Afghanistan war

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5 Coalition Troops Dead in Helicopter Crash

NATO reveals few details so far

(Newser) - Five coalition service members died in a helicopter crash today in southern Afghanistan, Reuters reports. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force gave few details on its investigation, saying only that no enemy activity had been spotted in the area. The troops were most likely US or British, notes Reuters, but...

Insider Shooting Kills 2 US Troops

Officer opens fire in Afghan police station: officials

(Newser) - A new insider attack in Afghanistan has left five people dead, two of them Americans, say officials. As US troops visited a police station in Wardak province, an Afghan officer reportedly opened fire. Two US troops and three Afghan police were killed in the ensuing skirmish, the AP reports. The...

Hagel Meets Karzai After Threats, Friction

Pushes back against Karzai's US-Taliban comments

(Newser) - Chuck Hagel finally did meet privately with Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday before returning to Washington today, and despite the security concerns that initially canceled the meeting , Hagel told the press he and Karzai discussed key issues, the AP reports. "I think he understands where we are and where...

Threat Cancels Hagel-Karzai Press Conference

And not Karzai's statement that US, Taliban are colluding: Pentagon

(Newser) - A news conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai was cancelled because of a security threat, but the two men plan to meet privately. The cancellation comes a day after a suicide bomber on a bicycle struck outside the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing nine Afghan civilians...

Blasts Rock Afghanistan as Hagel Visits

Nearly 20 people killed after defense chief arrives

(Newser) - A suicide bomber on a bicycle struck outside the Afghan Defense Ministry in Kabul today, one of two attacks that killed at least 18 people as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited the nation. Nine people were killed in the bombing at the ministry, a fresh reminder that insurgents continue to...

US Commander: Sorry We Killed 2 Afghan Boys

Gen. Joseph Dunford: Coalition takes full responsibility

(Newser) - The US-led coalition says its forces accidentally killed two Afghan boys during an operation in southern Afghanistan. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, offered his "personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed" and said the coalition...

Drones Reduce Civilian Deaths

 Drones Reduce Civilian Deaths 
OPINION
Feb 20, 2013 1:06 PM CST

Drones Reduce Civilian Deaths

They're far better at that than any other military weapon: William Saletan

(Newser) - Critics of the growing use of drone strikes by the Pentagon often point to civilian casualties as an argument against them. Sorry, writes William Saletan at Slate , but drones are far better than any other weapon of war at minimizing the deaths of innocents. What's more, they've gotten...

Afghan Civilian Deaths Down, Assassinations Up

Civilian deaths drop for the first time in 6 years

(Newser) - The UN's annual report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan is out, and it brings welcome news: civilian deaths are down, the first decline in six years. It's a byproduct of the war slowing down, but also reflects an effort to reduce civilian deaths, particularly at the hands of...

In Cutting Airstrikes, Karzai Could 'Hamstring' Troops

Pakistan office bombing kills 5

(Newser) - Afghanistan's president wants his country's security forces to stop asking foreign troops to launch airstrikes in residential areas —and that could leave Hamid Karzai's forces floundering, the Los Angeles Times reports. The commander of US-led forces there maintains that "there are other ways we can...

Afghan Women Join Special Forces

Controversial move helps with night raids, especially

(Newser) - Afghanistan is training women to join its army's special forces and take part in nighttime raids of houses for the first time, the AP reports. Night raids are already a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where many consider such breaches of privacy culturally offensive—but having male soldiers touch females...

Obama to Announce Withdrawal of 34K Troops


 Obama to 
 Announce 
 Withdrawal of 
 34K Troops 
SOTU SOURCES SAY
Feb 12, 2013 9:30 AM CST

Obama to Announce Withdrawal of 34K Troops

Accelerated drawdown to feature in State of the Union address

(Newser) - President Obama intends to pull about half of the US' remaining troops in Afghanistan out of the country within a year, and will announce the move at tonight's State of the Union address, two sources familiar with the address tell the AP . Obama agreed to accelerate the US exit...

Medal of Honor Winner Has 'Mixed Emotions'

Clint Romesha accepts decoration in White House ceremony

(Newser) - In an emotional White House ceremony, President Obama today awarded an Afghanistan veteran with the nation's highest military honor, CNN reports. Retired Army Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha accepted the Medal of Honor with his lower lip shaking and eyes moist, saying he was "conflicted" by the medal Obama...

Afghanistan Vet to Receive Medal of Honor

Clinton Romesha will join Michelle Obama at State of the Union

(Newser) - Today, President Obama will award Clinton Romesha the Medal of Honor, making the former Army staff sergeant just "the fourth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan," the White House notes, per USA Today . Romesha was among 53 soldiers at...

$7.3M US-Built Afghan Police Camp Sits Nearly Empty

Inspectors find Kunduz compound locked, unused

(Newser) - A $7.3 million, 12-building compound built by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the Afghan Border Police resembled a ghost town just two months after it was handed over to Afghan authorities, Reuters reports. Inspectors found just 12 personnel at the Kunduz province base camp, which had been...

Top Afghan Airline Hauling Opium: US

US military bans contracts with Kam Air

(Newser) - Afghanistan's leading private airline has been transporting opium in "bulk" on civilian flights, the US military says. Central Command has now banned Kam Air from any military contracts, marking the first time the military has slapped drug-related penalties on a major Afghan firm, the Wall Street Journal notes....

Prince Harry: I Killed Taliban Fighters

British royal returns from duty in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Leaving Afghanistan after a five-month tour of duty, Prince Harry acknowledged killing Taliban fighters and described his job on board an Apache helicopter, CNN reports. "It used to be very much: front seat, you're firing the whole time," he said, comparing this tour to deployments in 2007...

8 Dead as Suicide Bombers Storm Kabul Police HQ

3 police officers killed in 9-hour battle

(Newser) - A Taliban raid of the Kabul traffic police headquarters is over and three police officers and at least five insurgents were killed in the hours-long fighting, Afghan police say. The battle ended more than nine hours after it began early today with a car bomb attack against the front gate...

Afghan Massacre Suspect Had Brain Injury: Lawyer

Lawyers ready 'mental health defense' for Robert Bales

(Newser) - Before allegedly launching a shooting spree against Afghan villagers, US Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, his lawyer said at a hearing yesterday. Bales' defense team said it was readying a "mental health defense" in the massacre case; lawyer John Henry...

Torture Reports Halt US-Afghan Detainee Transfer

Human rights abuses could stop funding for Afghan troops

(Newser) - Amid word of inhumane treatment, including torture, the US has halted the transfer of detainees to some Afghan prisons, the New York Times reports. And with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai seeking internal control of detention, the decision is likely to further strain the countries' relationship. The move also comes with...

Hamid Karzai: US Is Giving Us a Drone Fleet

But division remains over Afghanistan troop withdrawal

(Newser) - In his first public comments since his visit to Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced yesterday that the US is giving Afghanistan a fleet of unarmed aerial spy drones, the New York Times reports. A pleased Karzai said his meetings with President Obama gave him most of what he wanted;...

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