Central Asia

Humanitarian Update: Regional Office for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, Oct 2009

Relief Web (Free subscription) | 7 hours ago

Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

12 killed in suicide bombing at Pakistani market

L. A. Times Dodgers Blog (Free subscription) | 3 hours ago

A local mayor who had defied the Taliban is killed along with 11 others. The attack is the latest in a series of militant strikes as Pakistan attempts to crush the Taliban in South Waziristan. Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Peshawar, Pakistan -- A suicide bomber attacked a livestock market in the suburbs of the violence-wracked northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday , killing a...

Afghan vows to keep corrupt officials out of govt

kansascity.com (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

The embattled Afghan president pledged Sunday that there would be no place for corrupt officials in his new administration - a demand made by Washington and its international partners as they ponder sending more troops to confront the Taliban and shore up his government.

Pakistani gov't pressured on post-offensive plan

kansascity.com (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

As Pakistan's army plows ahead with its offensive in South Waziristan, its success is at risk because the government has yet to come up with plan to run and rebuild the lawless territory so that the Taliban and al-Qaida don't re-emerge.

Pakistan bomb kills anti-Taliban mayor, 11 others

Houston Chronicle (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in market in Pakistan's northwest crowded with shoppers ahead of a Muslim holiday, killing 12 people, including a mayor who once supported but had turned against the Taliban, officials said.

Pakistani gov't pressured on post-offensive plan

Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

ISLAMABAD -- As Pakistan's army plows ahead with its offensive in South Waziristan, its success is at risk because the government has yet to come up with plan to run and rebuild the lawless territory so that the Taliban and al-Qaida don't re-emerge.

Pakistan suicide bombing kills anti-Taliban mayor

Houston Chronicle (Free subscription) | 8 hours ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan, killing an anti-Taliban mayor who had formed a militia to fight the militants and 11 other people, officials said. A purported Taliban commander claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Caller claims responsibility for Pakistan bombing

Houston Chronicle (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A purported Taliban commander has claimed responsibility for a market bombing in northwestern Pakistan that killed an anti-Taliban mayor and 11 others. The man, who gave only one name, Omar, said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location that the group's local fighters carried out the Sunday attack.

Police: Suicide bomb in Pakistan market kills 12

USA Today (Free subscription) | 9 hours ago

A suicide bomber apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor struck a crowded market Sunday in northwestern Pakistan, killing ...

Suicide bomber kills mayor, 12 more in Pakistan - Summary

The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 10 hours ago

Islamabad - A suicide bomber killed an anti-Taliban mayor and 12 other people in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province on Sunday, officials said. The attack took place outside a cattle market in the Adezai area, located 25 kilometres south...

Afghanistan Closes Schools Due To H1N1

Avian Flu Diary (Free subscription) | 3 hours ago

# 3974 Six days ago Afghanistan declared the pandemic to be an emergency (see Afghanistan Declares H1N1 Emergency ), warning that 1 infected person in 80 die from the pandemic virus. As many as 70,000 deaths. While those estimates may turn out to be high, there is no doubt that developing nations have graver concerns with this pandemic virus than do countries with access to antivirals, antibiotics,...

Infantry: Off With Their Heads

Signaleer (Free subscription) | 3 hours ago

"These 'decapitation' operations have been on the increase over the past few years. The Taliban and al Qaeda have already figured out what is going on, and are increasingly paranoid when it comes to informers, using their own cell or satellite phones, and the sight of any unidentified aircraft in the area. The terrorists keep changing the way they meet and communicate, yet they keep getting killed....

• Let's Talk Real Problems in Afghanistan - The Dignified Rant

Fuel convoy hit in eastern Afghanistan

USA Today (Free subscription) | 10 hours ago

An Afghan police official says at least two private security guards have been wounded and two fuel tankers set on fire in eastern ...

Hamid Karzai 'to purge Afghan government of corrupt officials'

The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 4 hours ago

Hamid Karzai has said he will purge his new administration of corrupt officials a day after criticising the United Nations for demanding that he clean up his regime.

Defence chiefs voice anger at 'mixed messages' on Afghanistan

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 5 hours ago

Senior commanders say public not convinced British troops can succeed and that purpose of mission remains unclear Growing frustration among Britain's most senior military commanders over the government's handling of the war in Afghanistan burst into the open today as they stepped up plans to restrict the number of areas in which British troops will be deployed. As another British soldier was killed...

Drug Rehab Center - Mountainside Cites That Heroin And Opiate Use Is On The Rise. Heroin Use And Prevalence Increases As Does The Number Of Deaths From It's Use

eprnetwork | 11/02/2009

The numbers of individuals entering inpatient drug rehab for heroin and opiate addiction continues to increase. In Afghanistan and Pakistan the opium (heroin) trade is tightly controlled by al Qaeda and the Taliban, and despite the war the efforts, the production of heroin and opium has dramatically increased - heroin is still dirt-cheap and readily purchased on the streets of Kabul and sold in short

Commission provides €2 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

patrickguillard | 10/14/2009

The European Commission allocated €2 million in humanitarian aid to help flood-hit people in northern Afghanistan where many people face an increasingly tough situation as winter approaches and food supplies become increasingly scarce.

NATO jets bomb fuel tankers; Afghans say 70 killed

rtomas80 | 09/04/2009

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – A U.S. jet dropped 500-pound bombs on two tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban before dawn Friday, triggering a huge explosion that Afghan officials said killed more than 70 people, including insurgents and some civilians who had swarmed around the vehicles to siphon off fuel. Germany, whose troops called in the strike, said it feared the hijackers would use the trucks to carry