April 2008
17 posts
Drugs for gun: How the Afghan heroin trade is... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kunduz The heroin flooding Britain’s streets is threatening the lives of British troops, an Independent investigation can reveal. Russian gangsters who smuggle drugs into Britain are buying cheap heroin from Afghanistan and paying for it with guns. Smugglers told The Independent how Russian arms dealers meet Taliban drug lords at a bazaar near the...
Apr 28th
1 tag
The Sun has witnessed how cash from British... →
The Sun By Jerome Starkey in Kunduz THE Sun has witnessed how cash from British junkies helps the Taliban target Our Boys. Sackloads of heroin are exchanged for guns, rockets and bombs at a secret bazaar on the old Afghan-USSR border. The weapons are handed over by Russian gangsters who then smuggle the drug to lucrative western markets, including the UK. Meanwhile the arsenal goes into...
Apr 28th
2 tags
More than 100,000 sign petition to save journalist... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey The Independent’s petition to save the Afghan student Sayed Pervez Kambaksh from the gallows has collected a staggering 100,000 signatures as the 23-year-old languishes in a cell in Kabul awaiting appeal. Mr Kambaksh was arrested for distributing a pamphlet about women’s rights, and tried and convicted without a defence lawyer, in a closed court...
Apr 28th
3 dead in attack on president →
The Sun By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul A FAILED assassination attempt on Afghan president Hamid Karzai at a military parade yesterday left three people dead and ten injured. Security staff bundled the leader away unhurt as Taliban fighters fired AK47s, an anti-aircraft gun and propelled grenades from the top-floor window of a hotel. Hundreds of troops were lined up for the parade – but none...
Apr 27th
Karzai escapes Taleban hitmen →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul THREE people, including a ten-year-old boy, died yesterday as Taleban militants attempted to assassinate Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, during a high-profile military parade in Kabul. Gunmen opened fire from a hotel room overlooking the grandstand where the president, his cabinet and international dignitaries were taking a 21-gun salute to...
Apr 27th
1 tag
Karzai escapes again as Taliban attack parade →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, narrowly escaped assassination yesterday, when Taliban militants attacked a military parade in the capital, Kabul. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as thousands of troops and dignitaries fled the city’s main parade ground under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. At least three people...
Apr 27th
2 tags
Afghans 'may soon take over in Helmand' →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey, in Helmand BRITISH troops in southern Afghanistan could hand control of key areas to Afghan forces within months, the UK’s military commander in Helmand said yesterday. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said he hoped the Afghan army would “deliver security” in the most dangerous parts of the province by the end of the year. He said the local...
Apr 25th
2 tags
UK troops to hand control of Helmand 'hot spots'... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey British troops in southern Afghanistan could hand control of key areas to Afghan forces within months, the commander of British forces said yesterday. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said he hoped the Afghan army would “deliver security” in the most dangerous parts of Helmand by the end of the year. He said the provincial governor was keen to see...
Apr 25th
3 tags
Battle of the belly buttons on Afghan television →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul Love affairs, foreign gods and ladies’ belly-buttons are at the centre of a row threatening Afghanistan’s free press. Broadcasters are locked in a battle with the country’s Information Minister, after two television stations ignored ultimatums to stop showing Indian soap operas. The government is trying to ban Indian serials –...
Apr 24th
1 tag
Climate change delivers a boost in battle against... →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul FALTERING British efforts to tackle Afghanistan’s poppy crop have found an unlikely ally – in the weather. Freak winter weather linked to global warming is expected to decimate parts of the country’s opium harvest. Scientists believe freezing temperatures followed by late rains and a possible drought could slash this year’s yields....
Apr 22nd
1 tag
Freak weather destroys Afghan poppies →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul Faltering British efforts to tackle Afghanistan’s poppy crop have found an unlikely ally – in the weather. Freak weather linked to global warming is expected to reduce parts of the country’s opium harvest drastically. Scientists believe freezing winter temperatures followed by late rains and a possible drought may cut this year’s...
Apr 22nd
2 tags
Fears for Pervez as Afghan court confirms 100... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Afghanistan’s Supreme Court has confirmed more than 100 death sentences, raising fears over the fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist on death row. Mr Kambaksh is in jail, pending an appeal, after he was sentenced to death for circulating an article which poked fun at Islam by questioning women’s rights. His case sparked...
Apr 17th
1 tag
Draconian dress laws echo the Taleban, claims MP →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey in Kabul AFGHAN MPs have moved to ban women wearing make-up, men wearing jeans and couples talking together in public, in a series of Draconian proposals reminiscent of the Taleban. It comes a day after the supreme court passed almost 100 death sentences despite grave concerns about corruption in the country’s courts. The plans to crack down on...
Apr 17th
1 tag
Where the PTA faces murder →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey in Kabul AFGHANISTAN’S government is trying to harness parent power in a desperate bid to stop the Taleban burning schools and murdering teachers. Education chiefs are using dedicated parent-teacher associations to guard schools against the Taleban, after record Nato troop levels and billions spent rebuilding the police have failed to curb attacks. About...
Apr 11th
1 tag
Parent power deployed to protect schools from... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Afghanistan’s government is trying to harness parent power in an attempt to stop the Taliban burning schools and murdering teachers. There has been a sharp rise in attacks on schools since the new term started on 23 March, prompting fears that the Taliban are returning to a campaign waged two years ago to cripple the education system. In the...
Apr 11th
1 tag
Taleban seeking missiles to attack Nato... →
The Scotsman By Jerome Starkey in Kabul TALEBAN warlords are using cash from Afghanistan’s bumper opium poppy crop to try to buy shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles, the country’s anti- narcotics tsar has warned. The surface-to-air missiles played a key role in driving out Soviet troops in the 1980s because they let mujahideen fighters shoot down Russian helicopters. Military...
Apr 4th
1 tag
Warlords using heroin cash to buy surface-to-air... →
The Independent By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Taliban drug lords are using cash from Afghanistan’s bumper heroin crop to try to buy Stinger missiles, the country’s anti-narcotics chief has warned. The surface-to-air missiles played a key role in driving out Soviet forces in the 1980s because they enabled mujahedin fighters to shoot down Russian helicopters.
Apr 3rd