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Al Qaeda Too Weak to Launch Major Attacks: Panetta
January 22, 2012
WASHINGTON - With its top leaders killed in the last one year, Al Qaeda no longer has the capability to have a command and control structure to launch a major terrorist strike like the 9/11, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said.
The network had no ability to make the kind of plans for as major ...
Focus on Afghan Mission to Continue: WH
January 22, 2012
WASHINGTON - Despite setbacks, the United States would continue to focus on its efforts in Afghanistan, the White House (WH) said on Friday.
President Barack Obama had laid out an Afghanistan strategy that he had been executing effectively, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney ...
France Reaffirms Commitment to Afghan Mission
January 22, 2012
PRIS - France appeared to lessen the prospect of an early withdrawal from the 10-year war in Afghanistan on Saturday, stressing its commitment to the country after an Afghan soldier killed four of its troops.
French Defense minister Gerard Longuet and chief of defense staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud flew into Afghanistan for emergency talks a ...
Ahmad Zia Massoud, ANF: If Taliban Imposed, There will be Resistance
January 21, 2012
KABUL - The Taliban must be willing to make compromises in nascent peace talks, a prominent Afghan opposition figure said Friday, warning that ethnic minorities who for years battled the Taliban were prepared to take up arms again if they have to give up too much.
Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is expected in Kabul at the weekend to discuss progress in negotiations -- seen by their supporters as the best chance of ending a decade-long war ...
No Alternative to Direct Talks with Taliban: MoFA
January 21, 2012
WASHINGTON - There is no alternative to direct peace negotiation between various parties, Afghanistan said, reiterating its stance that it would have preferred a Taliban political bureau within the country.
In a video tele-conference with Pentagon correspondents from Kabul on Thursday, an Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesman ...
Secret Talks with Taliban will Not Lead to Peace: Abdullah
January 21, 2012
KABUL - Leader of the National Coalition, Abdullah Abdullah, on Thursday said that secrets by the Afghan government and the United States with the Taliban will not lead to any peace in Afghanistan.
Mr Abdullah said that secret talks will not be welcomed by the Afghan people and stressed that the Afghan people must not ...
Karzai to Taliban: Stop Killing Innocent People
January 21, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai condemns in the strongest terms the suicide bombing in the New Bazaar of Kajaki district in Helmand province that left around 36 innocent people killed and injured.
As per the information by Helmand governor Gulab Mangel, terrorists carried out a suicide attack in a new market in the district of Kajaki ...
Karzai’s Dependency on Warlords ‘Disappointing’: Eide
January 21, 2012
KABUL - Former UN envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said that he was "disappointed" in President Hamid Karzai for becoming "more dependent" on warlords and powerbrokers.
In an extract from his new book, Power Struggle Over Afghanistan, the Norwegian diplomat who served in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2010, says ...
Grossman Due in Kabul on Saturday
January 21, 2012
WASHINGTON - US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman would fly into Kabul on Saturday for talks with President Hamid Karzai and other officials, the State Department announced on Wednesday.
Grossman would be in Abu Dhabi until Thursday evening and would stay ...
5 New AIEC Members Sworn in
January 21, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai administered oath to five new members of the Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (AIEC) at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Thursday.
Mohammad Hussain Garziwani, Mohammad Hashim Faulad, Rida Azimi, Ghulam Dastagir Azad and Momina Yari were sworn in at a ceremony, a statement from Karzai's ...
UN Backs Afghan-Led Peace Talks: New Envoy
January 21, 2012
KABUL - The new United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, Jan Kubis, on Tuesday presented his diplomatic credentials to Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that the UN backs Afghan-led peace negotiations.
Mr. Kubis said at a press conference that peace talks with opposition ...
Sarkozy Moots Afghan Withdrawal
January 21, 2012
PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was on Friday considering accelerating the withdrawal of his country's troops from Afghanistan, following the killing of four French soldiers by an Afghan serviceman.
'If the security conditions are not clearly established, the question of an early return of the French army to France will arise,' Sarkozy ...
Karzai Finalizes List of New Cabinet Picks
January 19, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai has finalized a list of new Cabinet picks for a vote of confidence from the lower house of parliament, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Some acting ministers and new faces would be referred to the Wolesi Jirga after the house administrative board's elections, the deputy parliamentary minister, Karim Baz, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Ministries of water and power, public health, urban development, communications, Transport and ...
Pakistan to Clear Stranded Afghan Vehicles
January 19, 2012
KABUL - The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday said Pakistan had assured the clearance of hundreds of Afghanistan-bound food containers in the next 10 days to end a two-month stoppage that could cause a temporary food shortage in the landlocked country.
Up to 700 food containers destined for Afghanistan have been stopped at various places in the neighboring country over the past two ...
700 Scholars Attend Seminar on Fighting Drugs
January 19, 2012
JALALABAD - More than 700 religious scholars on Wednesday attended a seminar on "fighting drugs and working for peace and stability" in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an official said.
The participants hailed from Laghman, Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, Hajj and Religious Affairs Director Maulvi Abdul Aziz Khairkhwa told ...
US Doesn’t Rule Out Grossman-Taliban Meeting
January 19, 2012
WASHINGTON - US officials have indicated Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Marc Grossman will be meeting the Taliban's representatives, but the process will not be discussed publicly.
"I don't think I want to rule it in or out," US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, told journalists at his daily news ...
New UN Envoy in Kabul Amid Period of Transition
January 19, 2012
KABUL - The UN secretary-general's new special representative for Afghanistan arrived in the capital city of Kabul on Wednesday to take charge of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Upon arrival at the Kabul International Airport, Ján Kubiš told reporters: "I am looking forward to be here in this period of ...
Secret Us, Taliban Negotiations Could Yield Positive Results
January 19, 2012
KABUL - The former leader of Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimin Movement, Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, said on Wednesday that the continuation of secret talks between the US and the Taliban could yield positive results for both sides.
Mr Agha said that the disclosure that talks had taken place provided an ...
Pakistan Rejects U.S. Envoy Visit: Official
January 19, 2012
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has rejected U.S. special envoy Marc Grossman's request to visit the country, a senior official said on Wednesday, highlighting the increased tensions between the uneasy allies.
He did not elaborate on the reasons.
"Ambassador Grossman asked to visit Pakistan but we conveyed to ...
Iranian Businessmen to Invest in Afghanistan
January 19, 2012
KABUL - Iranian businessmen have expressed enthusiasm about investing in Afghanistan's mines, agriculture and industries.
A delegation of 55 Iranian businessmen interested in participating in joint ventures with Afghan entrepreneurs visited Kabul on Tuesday.
"The technology that Iran has can play an important role in ...
U.S. Should Not Negotiate with Taliban: Romney
January 18, 2012
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina – US Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said on Monday the United States should not negotiate with the Taliban and he criticized the Obama administration for efforts to broker secret talks with the Afghan insurgents.
Romney, who has won the first two Republican contests in the race to pick a nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November, strongly rejected any sort of talks with the Taliban.
"The ...
Kabul Grants Islamabad’s Transmission Line Request
January 18, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet on Monday expressed its willingness for electricity exports from Uzbekistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan. At a meeting, chaired by Karzai, the Cabinet discussed a request from the Pakistani embassy for power exports from Uzbekistan through the ...
AIHRC Compiles New Report on Afghan Prisons
January 18, 2012
KABUL - The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission on Tuesday said it has prepared a new report on Afghan prisons and it is concerned about the situation there. The report covers torture and human rights' violations in Afghan detention centers. The commission reviewed all Afghan prisons including the US-run Bagram detention center and found ...
1st Afghan Satellite to Be Launched Next Year
January 18, 2012
KABUL -The acting telecommunication and information technology minister on Tuesday said a satellite would be launched into space, computerized national identity cards distributed and 3G internet services introduced this year. Amirzai Sangin told a graduation ceremony at the Information and Communication Technology Institute ...
7 Govt. Entities Spend 50pc of Budgets in 10 Months
January 15, 2012
KABUL - Seven government institutions have been able to use more than 50 percent of their annual development budgets over the past 10 months of the ongoing year, officials said on Saturday. Another five departments could utilize only 34 percent of the yearly funds, the Afghanistan Parliamentary Assistance Project (APAP) said in a statement.
He Independent Election Commission, the Afghanistan Independent Human ...
Women’s Rights Offenders are Enemies of Islam and Humanity: Karzai
January 15, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Saturday said that some cases of human rights abuses against women have recently emerged that bother human conscience.
A ceremony comprised of Afghan Ulema, Parliament Members and members of civil society, president Karzai called on religious Ulema to deliver ...
Tryingto Improve Transportation System:Najafi
January 15, 2012
KABUL - Minister of Transport and Aviation, Dawood Ali Najafi, said that he's trying to improve the situation of ground and air transportation in the country.
He also admitted that his efforts towards providing city buses have failed. He called the flight delays and disruptions a normal thing and ...
ACB Discovers Fake Notes
January 15, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan Central Bank (DAB) announced that it has discovered fake Afghani notes made by a clever group using sophisticated machines.
Head of Afghanistan Central Bank (ACB), Noorullah Delawari, told TOLOnews that one-thousand and five-hundred notes have been forged using ...
CIA and Pentagon not to share Common Metrics
January 15, 2012
WASHINGTON - A leaked CIA report says the situation in Afghanistan is mired in a stalemate, contradicting recent optimistic Pentagon statements. Robert Farley of the University of Kentucky believes intelligence and the military are looking at different things. "There is some division between the intelligence community and ...
Our Afghan Partners Go Missing in Action: US
January 15, 2012
KABUL - A Secret US Army report has undermined a glowing Australian account of the role Afghan forces played in repelling an unprecedented Taliban attack near Australia's main base in Afghanistan.
The 166-page report obtained by The Sunday Age, raises fresh doubts ...
Peace Process Should Have Necessary Safeguards: NATO
January 14, 2012
KABUL - The Non-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Friday voiced its support for an Afghan-led peace campaign, saying an effort headed by foreigners would not deliver the results expected by the people of Afghanistan. "Frankly, a peace process led by foreigners, whoever they might be, would simply not deliver the sort of peace which Afghanistan needs, it has to be Afghan ...
US would Work with Afghanistan: Clinton
January 14, 2012
WASHINGTON - The United States would work with Afghanistan under the leadership of its President Hamid Karzai, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday. She is sending her top envoy Marc Grossman to Kabul next week. Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Grossman's ...
Opium Profits Up 133% in 2011: U.N.
January 14, 2012
KABUL - Revenue from opium production in Afghanistan soared by 133 percent last year to about $1.4 billion, or about one-tenth of the country's GDP, according to a United Nations report received Friday.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said the price rise was due to a plant disease that wiped out much of the opium crop in 2010. Although ...
ANF Supports Peace Talks
January 14, 2012
KABUL - Prominent Afghan opposition leaders said Friday that they support possible US-brokered peace negotiations with Taliban militants, but want to be part of any talks.
Members of a coalition representing Afghanistan National Front (ANF) spoke as they returned from a conference in Berlin, where they met with ...
Japan Pledges $25m in Aid to Afghanistan
January 14, 2012
KABUL - The Japanese government on Thursday pledged $25 million in aid to the Ministry of Education for improving school buildings in three central provinces, officials said.
An agreement to the effect was signed among Japanese Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, Minister of Education Dr. Farooq Wardak, UNECIF ...