Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Zarif Appointed as UN SRSG to Kosovo

Zarif Appointed as UN SRSG to Kosovo

October 13, 2011

NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed FaridZarif of Afghanistan as his Special Representative for Kosovo and head of the United Nations mission there, the UN announced ...

Afghanistan’s Vast Mineral Deposits Could Lift it Out of Poverty

Afghanistan’s Vast  Mineral Deposits Could Lift it Out of Poverty

October 13, 2011

KABUL - Afghanistan has rich seams of minerals, worth up to $3 Trillion (tn), but systems to ensure transparency and control of revenue flows must quickly be put in place in the extractive sector For all the column inches and hours of negotiations spent discussing Afghanistan's recent past, present and future, one of the most pressing ...

315 Illegal Armed Groups Still Exist in North: Official

315 Illegal Armed Groups Still  Exist in North: Official

October 13, 2011

MAZAR-I-SHARIF - As many as 315 illegal armed groups are still active in some northern provinces, an official said on Wednesday.
A senior official with the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) program, Gen. Abdul Manan, who delivered 22 weapons to the program officials, said nearly 185 such groups out of 500 have been disarmed in ...

ISAF Inaction on Pakistani Attacks Criticized

ISAF Inaction on Pakistani Attacks Criticized

October 13, 2011

KABUL – Afghan Ministry of Defense on Wednesday criticized international troops for taking no action to prevent cross border attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
However, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says the ...

2nd Phase of Security Transition to Begin Soon: NATO

2nd Phase of Security Transition to Begin Soon: NATO

October 12, 2011

KABUL - In order to initiate the second phase of the security transition to Afghan forces, the process of assessing the capability of local forces has been completed and more provinces in this regard would soon be identified, NATO said on Tuesday. NATO's civilian representative's spokesman, Dominic Medley, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had consulted with Afghan officials and members of the Joint Afghan-NATO Inteqal Board and suggestions and advises discussed during their meetings had been presented to ...

Honest Pakistan Needed for Afghanistan’s Stability: Ludin

Honest Pakistan Needed for Afghanistan’s Stability: Ludin

October 12, 2011

KABUL - Afghan deputy foreign minister on Tuesday said Pakistan's role for regional peace was vital and the country should honestly work for Afghanistan's stability.
"Since the Taliban lack freedom to talk with the Afghan government, therefore the peace process is not successfully moving forward and the Afghan government has changed its policy in this ...

Opium Production Shows Increase, Prices Set to Rise

Opium Production Shows Increase, Prices Set to Rise

October 12, 2011

KABUL/VIENNA – Opium poppy-crop cultivation in Afghanistan reached 131,000 hectares in 2011, 7 per cent higher than in 2010, due to insecurity and high prices, said the 2011 Afghan Opium Survey released Tuesday by the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN) and the United ...

UN’s Report on Torture of Prisoners Rebuffed

UN’s Report on Torture  of Prisoners Rebuffed

October 12, 2011

KABUL - The interior ministry on Tuesday rejected as unfounded a UN report that accused Afghan officials of using torture while investigating suspected militants kept in some detention centers.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Monday issued a report, saying it had interviewed 379 prisoners from 22 ...

Pakistan Offers Afghanistan Intelligence in Rabbani’s Killing

Pakistan Offers Afghanistan  Intelligence in Rabbani’s Killing

October 12, 2011

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Tuesday offered intelligence sharing to Afghanistan for its investigation into the assassination of the former Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani. Gilani told reporters in Quetta that Pakistan had been shocked at the murder of Rabbani, also a former president of Afghanistan, and offered ...

ANP Use Torture to Extract Detainee Confessions: UN

ANP Use Torture to Extract Detainee Confessions: UN

October 11, 2011

KABUL - Afghanistan's internal security service and police use torture and other abusive methods to extract confessions from suspected insurgents held in a number of detention centers around the country, according to a report today by the United Nations mission in Afghanistan.
Interviews over the past year with 379 detainees at 47 facilities found "a compelling pattern and practice of systematic torture and ill-treatment" at a number of centers, the UN study ...

U.S. Afghan Policy Stokes AIDS Problem: Russia

U.S. Afghan Policy Stokes AIDS Problem: Russia

October 11, 2011

MOSCOW - The United States is aggravating the HIV/AIDS problem in Russia and the West by refusing to use its forces to destroy opium crops in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on ...

Afghanistan Worst Place for Children

Afghanistan Worst Place for Children

October 11, 2011

KABUL - Afghanistan has been engaged with more than 30 years of war with thousands of civilians killed or injured since 2001. It is under these conditions that children are at extreme risk of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. The children of Afghanistan are growing up in one of the least developed countries in ...

Barakzai Vows to Continue Hunger Strike

Barakzai Vows to Continue Hunger Strike

October 11, 2011

KABUL - Unseated Wolesi Jirga member, Samin Barkazai, who has been on hunger strike for last nine days on Monday vowed to continue her strike, saying the president and high-ranking government officials would be responsible for her death.
Barakzai was among nine sitting MPs expelled from parliament for ...

Khost Women Ask Govt.to Save Barakzai from Dying

Khost Women Ask Govt.to  Save Barakzai from Dying

October 11, 2011

KHOST CITY - A number of women in southeastern Khost province on Monday asked the government to save from dying Samin Barakzai, who has been on hunger strike over the past one week seeking her reinstatement as lawmaker.
Barakzai was among nine sitting Wolesi Jirga members disqualified by ...

Challenges Remain Despite Reduced Rebel Attacks: ISAF

Challenges Remain  Despite Reduced Rebel  Attacks: ISAF

October 11, 2011

KABUL - The NATO-led ISAF spokesman on Monday said although insurgent attacks have reduced compared to last year, still Afghanistan is facing several challenges.
"The most severe challenges are group attacks by anti-government militants, who use roadside bombs," Carsten Jacobson told a news ....

EU Concerned Over Mistreatment of Detainees

EU Concerned Over Mistreatment of Detainees

October 11, 2011

KABUL - The European Union (EU) is deeply concerned by the allegations of mistreatment of conflict-related detainees in some Afghan detention facilities detailed in a UN report released on Monday, the union ...

Pak Army Kills 30 Afghan Insurgents in Border Clash

Pak Army Kills  30 Afghan Insurgents  in Border Clash

October 11, 2011

KABUL - Pakistani troops killed 30 Afghan militants who crossed the border and attacked the army, military officials said on Monday. The group of more than 200 Afghans conducted the raid on Sunday evening. The incident may further damage the already difficult relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which often accuse each ...

Barna Karimi Named Afghan Envoy to Canada

Barna Karimi Named Afghan Envoy to Canada

October 11, 2011

KABUL - Barna Karimi has been nominated as Afghan ambassador to Canada by President Hamid Karzai through a presidential decree, an official said on Monday. His nomination as ambassador to Canada was proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and approved by the president, Tamana Faramoz, ...

Govt. Seeks Pak Help in Stalled Peace Process: WP

Govt. Seeks Pak Help in Stalled Peace Process: WP

October 10, 2011

ISLAMABAD - With prospects for peace talks at a new low, the Afghan government is attempting to resuscitate negotiations with a seemingly contradictory approach: publicly bashing the Pakistanis for supporting the Taliban while at the same time asking for their help, Washington Post (WP) reported on Sunday.
In a series of recent speeches and interviews, President Hamid Karzai has sought to balance inflammatory remarks that Pakistan is fighting a ...

Failed Candidates Want the Court’s Decision Enforced

Failed Candidates Want the Court’s Decision Enforced

October 10, 2011

KABUL - The losing candidates on Sunday staged a protest demonstration in Kabul, asking the government to implement the Special Election Court's decision on last year's parliamentary poll results.
The demonstrators, carrying two coffins inscribed with "law and justice", gathered in Pashtunistan area of the downtown and ...

Warlords Pressure Local Officials to Legalize Land-Grab

Warlords Pressure Local Officials to Legalize Land-Grab

October 10, 2011

KABUL - Warlords are using threats to pressure municipal officials to fraudulently prepare ownership documents for the lands that they have already grabbed in Baghlan province, a local mayor said this week.
Dozens of acres of land had been grabbed in Pul-i-Khumri by the strongmen, who are forcing municipal officials to give them ownership ...

Julian Assange Leads Afghanistan Protest in London

Julian Assange Leads  Afghanistan Protest in London

October 10, 2011

LONDON - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and socialite Jemima Khan led a protest in London Saturday against the war in Afghanistan, 10 years after the United States and Britain went to war against the Taliban.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange attends a Stop the War rally in Trafalgar Square, central London October 8, 2011. The rally is timed to ...

11 Rebels Dead, 19 Held in Security Operations

11 Rebels Dead, 19 Held in Security Operations

October 10, 2011

KABUL - Eleven armed insurgents were killed, 19 others arrested and one wounded during joint operations by Afghan and foreign forces in difference provinces, the Ministry of Interior said on Sunday.
Featuring Afghan Nation Police (ANP), Afghan National Army (ANA) and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) members, the ...

UN,IEC and Govt. to Be Responsible for MP’s Death

UN,IEC and Govt.  to Be Responsible for MP’s Death

October 10, 2011

KABUL - The husband of unseated female lawmaker SaminBarakzai, who continued her hunger strike for the eighth consecutive day, said on Sunday the United Nations, the Independent Election Commission ('IEC) and the Afghan government would be responsible for his spouse's death.
Barakzai was among nine sitting Wolesi Jirga members who were ...

Journalists Complain about Access to Information

Journalists Complain about Access  to Information

October 10, 2011

KABUL - The government officials have not been giving information to reporters when contacted, journalists complained on Sunday. A governmental spokesman promised the issue to be regulated with the approval of a law about the access to information. The main challenge for journalists is that government officials are ...

Health Clinic Established in Bamyan

Health Clinic Established in Bamyan

October 10, 2011

BAMYAN - Residents of "Ali Baig" village of Bamyan province have been accessed to a Health Clinic. A Health Clinic established by the Shuhada Foundation in Ali Baig ...

Girls Now Have Access to the Internet in Dawlat Abad

Girls Now Have  Access to the Internet in Dawlat Abad

October 10, 2011

KABUL - Girls in the remote district of "Dawlat Abad" are now connected with the world. "Dawlat Abad" is a remote district which is more than 50km far from "Mazar Sharif" city.
There are a few families that have TV sets or Radios in their houses. ...

Russia Rejects US Presence in Afghanistan

Russia Rejects US Presence in Afghanistan

October 09, 2011

KABUL - The US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Grossman, said on Saturday that his government would continue its pressure on Pakistan to fight the terrorism.
President Karzai has taken a tough stance against Pakistan after Ex- president and High Peace Council Chairman Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated.
Afghan officials alleged that attack on high peace negotiator Rabbani was planned in Pakistan. Speaking with President Hamid ...

US to Press Pakistan for War on Terror: Grossman

US to Press Pakistan for War on Terror: Grossman

October 09, 2011

KABUL - The US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Grossman, said on Saturday that his government would continue its pressure on Pakistan to fight the terrorism.
President Karzai has taken a tough stance against Pakistan after Ex- president and High Peace Council Chairman Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated.
Afghan officials ...

Reformists Walk Out of Wolesi Jirga

Reformists Walk Out of Wolesi Jirga

October 09, 2011

KABUL - Members of the Reformists' Coalition in the Wolesi Jirga on Saturday left the Lower House session after the Law-Supporting Coalition branded the nine newly introduced lawmakers as illegitimate. Of 249 members in the house, 104 are from the Law-Supporting Coalition, 106 are from Reformist's Coalition, 38 are independent and ...

Japan Assures Karzai of Commitment to $5b Pledge

Japan Assures  Karzai of Commitment to $5b Pledge

October 09, 2011

KABUL - The Japanese government on Saturday assured the Afghan government that it was committed to its pledge regarding $5 billion (239 billion Afghanis), office of the president said on Saturday.
"Although Japan had suffered a lot during last year's tsunami, the Japanese government was committed to its pledge of $5 ...

1800 US Forces Killed in Afghanistan: Panetta

1800 US Forces Killed in Afghanistan: Panetta

October 09, 2011

WASHINGTON: US Defense Minister Leon Panetta said that the country's invasion in Afghanistan toppled the Taliban-led government who had given safe heavens to al Qaeda network.
In a statement issued on the eve of 10th anniversary of the US invasion in Afghanistan, Panetta said that 1800 military personnel were killed while 14000 others injured during the ...

MP on Hunger Strike in Severe Health Condition: Official

MP on Hunger  Strike in Severe Health Condition: Official

October 09, 2011

KABUL - The public health ministry officials on Saturday said the female parliamentarian, who had gone on hunger strike for the seventh consecutive day, would face serious kidney and stomach problems if continued the strike for a day more.
Hailing from western Herat province, female lawmaker SaminBarakzai, unseated by the Independent Election...

Karzai Admits “Security Failure”

Karzai Admits “Security Failure”

October 08, 2011

LONDON - The international coalition in Afghanistan and his own government have failed 'terribly' in their goal to bring security to Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai admitted Friday.
'We've done terribly badly in providing security to the Afghan people and this is the greatest shortcoming of our government and of our international partners,' Karzai said in an interview with the BBC.
'What we should do is provide better and a more predictable ...

Hundreds Demonstrate Against Hazara Target Killing in Pakistan

Hundreds Demonstrate Against Hazara Target Killing in Pakistan

October 08, 2011

KABUL – Hundreds of people gathered in Kabul to condemn the target killings of Hazara community in Quetta, Pakistan, a rallywas organized by students, civil society and human rights activists of Kabul.
The rally started from Al-Zahra mosqueand ended on ShahaeedMazariChowk in western Kabul. The participants in the rally ...