Politics of Afghanistan

Sharp rise in number Afghan women in prison for "moral crimes"

Thomson ReutersMay 21, 2013 14:31

By Amie Ferris-Rotman KABUL (Reuters) - About 600 Afghan women and girls are behind bars for so-called moral crimes, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday, the highest number since the Taliban were toppled almost twelve years ago. Running away from home, usually from abuse and forced marriage, and alleged adultery, which often involves rape, have landed most of the 600 women in prison. That figure is an increase of 50 percent over the last 18 months.

Coordinated Taliban attacks in Afghan south kill six policemen

Thomson ReutersMay 21, 2013 09:30

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Dozens of Taliban insurgents launched coordinated attacks on Afghan checkpoints in the south on Tuesday, killing at least six Afghan policemen, officials said, adding that a clash was going on. Seven policemen were wounded in the attack in Helmand province, provincial governor spokesman Omar Zwak said. It was the latest Taliban assault this year involving many militants attacking Afghan forces.

11 Afghan police killed in latest violence

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 08:46

A roadside bomb in western Afghanistan and clashes in the volatile south left eleven police officers dead, officials said Tuesday. The bomb killed six police guards in Herat province on Tuesday as they travelled to a hydroelectric dam that is under protection from insurgent attack. The officers were from the Afghan Public Protection Force, a government-run force that provides security for international supply convoys, aid groups and foreign-funded reconstruction sites.

Attacks kill 10 police in Afghanistan

Agence France-PresseMay 19, 2013 08:45

Taliban attacks killed at least ten Afghan police on Sunday, officials said, in the latest violence against the force which is due to take more security responsibility from NATO troops before their withdrawal next year. In one of the incidents, Taliban fighters attacked a security check post in the Muqur district of Ghazni province in southern Afghanistan, killing six police, according to district governor. "Six of our local police were martyred after hours of clash with Taliban when they attacked their post early today," he said.

Bombs kill 7, wound 50 in Afghan south

Agence France-PresseMay 17, 2013 14:00

Two bombs exploded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday evening, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 50, officials said. "One blast was a vehicle IED (improvised explosive device)," Javed Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, told AFP. "Seven people are dead and more than 50 are wounded, most of them civilians." Faisal said that the target of the attack appeared to be police and army vehicles but that many of those injured were civilians who were gathered in a popular public area of the city at the end of the Friday holiday.

Suicide car bomb strikes NATO convoy in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 and wounding dozens

The Canadian PressMay 16, 2013 06:01

KABUL - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least six people in the explosion and wounding more than 30, officials said. A Muslim militant group, Hizb-e-Islami, claimed responsibility for the early morning attack and said it had formed a special "martyrdom" unit to attack foreign troops. The announcement could mean a steep escalation for the movement, which is based in northeastern Afghanistan and which has fought against the American-led coalition but is also a fierce rival of the Taliban.

Kabul suicide bombing of NATO convoy kills 15

Agence France-PresseMay 16, 2013 04:45

A suicide car bomb targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year, officials said. The powerful explosion, which struck at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) in the Shah Shaheed southeastern residential district, also injured about 40 passers-by including many children going to school, officials said. Nine Afghans including two children died, along with two US soldiers and four NATO-contracted civilians who were travelling through the city's busy rush-hour traffic.

Karzai urges Taliban to fight Afghan enemies after Pakistan clash

Thomson ReutersMay 7, 2013 10:37

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the Taliban on Saturday to fight Afghanistan's enemies in what was widely seen as a swipe against Pakistan days after the neighbors' security forces clashed on their border. Karzai's remarks are likely to unsettle already shaky ties with Pakistan and come as the United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan persuade the Taliban to engage in peace talks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.

NATO toll rises to 8 on day of Afghan attacks

Agence France-PresseMay 5, 2013 08:45

A total of eight NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Saturday -- the bloodiest day this year for international forces -- the coalition said, as a further death was announced. In a statement issued on Sunday, the German army confirmed that one of its special forces soldiers was killed in an insurgent attack during a joint operation near the northern city of Baghlan. Also on Saturday, five US troops died in a Taliban roadside bomb blast and two other NATO troops were shot dead by an Afghan soldier in an "insider attack".

Bomb kills five US troops in south Afghanistan

Agence France-PresseMay 4, 2013 10:15

A roadside bomb killed five US troops in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, in the biggest attack on NATO-led forces since the Taliban launched their "spring offensive" a week ago. "Five American soldiers were killed at about noon when their armoured vehicle hit a powerful roadside mine in Maiwand district," Kandahar province's police chief General Abdul Razeq told AFP.