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

Afghanistan’s Stability Discussed in Astana

Afghanistan’s Stability  Discussed in Astana

Saturday April 07

ASTANA - Strengthening of the borders with Afghanistan was discussed at a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization's Council of Foreign Ministers in Astana, Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov said at a press briefing in Astana on ...

US Not Seeking Permanent Afghan Bases: Clinton

US Not Seeking Permanent  Afghan Bases: Clinton

April 05, 2012

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday praised the achievements of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), saying they were becoming stronger and more capable.
"In Lisbon, we set a goal of transitioning full responsibility for security to Afghan forces by 2014, and they're making real progress toward that goal," Clinton said in her address to the World Affairs Council 2012 NATO Conference.
Al-Qaida senior leadership had been decimated and its relationship with the Taliban was fraying, she said, adding ...

Gilani Renews Support for Afghan Peace Drive

Gilani Renews  Support for  Afghan Peace Drive

April 05, 2012

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday discussed Pakistan's support for the peace process in Afghanistan.
During a telephone conversation, Karzai thanked Gilani for the good discussions that the Afghan delegation had during its recent visit to ...

ANA Must Be National, Professional and a Political: Karzai

ANA Must Be National,  Professional and a Political: Karzai

April 05, 2012

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai met General James Mattis, Commander of US CENTCOM to discuss several issues including situation in Afghanistan and the region.
In the meeting also attended by Afghan Minister of Defense, General Rahim Wardak and Dr. Spanta, National Security Advisor to the President, both sides ...

Qatar Supports Inclusive Afghan Peace Talks

Qatar Supports Inclusive Afghan Peace Talks

April 05, 2012

KABUL - Foreign Minister Dr. Zalmai Rasoul has held formal talks with his Qatari counterpart on the opening of Taliban'sliaison office in Doha.
Rassoul and Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Attiyah also conferred on the opening a Qatari embassy in Kabul and agreed on more consultations on ...

Ghani Assuages Concerns over Security Transition

Ghani Assuages Concerns over Security Transition

April 05, 2012

KUNDUZ CITY - Some residents are concerned about the security transfer to Afghan forces in northern Kunduz province, the transition commission head said on Wednesday.
Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai told reporters locals had voiced their concerns over the transfer, believing Afghan forces were unable to ...

Afghanistan Buys Fuel from Russia to Control Prices

Afghanistan Buys Fuel  from Russia to Control Prices

April 05, 2012

KABUL - The Ministry of Commerce and Industries on Wednesday said that 5,000 tones of petrol purchased from Russia would reach Kabul in a month and the imports would help control soaring prices.
A contract on fuel imports from Russia was signed between Afghan and Russian officials three days ago, Eng. Farid Sherzai, the fuel ...

Kabul Celebrate World Water Day 2012

Kabul  Celebrate World  Water Day 2012

April 05, 2012

KABUL – Today the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) and the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) celebrated the World Water Day in the conference hall of the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW). International World Water Day is held annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating the ...

U.S. Puts $10mln Bounty on Hafiz Mohammad

U.S. Puts $10mln Bounty on Hafiz Mohammad

April 04, 2012

NEW DELHI - The United States has posted a $10 million reward for help in the arrest of a Pakistani Islamist leader, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, suspected of masterminding attacks on India's financial capital and its parliament.
The reward comes at a time of heightened tension between the United States and Pakistan and is likely to increases pressure on Pakistan to take action against the former Arabic scholar, who has recently addressed rallies in Pakistan despite an Interpol warrant for him.
Released from house arrest in 2009, Saeed ...

US Making Good Progress in Afghanistan: Panetta

US Making Good Progress in Afghanistan: Panetta

April 04, 2012

WASHINGTON – US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday the United States was making progress in Afghanistan and its policies remained on the right track.
"I really believe that the Afghan people for the first time are seeing the real possibility that they can govern and secure that country themselves, and they want to move towards that goal, and so do ...

TB Remains Serious Public Health Threat: Dalil

TB Remains Serious  Public Health Threat: Dalil

April 04, 2012

KABUL - The tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious public health threat in Afghanistan as 10,500 people lost their lives because of TB each year, Public Health Minister Dr. Suraya Dalil said on Tuesday. "Afghanistan is one of the 22 TB high-burden counties and TB is a major problem of public health in the ...

Pakistan Embassy Celebrates National Pakistan

Pakistan  Embassy Celebrates National Pakistan

April 04, 2012

KABUL – Pakistan Embassy in Afghanistan celebrated Pakistan's National Day on Tuesday. The reception was attended by Cabinet ministers, Afghan political leaders including heads of political parties, military leadership, prominent businessmen, senior government ...

US, Pakistan to Discuss NATO Supply Route Reopening

US, Pakistan to Discuss  NATO Supply Route Reopening

April 04, 2012

WASHINGTON - The United States is sending one of its top officials to hold discussions with Pakistan on the reopening of the crucial NATO supply route to Afghanistan.
Deputy Secretary of State Thomas R. Nides will travel to Islamabad on April 4 to continue with the talks, the State Department said. Nides ...

Rassoul Calls on Emir of Qatar

Rassoul Calls on Emir of Qatar

April 04, 2012

KABUL - The Afghan foreign minister on Tuesday met the emir of Qatar on international and regional issues, including bilateral relations in Doha, where the Taliban are to open their political bureau.
Heading a delegation to Qatar, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul called on Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the QNA news agency reported. Issues ...

Rasmussen Denies Accelerating Troops Withdrawal

Rasmussen Denies  Accelerating Troops Withdrawal

April 04, 2012

KABUL - NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday denied that the alliance was speeding up the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan.
Mr Rasmussen insisted that NATO was sticking to the timeline agreed at the Lisbon summit in November 2010 after recent comments from ...

Weaker Taliban 'will Increase Bombings in Afghanistan'

Weaker Taliban 'will Increase Bombings in Afghanistan'

April 03, 2012

WASHINGTON - The Taliban will mount a campaign this year that is increasingly reliant on suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan's south and east, says one of International Security Assistance Force's most senior officers.
It would also continue to attempt mass casualty attacks in Kabul - both campaigns being responses to the Taliban's weakening grip across the country.
''The insurgency has not given up. We know they're going to remount ...

Deputy Ministers Barred from Briefing MPs

Deputy Ministers Barred from Briefing MPs

April 03, 2012

KABUL - Wolesi Jirga (lower house of Parliament) on Monday refused to allow deputy ministers of education and higher education to brief lawmakers on behalf of their bosses about the outcome of a recent university entrance test.
As many as 40,000 of 147,000 candidates were declared successful in ...

SCO Drug Agencies Offer New Way to Fight Drug Threat

SCO Drug Agencies Offer  New Way to Fight Drug Threat

April 03, 2012

MOSCOW - KAZINFORM Drug control agencies of member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have proposed NATO a new way of combating Afghanistan's drug trafficking, the head of the Russian federal drug control service, Viktor Ivanov, told reporters on ...

NATO Admits to Security Failures in Afghan ‘Green on Blue’ Killings

NATO Admits to  Security Failures  in Afghan ‘Green on Blue’ Killings

April 03, 2012

KABUL - There have been failures in security procedures meant to identify potential killers of Western troops before they join Afghanistan's army and police, NATO-led international forces admitted Monday.
So far this year, 17 foreign troops -- including at least seven ...

NATO to Support Afghanistan Beyond 2014

NATO to Support  Afghanistan Beyond 2014

April 03, 2012

KABUL - A high-profile summit would be held next month in Chicago, where NATO leaders are expected to work out their level of commitments to Afghanistan post 2014 -- when most foreign troops are slated to exit.
NATO would be hosting its 25th summit in US President Barack Obama's ...

UN to Continue Promoting Rights of Women, Children: Jan Kubis

UN to Continue Promoting Rights of Women, Children: Jan Kubis

April 02, 2012

MAZAR-I-SHARIF - The United Nations would continue to protect and promote the rights of Afghan women and children and protect civilians, a top diplomat promised on Sunday.
"We will continue to call on all parties to comply with their obligations under international laws, including humanitarian and human rights law and protection of civilians in armed conflicts," he said.
Addressing a remembrance ceremony for the UN staffers killed in an attack on their office in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif , the ...

Mujaddedi Resigns All Govt. Posts

Mujaddedi Resigns All Govt. Posts

April 02, 2012

KABUL - Former Senate chairman Sibghatullah Mujaddedi on Sunday resigned all his government positions, saying President Hamid Karzai's refusal to appoint him as High Peace Council head was an insult.
The president had failed to consider the sincere views and demands of ...

General Appointed to Take over Bagram Prison

General Appointed to Take over Bagram Prison

April 02, 2012

KABUL - Afghanistan named a three star general to take over Bagram prison from the US military and with him, final say over which prisoners are released, an issue with the potential to open another rift in relations between Washington and Kabul.
The issue of the release of any of the 3,200 people held in the ...

Japan Special Envoy for Afghanistan Meets Karzai

Japan Special Envoy for Afghanistan Meets Karzai

April 02, 2012

KABUL - Japan's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Tadamichi Yamamoto said he was optimistic regarding the developments for the preparations of Tokoyo Conference on Afghanistan.
Afghan Presidential Palace following a press release said, Japan's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador ...

Rabbani Successor to be Named Soon: Faizi

Rabbani Successor to be Named Soon: Faizi

April 02, 2012

KABUL - The government would soon nominate a new chief peace negotiator after high-level consultations, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday.
High Peace Council Chairman Burhanuddin Rabbani, also a former president, was assassinated in a suicide bomb attack on his residence ...

Indian, Canadian Firms to Invest $14.6b in Hajigak Iron Mine

Indian, Canadian Firms to Invest $14.6b in Hajigak Iron Mine

April 01, 2012

KABUL - An Indian consortium and a Canadian firm would jointly invest $14.6 billion (729.4 billion afs) in developing the Hajigak iron mine, an official said on Saturday.
The mine in central Bamyan province, which is estimated to hold 1.8 billion tons of high-quality iron ore deposits, was discovered around 50 years ago.
According to the Ministry of Mines, extraction rights for B, C and D blocks of the mine had been given to AFISCO -- an Indian consortium of seven companies, led by the Steel ...

Rights Violations Rise in Eastern Zone

Rights Violations Rise in Eastern Zone

April 01, 2012

JALALABAD - Human rights violations considerably increased in the astern zone last year, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on Saturday.
As many as 583 cases of violence against women and 130 other human rights violations were registered last year in the four eastern ...

Qaeda Hatching Another 9/11 From Afghanistan: Crocker

Qaeda Hatching Another 9/11 From Afghanistan: Crocker

April 01, 2012

LONDON - British newspaper The Telegraph has quoted an American ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker claiming that al Qaeda has returned to Afghanistan and is planning to use the war-torn nation as a base to launch another 9/11-style attack on Western countries.
According to American ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, if the West ...

Reasons for Budget Rejection Yet to be Addressed: MPs

Reasons for Budget Rejection Yet to be Addressed: MPs

April 01, 2012

KABUL - Members of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament, on Saturday said changes to the proposed annual budget did not address the basic reasons for its rejection.
On March 18, the assembly rejected the budget due to uneven allocations to provinces and a hefty $80 million bailout package for ...

41 Taliban Killed, 17 Held in Operations

41 Taliban Killed, 17 Held in Operations

April 01, 2012

SHARANA - At least 33 rebels were killed in southeastern Paktika province over the past two weeks and another eight in the last 24 hours in various provinces, officials said on Saturday.
An operation that was launched on March 20 in different areas of Paktika by Afghan security forces ended on Friday, Gen. Zmarai, the ...

US Sets Terms for Taliban’s Release from Gitmo

US Sets Terms for Taliban’s Release from Gitmo

April 01, 2012

KABUL - The High Peace Council on Saturday said the US had agreed to the release of five Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo Bay prison if they promised not to ret urn to the insurgency.
The US has agreed to free and transfer the Taliban prisoners to Qatar to meet their families there, but had some concerns, the council advisor ...

listair Burt: Afghan Govt. must Tighten up on Corruption

listair Burt: Afghan Govt. must Tighten up on Corruption

March 31, 2012

KABUL - Britain does not believe the Afghan government it backs is taking the fight against corruption as seriously as it should, and future aid could be linked to anti-graft progress, a British minister said on Thursday.
After a decade of war and billions of dollars in aid, corruption in Afghanistan is rampant and violence is spreading even into once-peaceful areas as Western forces begin to draw down combat troops ahead of an end-2014 pullout.
"We're not at all convinced at the moment that it has the ...

Michael Sheehan: US will Continue to Pound Al-Qaeda Bases

Michael Sheehan: US will Continue  to Pound Al-Qaeda Bases

March 31, 2012

WASHINGTON - The United States said on Wednesday it would continue to bomb Al Qaeda positions in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with President Barack Obama retaining his right to take unilateral action to protect his countrymen.
"Quite frankly, also at the end of the day the president is

US to Rely on India if Pak Doesn't Open NATO Supply Route: Pentagon

US to Rely on India if Pak Doesn't Open NATO Supply Route: Pentagon

March 31, 2012

WASHINGTON - US will have to default and rely on India and Northern Distribution network if Pakistan does not open up its crucial Afghan supply route, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers today.
However, the Pentagon official testifying before a Congressional subcommittee did not gave details of the Indian network, on which it ...

Taliban Trying to Mount Pressure on US: MPs

Taliban Trying to Mount Pressure on US: MPs

March 31, 2012

KABUL - Some parliamentarians on Thursday said the Taliban had suspended peace negotiations in a bid to mount to pressure on the United States to accept their demands.
On March 15, the insurgent movement announced suspending talks with the US until the Americans come up with clear stance on key ...