January 2011
11 posts
At least eight killed in Kabul supermarket bomb... →
The Times Jerome Starkey in Kabul
A Taleban suicide bomber killed at least eight people in a busy supermarket opposite the British Embassy in Kabul yesterday, in the first major attack against foreign civilians in the city for almost a year.
The fatalities from the blast, which rocked the heart of Kabul’s heavily fortified diplomatic district, included three foreign women, thought to be...
Finance Minister sparks row over tax ‘loophole’... →
The Times Jerome Starkey in Kabul
British contractors earning high salaries in Afghanistan have been praised for helping President Karzai’s Government to collect it’s own tax revenue — but Afghan officials warned yesterday that their zeal could prove their undoing.
As details emerged of plans to increase Afghanistan’s armed forces to 400,000 men, Omar Zakhilwal, the Finance Minister, fuelled...
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Taleban commander says compassion motivated him to... →
The Taleban commander who agreed a ceasefire in Sangin claims he was motivated by compassion, but warned his men will take up arms if the Americans break the terms of their landmark deal.
Troops in Afghanistan to stop fighting, start... →
The number of British soldiers fighting the Taleban may fall this year but they will not be coming home, Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, said yesterday. Instead, they will switch to training Afghan…
Analysis: Fragile deal that deserves our support →
Despite the talk of peace and prosperity, it is still far from clear what motivated these Taleban to stop fighting - and by their own admission it is not clear how long the deal will last.
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Afghan tribal elders promise to stop attacks on... →
The Times Jerome Starkey in Kabul
American and Afghan officials claim to have brokered a landmark peace deal in Sangin, the town in central Helmand which has been the location of almost a third of Britain’s Afghan fatalities.
Major-General Richard Mills, the US commander in southwestern Afghanistan, said he was cautiously optimistic after tribal leaders promised to halt insurgent attacks and expel...
Insurgents ready to meet peace council for talks... →
Militants from one of the main factions fighting in Afghanistan have agreed to meet representatives from Hamid Karzai’s Government in Pakistan this week, according to officials involved in peace…