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Afghanistan

Gunfire reported at building used by CIA in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan authorities say gunfire was heard near a building that has been used by the CIA in Kabul.
It was unclear whether anyone was killed or hurt.
The authorities said Sunday that shots were heard around the former Ariana Hotel just blocks from the Afghan presidential palace. They spoke on condition of anonymity [...]

Read More » No commentSeptember 26, 2011

Afghans accuse Pakistan over fresh border shelling

Pakistani security forces have fired hundreds of rockets into Afghanistan in recent days, killing a child and forcing hundreds to flee their homes, Afghan officials said on Sunday.
Fazilullah Wahidy, governor of the northeastern province of Kunar where the shelling happened, told AFP: “The shells were fired directly from Pakistani military posts and garrisons on that [...]

Read More » No commentSeptember 26, 2011

Two Germans missing in Afghanistan

Two Germans are missing in Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Tuesday, adding that it’s possible “they have become victims of a kidnapping.”
Westerwelle declined to provide more information on the identities of the two Germans.
The German Foreign Ministry and the German Embassy in Kabul are working with Afghan authorities to locate the missing Germans, [...]

Read More » No commentAugust 25, 2011

Japan reporter tricked captors into using Twitter

TOKYO – A Japanese journalist held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out a message via Twitter that he was alive when his captors asked him how to use a cell phone.
Just days before he was freed, Kosuke Tsuneoka said one of the militants brought him his new cell [...]

Read More » No commentSeptember 9, 2010

As US fights, China spends to gain Afghan foothold

KABUL, Afghanistan – Gul Akbar’s tiny store is crammed from floor to ceiling with rolls of electric cables, plugs of all sizes and piles of extension cords. Virtually everything comes from China, as do most of the appliances and electronics being sold in Kabul’s busy Nader Pashtun Market.
Not far away, the [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 4, 2010

S.Korean workers in Afghanistan in rocket attack

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korean civilian workers in Afghanistan have come under rocket attack but no one was hurt, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
The attack was launched early Thursday near a construction site in the northern province of Parwan where the South’s provincial reconstruction team is to be based, a spokesman [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 2, 2010

Afghan’s Karzai to discuss aid with Japan PM

TOKYO (AFP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai was to meet the leaders of Japan, a major aid donor, for talks Thursday on improving security and fighting corruption in his war-torn country.
Japan was expected to stress that it wants to see better governance and less graft in the bitterly poor central Asian [...]

Read More » No commentJune 17, 2010

Japan reporter held by Taliban in OK health: media

TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese journalist missing in northern Afghanistan since late March has said that he is being held by the Taliban but is in good health, a newspaper reported Thursday.
“I am in good health. I don’t have any injuries,” Kosuke Tsuneoka, 40, was quoted as telling the Mainichi Shimbun, [...]

Read More » No commentJune 17, 2010

Afghan president seeks support on Japan visit

TOKYO – Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking financial and political support from Japan, already one of his country’s biggest donors, during a visit that began Wednesday.
Karzai will be the first foreign leader to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan since he took office earlier this month. The Afghan leader [...]

Read More » No commentJune 17, 2010

Afghan election commission chiefs step down

KABUL (AFP) – The head of Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission and his number two have stepped down, the government said Wednesday, following international pressure after last year’s fraud-tainted vote.
The move came after President Hamid Karzai hinted that the officials — IEC chairman Azizullah Ludin and chief electoral officer Daoud [...]

Read More » No commentApril 7, 2010