was working hard to end its border blockade for NATO supplies into Afghanistan, saying the future of the two nations is interlinked.
Khar emphasized at a press conference in Japan on Friday that reopening the NATO supply route is in Pakistan's national interest as ...
Karzai Thanks UAE for Support
May 27, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has expressed thanks to President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the unlimited support given by the UAE to the people of Afghanistan and to the efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace, security and stability ...
Britain Would Continue to Support Afghans: Miliband
May 27, 2012
KABUL - Edward Miliband, leader of the opposition in British parliament, held talks with President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace on Saturday.
A statement from the Presidential Palace said both leaders discussed the peace process, bilateral ties, and issues concerning Afghanistan and ...
Withdrawal of French Forces will Not Create Security Gap: Officials
May 27, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force spokespersons said on Saturday that the early exit of France's combat troops will not create security concerns in Afghanistan.
The day after France's newly-elected president Francoise Hollande ...
Western Strength Cannot Prevent Insurgency: Sabari
May 27, 2012
KABUL - The US is unable to prevent the insurgent activity in Afghanistan despite its strong intelligence capabilities, Logar provincial governor Mohammad Taher Sabari told TOLOnews Saturday.
Overseeing the eastern Afghan province positioned next to Pakistan, Sabari blames the neighboring country for much of the instability he ...
No Downsizing of Govt. Depts after 2014: Mushahid
May 27, 2012
JALALABAD - Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission Chairman Dr. Ahmad Mushahid on Saturday said no downsizing would take place in government departments after foreign troops' withdrawal in 2014. Speaking at a press conference in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern ...
Strategic Pacts Pose No Threat to Neighbors: Karzai
May 26, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Friday once again assuaged neighboring countries' concerns over strategic agreements Afghanistan had signed with foreign countries, insisting the accords posed no threat to any country, including Iran.
Replying to a question from reporters during a joint press conference with visiting French President Francois Hollande in Kabul, Karzai said they had historic religious, cultural and linguistic relations with Iran and Afghanistan had always preferred good ties with the neighboring country.
His remarks come a day after a knowledgeable ...