The Sandbox and Area Reports Thread June 2013

[The Bread Guy]

The Sandbox and Area Reports Thread June 2013              

News only - commentary elsewhere, please.
Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 8, 2013

Afghan 'insider attack' kills Americans in Paktika
  Article Link
  8 June 2013

Two US soldiers and an American civilian have been killed in a possible insider attack in eastern Afghanistan, the Nato-led force says.

A man wearing Afghan army uniform was said to have opened fire on them in Paktika province, close to the border with Pakistan,

Isaf forces have taken a series of measures to try to halt such attacks.

An Italian soldier died in a separate attack in Farah province in the west of the country, Italian officials said.

There was a spate of insider attacks on foreign troops last year but the last was more than a month ago, the BBC's David Loyn reports from Kabul.

Coalition forces train, mentor and fight alongside Afghan soldiers and that makes them vulnerable, our correspondent says.

"An individual wearing ANA (Afghan National Army) uniform turned his weapon against the Isaf service members," an Isaf statement said.

Isaf soldiers returned fire but it was unclear whether there were further casualties.

"Today was a very difficult day for Isaf," said spokesman Brig Gen Guenter Katz. He said they were conducting investigations, but it was too soon to give more details.
More on link

How Ottawa abandoned an Afghan activist who received death threats for working with Canadian ‘infidels’
Article Link
Graeme Hamilton | 13/06/07

The letter that arrived at the home of a leading Afghan women’s rights activist in February 2012 was chilling. “Respected Adela Mohseni, you all the time betray religion and the Koran,” it began. Because she had ignored warnings and continued to “co-operate with infidels,” it said, she now faced death.

“After this, wherever our mujahedeen find you, it is obligated that they will sentence you to death and kill you in order to save our Islamic country.”

Such “night letters” are a common Taliban intimidation tactic, often producing deadly results for Afghans considered enemies of the fundamentalists. In this case, though, the message reverberated all the way to Canada.

Though not named in the letter, the “infidels” for whom Ms. Mohseni had been working were at a Canadian government-funded human rights institute. Since 2007, she had been employed in Kabul by Montreal-based Rights and Democracy, promoting legal reforms to protect the rights of women.
More on link

Canadian consultant wins bid for Afghanistan housing project
Article Link
June 5th, 2013

DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS | QMI AGENCY
OTTAWA - There will be a Canadian connection in new housing being built for impoverished and homeless people in and around Kabul, Afghanistan.

Former Canadian colonel Stephen Appleton's consulting company has won a $179 million US contract to build 3,300 apartment-style units there.

He credits Canada's contribution to the NATO mission in Afghanistan for generating the conditions for development.

"Let's take these openings that our forces have created and let's do something sustainable," Appleton said. "And it's not about building projects. It's about building relationships."

Appleton says gaining the trust of the locals in Afghanistan is key.

"I can take other great, Canadian companies with great stories and bring them in to make a difference in this country," he said.

Canadian construction giant EllisDon and Trojan Contracting, owned by the United Arab Emirates' royal family, are Appleton's partners in the project.

Hundreds of Afghans have been hired to build the homes expecting their first residents in 2017.
end

  US, Germany, Italy to take key regional roles in Afghanistan as NATO changes mission post-2014
Article Link
US, Germany, Italy vow key Afghan roles post-2014
By JAMEY KEATEN | Associated Press | Jun 5, 2013

Germany and Italy will join the United States as "lead nations" in regions of Afghanistan after NATO transitions into a noncombat mission there after 2014, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.

The Pentagon chief was speaking after the Atlantic alliance laid out a new plan shifting into a training and assistance role for the Afghan forces set to take over from NATO-led troops in about 18 months. He didn't specify, however, how many troops NATO will maintain in Afghanistan after that _ a key unresolved question about how to help the impoverished, insurgency-wracked nation stabilize in the years to come.

"The United States has committed to being the largest single contributor to this mission" _ as lead nation in the restive east and south, Hagel told reporters after a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

"We appreciate the commitments that other nations are making, including announcements by Germany and Italy that they will serve as lead nations for the north and the west" _ zones the two European countries are in charge of now in the fight against Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan. Turkey, he said, was "favorably considering" a role as "framework nation" in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

"I laid out in the last day and a half, first the firm commitment of the United States to go forward with being the framework nation in a post-2014 Afghanistan. We will provide more personnel. We are looking at providing new, expert, professional assistance to the Afghan army in the area of contracting and fuel support _ not just soldiers," said Hagel. "We intend to be there for the long haul, and I made that commitment very clear today _ as well as financial assistance."

In April, Germany offered to provide between roughly 600 and 800 soldiers in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif for a two-year period starting in 2015 as part of the NATO transition.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said only that the total size of the noncombat mission force will be "significantly smaller" than the tens of thousands of U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan now, and that decisions about force numbers after 2014 will come later.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 10, 2013

Afghan Taliban attack near Kabul airport; 2 civilians wounded, all 7 attackers killed
Article Link
By: Patrick Quinn And Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press

KABUL - Seven heavily armed Taliban fighters launched a pre-dawn attack near Afghanistan's main airport Monday, apparently targeting NATO's airport headquarters with rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and at least one large bomb. Two Afghan civilians were wounded and all the attackers were killed after an hours-long battle.

It was one of three attacks on state facilities in the morning by insurgents around the country.

Another six militants wearing suicide bomb vests tried to storm the provincial council building in the capital of southern Zabul province, while three attempted to attack a district police headquarters just outside Kabul.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said that in Zabul they managed to wound 18 people, including three police officers, when they detonated a car bomb outside the building in the city of Qalat, but security forces shot and killed them before they managed to enter. On the outskirts of Kabul, police killed one attacker and arrested two others who tried to storm the headquarters building in the Surobi district.

In the capital, it was the third time in a month that insurgents have launched a major attack seeking high-profile targets, part of an effort to rattle public confidence as Afghan security forces take over most responsibility for protecting the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign troops next year.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government would not be deterred by the attacks.

"These cowardly terrorist attacks on the Afghan people cannot change the chosen path of the Afghan people toward progress, development, peace and elections," Karzai said, referring to next spring's poll to elect a new head of state.

Karzai was not in Kabul during the attack, but was visiting the Gulf state of Qatar, where he was discussing his country's stalled peace process and the possible opening of a Taliban office in Doha.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 12, 2013

US General Dunford: 'Fight for Afghan rights not over'
Article Link
  12 June 2013

The commander of international forces in Afghanistan has warned the international community not to turn its back on Afghanistan.

Gen Joseph Dunford told the BBC democratic progress could be threatened by the end of international combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014.

He said talks with the Taliban would be essential, sooner or later.

And without continued support from foreign politicians, he said citizens' basic rights were in no way guaranteed.

Gen Dunford is the last commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), and is expected to remain in the post until the end of next year, when Nato combat troops are scheduled to leave.
'Complex insurgency'

Speaking to the BBC in Kunduz, in the north of the country, he said: "At this point we have made significant progress, but we are not yet at the point where it is completely sustainable."

"That really is the focus of effort over the next 18 months. That's why we need to start now - especially with the Afghan security forces - to talk about 2018, not 2014. That period of time will allow these gains to be sustainable."

Next week, the last districts in the country will be handed over to full Afghan government control, with some international troops remaining in a supporting role.

Gen Dunford said Afghan forces were "getting good enough" to fight the conflict, but stressed that talking to the Taliban was critical for the country's future.

They were not the only enemy, and many criminal groups had joined the complex insurgency, he added.

The warning comes amid a fresh wave of violence in Afghanistan, believed to have been carried out by the Taliban.
More on link


Blast kills at least 16 people at Afghanistan's Supreme Court building
Article Link
Published: June 11, 2013 at 11:59 PM

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 11 (UPI) -- The Taliban, claiming responsibility for the bombing carnage outside the Kabul Supreme Court, said they targeted Afghan judges who "obey Western powers."

The suicide bomb attack during the evening rush hour Tuesday outside the court was one of the deadliest in the Afghan capital in which at least 16 people died and more than 40 were injured. CNN put the death toll at 17.

The attack site is in the center of Kabul where the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters of NATO's International Security Assistance Force are located.

The BBC, quoting police, said the attacker set of the explosives in his vehicle at buses transporting court employees and judges.

The BBC reported a Taliban statement it received said it killed judges who "obey Western powers."

CNN quoted Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid's emailed statement as saying government judges are oppressing and mistreating people in several parts of the country. The militant group claimed its members had been following Supreme Court judges and high-ranking staff members for some time prior to the attack

CNN quoted a police official that two women and three children were among the 17 people killed. Those injured included eight women.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 22, 2013


Taliban leader Mullah Omar vowed to take Kabul 'within a week' of U.S. pullout
Article Link
By Sib Kaifee June 20, 2013 FoxNews.com

Mullah Omar, the elusive, one-eyed Taliban leader who has been in hiding with a price on his head since the U.S. ousted his regime in Afghanistan, recently told confidantes his group will retake Kabul “in a week” once America pulls out.

The seldom seen Taliban spiritual leader, of whom only one purported photograph exists, made the pledge at a recent meeting in the badlands of southwestern Pakistan, according to a source in regular contact with a member of Mullah Omar’s government-in-exile, dubbed the Quetta Shura.

Mullah Omar, who escaped his homeland in 2001 on a motorcycle as U.S. forces moved in, spoke just days before President Obama announced the U.S. plans to engage the Taliban in peace talks. On the day of that announcement, the Taliban took credit for a bombing that killed four U.S. service members at Bagram Airfield, a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

It is unclear if Mullah Omar remains in charge of the full Taliban, or if the group made up of exiled members of the ruling class and jihadist fighters is splintered beyond control. The source who relayed Mullah Omar’s statements to FoxNews.com said the leader disavows the talks with the U.S.

Neither Mullah Omar’s pledge nor word of peace talks is likely to be welcome to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Obama made the announcement at the Group 8 summit in Northern Ireland, where he called it “a very early step” toward the planned exit of U.S. troops by the end of 2014. The idea of Karzai and Mullah Omar co-existing in Afghanistan is inconceivable, according to the source, himself a Taliban militant.
More on link


Canadian troops arrive in Kabul as planners grapple with bringing gear home
Thursday, June 20, 2013 By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
  Article Link

OTTAWA - The final rotation of Canadian troops destined for the training mission in Afghanistan began to trickle into the war-ravaged country as NATO planners face the challenge of recovering thousands of vehicles and tonnes of equipment after more than a decade in the field.

Just over 100 soldiers from bases in Edmonton and Shilo, Man., boarded a transport plane for Kabul, where Canada's commitment to the Afghan military continues to its mandated conclusion on March 31 next year.

Roughly 900 Canadians are still serving in Afghanistan and the fresh troops will be followed by a full set of replacements by mid-July.

The commitment of all Western armies to Afghanistan ends next year, with the United States expecting to leave behind a token force of 15,000 advisers.

A U.S. report recently estimated that over the next two years NATO will be bringing home more than 130,000 soldiers, 70,000 vehicles and 120,000 containers of war material.

Retired Canadian major-general Lew MacKenzie says will be akin to moving a fair-sized town or city.

"It's not like moving a building," he said. "It's going to be a hell of a challenge for the alliance, and you're going to have to decide what's so tired that you can't bring out."

Defence planners across NATO are concerned about getting gear out of the land-locked country at a time when the Taliban and other insurgent groups are still carrying out spectacular attacks.
More on link

Afghanistan: Women in parliament receive threats - from fellow lawmakers
Article Link
A backlash of conservative parliamentarians and protests against a key piece of pro-women's rights legislation may indicate the beginning of political efforts to once again curtail women’s rights.

By Halima Kazem, Correspondent / June 8, 2013

Kabul, Afghanistan

It takes a lot to rattle Shukria Barakzai, a staunch defender of women's rights and one of more than 20 very outspoken women members of parliament in Afghanistan.

But even though she’s run two successful parliamentary campaigns and has taken on conservative members of Afghan society, she is shocked by how easily some male members of parliament are now publicly threatening their female counterparts in the middle of parliamentary meetings.

“A [male] member of parliament stood up in our general meeting yesterday and said parliament is not a place for women, your time is up here, you must not pursue this fight for women’s rights,” says Ms. Barakzai.

For many of the Afghan women leaders, dealing with sexism and discrimination isn’t anything new. But women's rights activists say that male parliamentarians have recently intensified a war of words inside parliament. It’s a war that many Afghan women worry echoes a greater issue in society and could reverse public tolerance and support for women’s rights.

“I’ve noticed the rhetoric around women’s issues has changed, and conservative members of society and parliament are once again feeling safe to verbally attack women publicly,” says Barakzai. “The Afghan government isn’t doing anything about these kinds of public threats and attacks on women. It is almost as if they agree with the conservatives.”
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 23, 2013


Contingent Of Canadian Soldiers Return From Afghanistan Saturday
Article Link
June 22, 2013. 12:08 am • Section: Defence Watch

Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan will arrive in Québec City Saturday. There are approximately 90 CF members in this group. More from the Canadian Forces:

When:

Saturday, June 22, 2013, at 1:45 pm (flight is expected at 2:00 pm)

Where:

Jean-Lesage International Airport (Québec City)

This group is the first from a Canadian Contribution Training Mission – Afghanistan (CCTM-A) contingent, which is made up of approximately 850 CF members from Quebec, who will be returning home by mid-July. Since October 2012, the soldiers have provided support for the training and professional development of Afghanistan’s national security forces as part of Operation ATTENTION (Roto 2).
end


Gunmen storm hotel in Pakistan, kill 9 foreigners
From Saima Mohsin, CNN  Sun June 23, 2013
Article Link

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gunmen burst into a hotel in northern Pakistan early Sunday, killing nine foreigners, the interior minister said.

The victims were six Ukrainians and three Chinese, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told parliament on Sunday. He said a Chinese man managed to escape and is safe.

"The attackers abducted two local guides and demanded they take them to where some foreigners are staying to carry out the attack," Khan said. "One (guide) was then killed, another escaped and has been detained by police for questioning."

Earlier, officials said 10 foreigners had been killed. Authorities said the death toll changed due to difficult communications and the area's remote location.

The attack took place between midnight and 1 a.m., said Ali Sher, a senior police official. "This was not a big hotel, just a small log/hut type lodge, so no major security," he added.

He said the violence occurred in Fairy Meadows in Gilgit Baltistan province. It's unclear how many attackers were at the scene.

Pakistani state TV reported that the interior minister has suspended the provincial chief secretary and the inspector general of police.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 25, 2013

Presidential palace comes under attack in Kabul
By Masoud Popalzai, CNN June 25, 2013
Article Link

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A group of attackers stormed the entrance to the presidential palace in Kabul early Tuesday -- but they were quickly repelled, Afghan police said.

Three guards died in the attack and another was injured, the interior ministry said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault.

All attackers were killed, said U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham in a statement, condemning the attack. He called on the Taliban to cease violence and "come to the table to talk to the Afghanistan government about peace and reconciliation."

The palace is located in the Shash Darak district of Kabul, near the U.S. embassy and the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force.

"We're monitoring the situation right now," said Maj. Will Griffin, an ISAF spokesman, during the attack. "We've heard reports of explosions and small arms fire. We're taking necessary measures to ensure the safety of ISAF personnel and ISAF partners."

A pair of tweets from the official ISAF media account highlighted the seriousness of the situation.

"CAMP LOCKDOWN at ISAF HQ: SHELTER IN PLACE," one post said. The other read: "DUCK and COVER alarmed at @USEmbassyKabul."
More on link


Afghan subcontractors reportedly stiffed of nearly $70M by US firms
Article Link
By Joshua Rhett Miller Published June 21, 2013 FoxNews.com

U.S. firms in Afghanistan have failed to pay local subcontractors, causing hundreds of complaints regarding nearly $70 million owed to workers, including one who “threatened to set himself on fire” in front of a U.S. Embassy in protest, according to a report

The “serious” problem was outlined in a letter released Thursday by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State John Kerry and several others. It revealed that the unit has received 753 complaints as of October 2012 and opened 52 investigators regarding nonpayment issues, reflecting $69 million in funds owed.  Other federal agencies, including the State Department, also reported receiving 44 similar complaints in the last six years.

One Afghan subcontractor who was working on a construction project for the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in Helmand province pleaded with SIGAR officials for payment, claiming that workers needed to be paid to provide for their families.
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 25, 2013

Actress in critical condition after acid attack in Pakistan
From Zahir Shah Sherazi, For CNN June 24, 2013
Article Link

A young Pakistani actress was in critical condition Sunday after a man threw acid on her face while she was sleeping, her brother said.

The alleged attack on 18-year-old Bushra Waiz happened early Saturday at the family home in Nowshera, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Akhtar Waiz told CNN his family was asleep in the courtyard when a man burst in and threw acid on his sister.

Bushra Waiz, who is also known as Shazia Aziz, is a Pashto-language singer, actress and theater artist.

She suffered burns to the right side of her face. Doctors said her right leg, arm and eye were also injured.
end

Canada opposes Taliban talks before end of violence
No evidence Taliban prepared to stop attacks, Chris Alexander says
CBC News  Jun 20, 2013
Article Link

As the Afghan and U.S. governments keep trying to negotiate palatable terms for reconciliation talks with the Taliban, Canada maintains that while violence against civilians continues, the Taliban remains a terrorist organization.

"It's always been a precondition … that those who want to take part in reconciliation lay aside their weapons, lay aside their campaign of violence, agree to live under the laws of Afghanistan and the constitution of Afghanistan and then start the hard process of reintegration," the parliamentary secretary to Canada's defence minister said Wednesday.

Chris Alexander, himself a former Canadian ambassador to the country, said that recent attacks on civilians, including women and children, are evidence that the Taliban is not prepared to end its violent campaign.

"Yes, beyond those red lines there are deals that can be made, there are issues that can be discussed," he told CBC News. However, "you can't negotiate and fight at the same time."
More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 29, 2013


Labatts showing love to Canadian troops again
Article Link
June 25th, 2013  KELLY PEDRO | QMI AGENCY

LONDON -- Canadian troops in Afghanistan will be seeing blue on Canada Day.

Labatt Breweries is sending 96 cases of beer from across Canada -- including 16 cases of London-made Labatt Blue -- to troops to mark Canada's birthday.

"It's an opportunity for the Labatt family to tell our troops that we're thinking of them and we thank them for the job they're doing and hopefully put a bit of a smile on their face," said Chris Morley, a spokesman for Labatt Breweries.

"It's one of those things that hopefully regardless of where you're from in Canada you know Labatt beer."

Labatt's has been sending Canadian beer to troops since the Korean War in 1951, when 3,500 cases of beer were shipped over.

Sixteen cases from each of the company's six Canadian breweries, including brands such as Kokanee and Alexander Keith's, will be shipped to our troops to quench their thirst as they celebrate the country's birthday.

Labatt's assembled the cases in Canada, then handed them over to Canadian forces in Trenton. They'll be shipped to Afghanistan from there and be in the hands of Canadian troops by July 1, Morley said.
end


  Taliban attack presidential palace
by The Canadian Press Jun 24, 2013
Article Link

KABUL - The Taliban say they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosion rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace.

Smoke rose from the eastern gate of the palace early Tuesday after more than a half dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of on-and-off small arms fire.

The Taliban sent a quick text-message statement saying "we brought death to the enemy."

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces.
More on link

UK forces begin transfer of Afghan detainees
Article Link
  28 June 2013 Last updated at 06:04 ET

The Ministry of Defence says the first group of detainees captured by British forces in Afghanistan has been transferred to the Afghan authorities.

Ten have been handed over and the MoD said it planned to transfer the remaining 82 from Camp Bastion "as soon as possible".

However, legal challenges prevent the transfer of seven detainees.

On Thursday, two men dropped challenges to their detention and can now be transferred, the High Court heard.

The court confirmed that, subject to detainees confirming that they did not want legal representation, they could be transferred to the Afghan National Detention Facility, within the US Bagram airbase in Parwan province.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said he was "very pleased" that the High Court had agreed to vary the ruling that blocked the transfer of the suspected insurgents, who are being held at Camp Bastion without charge.

He said: "Terms have been agreed that will allow those detainees who have requested transfer to Afghan custody to be handed over.

"Unfortunately, the injunction remains in place for some detainees who are still represented by human rights lawyers."

Mr Hammond said UK forces had given the detainees telephone access to UK lawyers.
More on link

West should have talked to Taliban - British general
Article Link
  29 June 2013

The West should have tried talking to the Taliban a decade ago, the UK's top general in Afghanistan has said.

Gen Nick Carter told the Guardian it would have been easier to find a political solution when they were on the run in 2002.

Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that the original settlement for Afghanistan "could have been better arranged".

His comments come days after planned negotiations with the Taliban stalled.

Gen Carter also warned Afghan forces would need military and financial support after troops leave in 2014.

The Kabul government would have only shaky control over some areas, he said.
Negotiation attempts

A major conference on the future of Afghanistan held in Bonn, Germany, over a decade ago did not include the defeated Taliban former government of Afghanistan.

Gen Carter, deputy commander of the Nato-led coalition, acknowledged it was easy to be wise with the benefit of hindsight but added: "Back in 2002, the Taliban were on the run.

"I think that at that stage, if we had been very prescient, we might have spotted that a final political solution to what started in 2001, from our perspective, would have involved getting all Afghans to sit at the table and talk about their future.

"The problems that we have been encountering over the period since then are essentially political problems, and political problems are only ever solved by people talking to each other."
More on link


Britain will have to support the Afghan army 'long after 2014', admits Cameron as he visits the frontline to mark Armed Forces Day
Article Link

David Cameron had admitted that Britain will have to continue to support the Afghan army 'long after 2014', when UK forces are officially due to withdraw.

Speaking at a press conference in the presidential palace, where Taliban forces attacked last week, the Prime Minister admitted that Britain has paid 'a high price' after 12 years of war.

He said: 'While our combat troops will return home, we have already committed to support and sustain the Afghan security forces with financial support long after 2014.'

Mr Cameron said Britain 'has not made any commitments' beyond the military academy but he did not rule out doing more and explicitly said Nato may well need to do more 'to assist Afghan forces'

More on link

 

[GAP]

Articles found June 30, 2013


Shot dead for innocently dancing in the rain: Teenage sisters ‘murdered by their step-brother for filming themselves outside their home’
Article Link
    Noor Basra and Noor Sheza were playing outside their home in Chilas
    The clip was circulated via mobile phones but caused outrage in the town
    The sisters were shot dead last Sunday alongside their mother
    It is alleged the girls' step-brother planned the attack with four accomplices to restore the family's honour 

By Tara Brady PUBLISHED: 30 June 2013

Two teenage sisters have been murdered in Pakistan after they were accused of tarnishing their family's name by making a video of themselves dancing in the rain.

The girls, aged 15 and 16, are seen running around in traditional dress with two other younger children outside their bungalow in the town of Chilas, in the northern region of Gilgit.

The sisters, named as Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, appear to break into dance and one even flashes a smile at the camera.

However, when the footage was circulated via mobile phones, it caused outrage in the conservative Pakistani town.

Last Sunday the girls were shot alongside their mother in their home by five gunmen.
More on link

Pakistan attack: Bomb kills 17 in Peshawar
Article Link
  30 June 2013

At least 17 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb attack targeting the security forces in north-west Pakistan.

Hospital officials have told the BBC four children were amongst those killed in the attack near Peshawar.

The bomb was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road in a busy market area just south of the city.

The attack came during a visit to Pakistan by the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The target was a convoy of troops, but all those reported to have been killed were civilians.

The explosion was followed by an exchange of fire between Frontier Corps - paramilitary soldiers - and the armed assailants, reported Pakistani newspaper the Express Tribune.
More on link

Pierre Borghi: How I gave the Taliban the slip
Article Link
  27 June 2013

French aid worker and amateur photographer Pierre Borghi spent four months in shackles, imprisoned by the Taliban in a hole in the ground. But an opportunity to escape eventually came his way, thanks in part to the weight he had lost on the "Taliban diet".

I was abducted by the Taliban on the evening of Tuesday 27 November.

It had been an ordinary, relaxed day in Kabul - no bombs or gunfire or stress. I had been to the supermarket, bought Chinese noodles for dinner and planned a quiet night in watching a zombie movie.

This was my second week in Afghanistan on my second visit to the country. I was looking for work in the humanitarian or urban planning sectors while I tried to make it as a photographer.

I was walking back from a bar, where I had been debating with other freelancers and friends the safest way was to get around Kabul. Security was on my mind, but the bar was in pretty much the safest area in the city and I was staying a mere 500m away. I didn't think being outside for five or 10 minutes would be such a risk.

That was a miscalculation.

A white Toyota Corolla stopped just a few metres ahead of me. Four guys got out, bearded, dressed in salwar kameez - the traditional Afghan dress - and headed straight for me.
More on link