Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Afghanistan

Karzai, World Leaders Meet Local Officials Amid Violence

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (file photo) (epa)

KANDAHAR, December 12, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Kandahar today with a large delegation of Afghan and international officials for security talks with local leaders from the country's volatile south, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported.

TEXT SIZE - +

December 12, 2006

Tribal elders and religious leaders attending the security conference are from the provinces of Zabul, Oruzgan, Kandahar, and Helmand -- areas where Afghan and foreign troops have seen a resurgence of Taliban violence during the past year.

Karzai's delegation includes his defense and interior ministers as well as members of parliament. The top NATO commander and senior UN representative in Afghanistan also are attending, along with ambassadors from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Britain.

As the talks in Kandahar were under way, a suicide bomber attacked the governor's residence in neighboring Helmand Province, killing at least eight people.

Haji Mohayoddin, a spokesman for Helmand's Provincial Governor Mohammad Daoud, said the attack killed six security guards and two civilians. Helmand's provincial police chief, General Nabi Mullahkhail, says eight people were wounded. The suicide bomber made it into the the governor's compound in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Karzai is scheduled to travel to Helmand Province after the security conference in Kandahar.

RFE/RL's correspondent in Kandahar reports that other topics to be discussed include Afghan-Pakistani relations, recent civilian casualties as a result of NATO military actions, and reconstruction efforts. The security conference is billed as a fourth session on "policy and action" of the Afghan government. The three previous sessions were all in Kabul.

The Afghan Insurgency

A U.S. military vehicle damaged by insurgents near Kandahar (epa)

HOMEGROWN OR IMPORTED? As attacks against Afghan and international forces continue relentlessly, RFE/RL hosted a briefing to discuss the nature of the Afghan insurgency. The discussion featured Marvin Weinbaum, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and RFE/RL Afghanistan analyst Amin Tarzi.

LISTEN

Listen to the entire briefing (about 83 minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media

ARCHIVE

RFE/RL's coverage of Afghanistan.

For weekly news and analysis on Afghanistan by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report."

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

Gasoline prices have risen dramatically in Pakistan in recent years

In Pakistan, Cleaner Fuel Powers Supply, Safety Issues

Rising fuel prices have pushed Pakistan to become a global leader in using compressed natural gas (CNG) to fuel vehicles. More

Family members of missing Baluchs, mostly political activists, rally in protest on the eve of international Human Rights Day in Quetta, Balochistan, on December 10, 2011.

U.S. Hearing On Balochistan Raises Hackles, Awareness In Pakistan

The U.S. Congressional hearing last week on Balochistan, the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, though it was firmly rejected by Islamabad, is being seen in Pakistan as any eye-opener for the state and its security agencies. More