Afghanistan

IMAGE: The military pressure will make Taliban realise they have no chance whatsoever militarily. PHOTO: AFP] ATHENS:? Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday the Western alliance would maintain military pressure on Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in parallel with efforts to negotiate an end to the decade-old conflict. Rasmussen was speaking after Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal the US and Afghan governments had begun secret three-way...Read Full Story

IMAGE: Karzai says Pakistan's cooperation would make whole matter easier for Afghanistan, Taliban, US. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE] KABUL:? The Afghan government is part of a three-way peace dialogue involving the US and the Taliban, President Hamid Karzai reportedly said, despite the militia’s denunciation of his “puppet regime”. Kabul has expressed fear of being marginalised as United States officials explore a dialogue with the Taliban, who in turn have said they have no intention to talk to...Read Full Story

A passion for fashion is not the first image that springs to mind when most people think of Afghan men, usually pictured in war reports wearing beards, turbans and carrying AK47s as accessories. But male beauty salons in downtown Kabul now hum with activity as young men update their hair and beards in the latest Western styles -- indulgences that would have got them beaten or jailed just 10 years ago. Then, religious police from the "vice and virtue" department of the Taliban regime patrolled...Read Full Story

The Afghan government is part of a three-way peace dialogue involving the US and the Taliban, President Hamid Karzai reportedly said, despite the militia's denunciation of his "puppet regime". Kabul has expressed fear of being marginalised as United States officials explore a dialogue with the Islamist Taliban, who in turn have said they have no intention to talk to the president's US-backed government. But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Karzai said the...Read Full Story

IMAGE: In this photo taken on January 28, 2012, a young Afghan man styles his hair at a hair salon in Kabul. PHOTO: AFP] KABUL:? A passion for fashion is not the first image that springs to mind when most people think of Afghan men, usually pictured in war reports wearing beards, turbans and carrying AK47s as accessories. But male beauty salons in downtown Kabul now hum with activity as young men update their hair and beards in the latest Western styles — indulgences that would have got...Read Full Story

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO is to buy five U.S.-made unmanned drone aircraft capable of countering Afghan insurgents, hunting pirates off Somalia or monitoring arms embargoes, an alliance official said on Wednesday. The drones are part of the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) project, scheduled to begin operating between 2015 and 2017. The project reflects NATO efforts to cooperate more closely with its member states on defense costs and capabilities at a time of financial constraints. NATO...Read Full Story

IMAGE: The victims appeared to be carrying weapons and were walking in ‘a menacing manner’, says Isaf. PHOTO: AFP/FILE] KABUL:? NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they killed eight young Afghans in eastern Kapisa province last week in an air strike that enraged the Afghan government, and came soon after a United Nations report showed civilian casualties of the decade-long war rose again in 2011.              “Eight young Afghans lost their lives as the result of an air...Read Full Story

NATO says found Afghan children dead after air strike By Rob Taylor and Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) – NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Monday they found the bodies of dead children after a coalition air strike that has enraged the Afghan government, and said their deaths may have been linked to an anti-insurgent operation in the area. The air strike took place last Wednesday near the village of Giawa, in eastern Kapisa province, and followed similar bombings that have stoked...Read Full Story

US and Afghan officials are weeks away from clinching a security pact allowing an American military mission to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday. The two sides still had to resolve disagreements over controversial night raids by US troops, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other officials say have claimed too many civilian lives, and the transfer of US-run prisons in the country, the Pentagon chief said. "As you know, there are two areas that...Read Full Story

The Express Tribune NATO forces in Afghanistan say killed eight youths in air raid Reuters | KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they killed eight young Afghans in eastern Kapisa province last week in an air strike that enraged the Afghan government, and came soon after a United Nations report showed civilian ... NATO expresses regret for airstrike that killed 8 young Afghan civilians Washington Post all 318 news articles »Read Full Story