Afghanistan Live Blog

The fighting between Taliban gunmen and Afghan security forces has ended after almost 18 hours [Reuters]

Latest events in Afghanistan as Afghan forces take control of the country's security ahead of the 2014 withdrawal date for foreign troops.

12 hours 56 min ago - France

Did Nicolas Sarkozy live up to his promises from the 2007 campaign? Remember his promise to eradicate homelessness within two years, or to introduce affirmative action policies to France?

Al Jazeera's Yasmine Ryan gives the French president a pass or fail on whether he has fulfilled his biggest pledges.

Tags Afghanistan, France Elections, French foreign policy, Nicolas Sarkozy, syria
14 hours 15 min ago - US

The US Department of Defence has responded to a Los Angeles Times story featuring photographs of US soldiers posing with the bodies of dead suicide bombers in Afghanistan.

"Secretary Panetta strongly rejects the conduct depicted in these two-year old photographs. These images by no means represent the values or professionalism of the vast majority of US troops serving in Afghanistan today", a statement from the Defence Department read.

The photographs, featuring the 82nd Airborne Division, date back to 2010.

According to the LA Times, an investigation was launched after the newspaper showed the US Army the pictures.

"Anyone found responsible for this inhuman conduct will be held accountable in accordance with our military justice system", the Defence Department said.

 

 

Tags Afghanistan, Leon Panetta
16 hours 2 min ago - Zabul
A senior Taliban leader in southern Afghanistan has been killed alongside four others in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, according to Afghan media reports.
A spokesman for the governor of southern Zabul province said Sharafuddin, described as a Taliban shadow governor in the province, was killed in the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province.
Among the dead, was Sharafuddin's military aide, Murad Khan Kamil.
No further details were provided to the Pajhwok news service in Afghanistan.
Tags Afghanistan, Balochistan, Pakistan, Taliban
1 day 17 hours ago - Kabul

Speaking live on national media, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the April 15 and 16 attacks in Kabul, Nangarghar, Logar, and Paktia provinces have only prolonged a foreign presence in Afghanistan.

The Afghan president, speaking on Radio Television Afghanistan again commended the Afghan National Security Forces saying those who sacrified their lives were "also Afghan".

Karzai went on to criticise the perpetrators of the attacks, saying they did not win the Taliban support with the people of the nation.

"You did not work for Afghanistan's independence and you did not work for its people, freedom and development. You worked to prolong a foreign presence," Karzai said in a speech commemorating almost 150 years since the birth of noted Afghan reformer, Mahmud Tarzi, often called the 'father of journalism in Afghanistan'.

Of media criticisms regarding the Afghan leader's repeated references to the Taliban as "brothers", Karzai said "I won't give up" despite those criticisms. 

Tags Afghanistan, hamid karzai
1 day 22 hours ago - Australia

The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has said that the nation will pull its troops from Afghanistan earlier than originally planned. 

Gillard said on Tuesday that most of the 1,550 remaining Australian troops will return to Australia by the end of 2013.

Gillard cited security improvements and the death of Osama bin Laden and many of al Qaeda's senior leaders among the reasons behind the accelerated withdrawal.

The majority of Australian forces are located in Uruzgan province, where they are training an Afghan National Army brigade to take responsibility for security in the central province.

Read the full story - Australia to end Afghan mission in 2013.

 

Tags Afghanistan, Julia Gillard
1 day 22 hours ago - New York

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has released a press statement condemning the attacks in Kabul and the provinces of Nangarghar, Logar, and Paktia earlier this week:

Along with condmening the attacks themselves "in the strongest terms", the UNSC also "commended the Afghan National Security Forces for their effective action".

 

Tags Afghanistan, United Nations Security Council, UNSC
2 days 6 hours ago - Afghanistan

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has blamed a intelligence failure for not preventing coordinated Taliban attacks on Sunday.

Fighting continued for almost 18 hours. 

Defence officials say 36 fighters were killed and 18 captured in the capital Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports from Kabul.

Tags Kabul, NATO, Taliban
2 days 13 hours ago - Afghanistan

An 18-hour insurgent attack on Kabul achieved "no tactical gains" and was largely symbolic, US Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta said Monday, praising the response of Afghan security forces.

"There were no tactical gains here. These are isolated attacks that are  done for symbolic purposes," Panetta told a news conference. 

He said "the Afghan army and police did a great job of reacting to these attacks.

"They quickly restored order, they quickly restored security in those areas."

Tags Kabul
2 days 13 hours ago - Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has said intelligence failure on the part of NATO forces, allowed the Taliban to carry out the latest attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in the country.

"The terrorists' infiltration in Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO and should be seriously investigated," Karzai said in a statement on Monday.

The president however, praised the "bravery and sacrifice of the security forces who quickly and timely reacted to contain the terrorists".

In his first reaction after the series of attacks targeting western embassies and NATO bases, which continued till Monday morning, Karzai said that "Afghan security forces proved to the people that they can defend their country successfully".

Tags hamid karzai, Kabul, Taliban
2 days 15 hours ago - Afghanistan

In a statement, Afghan president Hamid Karzai has called the attacks on Kabul "an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO".

In condemning the attacks, Karzai also praised the "bravery and sacrifices of the security forces who responded swiftly and timely and killed the terrorists".

"Afghan forces gave the people confidence that they can succesfully defend their soil," the statement said.

The president said the "intelligence failure" must be "seriously reviewed".

Tags hamid karzai, kabul attacks, Taliban
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