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Karzai Does Not Trust Security Forces: Saleh
December 27, 2011
KABUL - Former Chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) at a gathering on Monday accused President Hamid Karzai of not trusting Afghan security forces.
Mr Amrullah Saleh was speaking at a gathering with religious scholars and made the comments in reaction to the recent call of President Hamid Karzai asking for an end to night raids.
"If the President has problem with the night raids, what is the solution. He does not trust ...
India to Invest $7.8 Billion on Afghan Mine
December 27, 2011
KABUL - An Indian government backed group will invest $7.8 Billion on three blocks of Hajigak iron mine in Afghanistan, Bloomberg reported.
A consortium of seven Indian steel companies led by Steel Authorities of India (SAIL) bagged the development rights to invest on ...
MTN Mobile Clinic Offered Free Consultation and Medicines
December 27, 2011
KABUL - MTN mobile clinic visited deferent location in Kabul and Nangarhar provinces and treated around 2550 patients for free.
The people appreciated this humane act of MTN Foundation and ask for other organization to run such social projects ...
Afghanistan Urges No Foreign Interference in Taliban Talks
December 27, 2011
KABUL – An Afghan government body seeking a negotiated peace deal with the Taliban insisted Monday it would not tolerate foreign interference in any talks.
The head of the foreign relations department of the High Peace Council, Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar, emphasized the government's position ...
Wardak Resigns from HPC
December 27, 2011
KABUL – Minister of Education and member of High Peace Council (HPC), Farooq Wardak, resigned from HPC, a report published on ministry of Education website stated Monday. According to report, Wardak Resign from HPC becouse of paying more attention to his ...
Afghanistan’s Revenue Up By 30pc
December 27, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan's revenue from taxes and custom duty increased by 30 percent in the first nine months of 2011, compared to the same period last year, a Ministry of Finance official said on Monday.
The third-quarter revenue stood at 81.4 billion Afghanis, with 50 ...
President Replaces 3 IEC Members
December 26, 2011
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Sunday granted extension to two Independent Election Commission (IEC) members and replaced three others, his office said.
The tenures of Momina Yari and Mohammad Hussain Garziwani were extended, while Ayub Asil, Mastura Stanikzai and Suleman Hamid, who completed their terms, were replaced.
A statement from the Presidential Palace said that the steps had been taken in accordance with Article ...
Night Raids to Figure at Talks with US
December 26, 2011
KABUL - Talks on a strategic cooperation pact with the United States would begin next year, despite a warning from President Hamid Karzai to walk out of the agreement, a foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
Nighttime raids and civilian house searches by NATO-led soldiers, a huge concern for the Afghan government, would figure prominently at the ...
Chinese Company to Extract Amu Darya Oil Zone
December 26, 2011
KABUL - The Afghan Ministry of Mines on Sunday said that an agreement between the ministry and Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) will be signed to start extraction at Amu Daray Oil Zone.
After consultation with civil society forum and reporting to the cabinet, the practical phase of the extraction will be officially ...
Abdullah Hits Out at Changes in IEC
December 26, 2011
Karzai to help his aides to stay in positions, amendments is must in election law
KABUL - The newly formed Afghanistan National Coalition on Sunday called changes by President Hamid Karzai in composition of the election commission and the human rights body as a step towards helping his ...
Taliban Office Either in Saudi or Turkey: Official
December 26, 2011
KABUL - The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said that Afghanistan will agree a Taliban office in Saudi Arabia or Turkey.
The government wants an Afghan brought peace in the country and any kind of efforts by other countries should be in consultation with Afghan government, Janan Musazai, a spokesman for the Ministry of ...
Mutalib Baig among 20 dead in Takhar Blast
December 26, 2011
TAKHAR - A suicide bomber killed at least 20 people, including a member of parliament, and wounded 50 in Afghanistan's northern city of Taloqan on Sunday, police said.
The once-peaceful northern Takhar province has seen a series of high profile attacks and assassinations over the last year, including the ...
Afghanistan Food Aid at Risk: UN
December 25, 2011
KABUL - More Afghans will go hungry next year and may be dependent on food aid for longer as school feeding program and projects to develop the country's crumbling agriculture sector have to be trimmed due to waning donor support, the United Nations warned.
The UN's World Food Program WFP.L raised only about half its annual $400 million Afghanistan budget in 2011, and even less was expected for 2012, Bradley Guerrant, the agency's deputy director ...
Iran Not Expelling Afghan Refugees: Ministry
December 25, 2011
KABUL - The Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation Affairs on Saturday rejected reports that Iran had given a three-month ultimatum to 900,000 registered Afghan refugees to leave the neighboring country.
An Iranian news agency, quoting unnamed officials, reported last week that heads of Afghan families in Iran had been asked to leave the ...
10,000 US Troops Leave Afghanistan
December 25, 2011
>KABUL - The US military has withdrawn 10,000 troops from Afghanistan before a year-end deadline set by President Barack Obama, Officials said on Friday.
The withdrawal left about 91,000 US troops on the ground in Afghanistan, a military spokesman, Bill Speaks, has ...
Karzai Urged to Appoint Honest HR Officials
December 25, 2011
KABUL - Civil Society Coordination Jirga officials on Saturday urged President Hamid Karzai to keep the national interest supreme in appointing new members of the human rights commission.
On Friday the president's office said the five-year term of three top officials of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) had expired and Karzai ...
1b Afs Power Bills Payable By Govt. Entities
December 25, 2011
KABUL - A number of government departments in Kabul owe up to a billion Afghanis ($20.3 million) to the Da Afghanistan Brekhna Shirkat (DABS) in unpaid electricity bills, an official said on Saturday.
The defaulters include the water supply department and ministries of telecommunications and information technology, justice and higher ...
ACCI Opposes New Aviation Policy
December 25, 2011
KABUL - The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) chief on Saturday voiced concern at the government's new aviation policy allowing more foreign airlines international flights from the Kabul airport.
Currently, Fly Emirates, Fly Dubai, Gulf Air, Turkish Airlines, Indian Airlines, Air India, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ...
New Bloc Vows Real Counterweight to Karzai
December 24, 2011
KABUL - Dozens of political parties on Thursday launched a new coalition bloc, vowing to pose a stronger challenge to the President Hamid Karzai-led government, which they alleged was corrupt.
Politicians and political workers from across the country held a gathering to formally launch the new bloc named the National Coalition of Afghanistan, to be headed by Karzai's principal rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.
The gathering was attended by leaders ...
Iran, India, Pak Should Help Afghan Reconciliation: Velayati
December 24, 2011
NEW DHELI - Iran on Friday pitched for a regional solution to the Afghan problem, saying countries like India and Pakistan can help in the reconciliation process in the war-torn nation. The situation in Afghanistan came for discussion during the meeting between visiting Iranian leader Ali Akbar Velayati and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ...
Post-2014 Presence Only at Afghan Govt. Invitation: US
December 24, 2011
WASHINGTON - Maintaining that the United States is committed to execute complete security transition to Afghan forces at the end of 2014, the White House on Wednesday asserted that any presence of the US troops after that would be only at invitation of the Afghan government.
"Any post-2014 presence would of course be at the invitation of ...
US Accepts Responsibility for Mistakes in Air Strike
December 24, 2011
WASHINGTON - Hours after the US Department of Defense and NATO announced that its forces had committed mistakes on the Afghan-Pak border on November 26, the White House accepted its responsibility and vowed to address trust deficit with Pakistan.
Pakistani military on Thursday rejected the conclusions of a US investigation into the NATO airstrike that killed two dozen Pakistani ...
Crocker Clarifies Biden’s Statement on Taliban
December 24, 2011
KABUL - US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan C. Crocker, has said what the US vice president Joe Biden has said about the Taliban was that the insurgents were not necessarily their enemy if they laid down arms and renounced violence.
In response to a question on Biden's recent statement on the Taliban, the envoy said what the Vice President said was that the Taliban were ...
Afghans Demand Ownership of Taliban Talks Process
December 24, 2011
KABUL - News of insurgent "peace talks" office in Qatar sparks fears that Kabul is not in control of negotiations. While the Afghanistan authorities and their international allies now agree that talking to the Taliban is essential, they are not quite on ...
Taliban Involved in Attacks are an Enemy: Pentagon
December 22, 2011
WASHINGTON - Taliban involved in attacks against US soldiers and indulging in terrorist attacks are an enemy to the United States, the Pentagon said Tuesday, a day after the country's Vice President, Joe Biden, stated that the Taliban is not an enemy.
"As they and when they continue to attack innocent people in Afghanistan and pose threat to our troops, we consider that is a force we are going to deal with," Pentagon Spokesman, Navy Capt John ...
Afghanistan Seeks Indian Investments in Mining, Agriculture Sector
December 22, 2011
NEW DELHI - As it strives to stand on its own feet, Afghanistan has invited Indian investments in sectors like mining, agriculture and transport and to provide it the "backbone" after transition in 2014.
The Afghan government is trying to make an "enabling" environment to attract foreign investments, as ...
Islamabad Should Have Independent Policy Toward Kabul: Karzai
December 22, 2011
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday asked Pakistan not deal with Afghanistan based on its relations with the US and India. Karzai also said the federal system of government was ill-suited to Afghanistan.
Karzai discussed Pakistan-Afghan relations and the governance during an interview with local TV stations, a statement issued from his office ...
UAE, Britain Sign Agreement to Build Afghan Highway
December 22, 2011
ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates and Britain signed an agreement on Tuesday to build an important highway in Afghanistan, the official WAM news agency reported.
It was signed by the UAE foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan and his British counterpart William Hague, who is on a one-day ...
German Minister Visits Troops in Kunduz
December 22, 2011
KUNDUZ CITY - Germany's Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere on Wednesday met with soldiers from his country during a surprise visit to northern Kunduz province, an official said.
He discussed the current security situation in Kunduz with German soldiers, a German official at the Provincial Reconstruction Team ...
Taliban is Not Enemy: US
December 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - In an indication of a major shift in the American policy toward the Taliban, the Obama Administration on Monday said rulers of Kabul before 9/11 were not its enemies.
"Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That's critical," US Vice President Joe Biden told the Newsweek magazine in an interview. "There is not a single statement that the (US) President has ever made in ...
UNSC Welcomes Bonn Declaration on Afghanistan
December 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) welcomed the recently held Bonn conference and the international community's commitment to work together toward a "transformation decade" for establishing peace in ...
Afghanistan Appeals for Help with Reconciliation Talks
December 21, 2011
UNITED NATIONS - The Afghan government on Monday appealed for international help to boost talks with the Taliban and other armed opposition groups.
At a United Nations Security Council debate on the war-torn country, Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister Jawed Ludin stressed the government's determination to pursue reconciliation efforts despite ...
Pakistan Should Talk more with Afghanistan: Karzai
December 21, 2011
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai is urging Pakistan to open up communications and create a one-on-one relationship with neighboring Afghanistan.
He said it's needed regardless of Pakistan's views about its rival, India, or its rocky ties with the U.S.
Islamist insurgents use the border area to stage attacks in Afghanistan.
Karzai's spoke Tuesday in interviews with Afghan television ...
Mohaqiq Meets Turkish PM
December 21, 2011
Istanbul: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister met Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the leader of the People's Unity Party of Afghanistan, in Istanbul. Mohaqiq, who also chairs the Parliamentary Commission for Judicial Affairs, is in Turkey with an Afghan delegation to participate in the 738th anniversary of Moulana Jalaluddin ...
Afghanistan Should Not Be Allowed to ‘Slip-Back’: India
December 21, 2011
UNITED NATIONS - As international forces prepare to leave Afghanistan by 2014, India has said the global community has to ensure the war-torn country is not allowed to "slip-back" and called for political will to deal with terrorist safe havens outside Afghan ...