A US airstrike killed 16 Afghan police and wounded two others in Helmand province, officials said Saturday. The incident took place Friday 5 pm as Afghan security forces were clearing a village of Taliban elements, Salam Afghan, Helmand police spokesman, told AFP. “In the strike, 16 Afghan policemen were killed including two commanders. Two other … Read more
A US soldier has been killed and two others wounded in an attack in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, US military officials said Wednesday Private First Class Hansen Kirkpatrick, 19, of Wasilla, Alaska died Monday following the “indirect fire” assault, which means he was hit by a mortar or some other incoming round. The wounds sustained by … Read more
Adorned in makeup, fake breasts and bells, Jawed whirls around middle-aged men at Kabul’s underground bacha bazi, or “boy play” parties, where the former child sex slave finds freedom of sorts as a dancing boy. Jawed was kidnapped by a former jihadi commander in Shomali, north of Kabul, when he was barely 14, a victim … Read more
Twenty people were killed Thursday when a powerful car bomb struck a bank in Afghanistan’s Lashkar Gah city as government employees were queueing to withdraw salaries, the latest bloody attack during the holy month of Ramadan. At least 50 wounded people were rushed to hospital after the bombing at New Kabul Bank which upturned vehicles, … Read more
A powerful car bomb Thursday struck a bank in Afghanistan’s Lashkar Gah city when civilian and military government employees were queueing to withdraw their salaries, causing multiple casualties, officials said. At least 50 wounded people were rushed to hospital, government spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP, with another official warning of multiple fatalities. No group has … Read more
At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their army base in the southern province of Kandahar, the defence ministry said Friday, in the second such assault on Western-backed forces this week. The attack in Shah Wali Kot district late Thursday came just three days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when … Read more
At least 15 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their army base in the southern province of Kandahar, the defence ministry said Friday, in the second such assault this week. The attack in Shah Wali Kot district late Thursday came just three days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed … Read more
Children account for one-third of civilian casualties in Afghanistan’s grinding conflict in the first three months of 2017, and are paying an increasingly high price in the fighting, a UN report said Thursday in Kabul. From January to March, 210 children were killed — up 17 percent from the same period last year — and … Read more
At least 11 civilians were killed when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle in the restive southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials said Saturday. The blast occurred when the passengers were travelling from remote Nawa district to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Friday, government spokesman Omar Zhwak told AFP. “The blast was powerful … Read more
Taliban fighters captured the strategic southern district of Sangin on Thursday, officials said, another setback for Afghan forces in opium-rich Helmand province ahead of the spring fighting season. The capture of Sangin, where US and British forces suffered heavy casualties until it was handed over to Afghan personnel, marks the culmination of the Taliban’s year-long … Read more
Three American troops were wounded Sunday when an Afghan soldier opened fire in southern Helmand province, officials said, in the first known “insider attack” on international forces this year. No insurgent group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack in Camp Antonik in Washer district, which highlights long-simmering tensions between Afghan and foreign forces. … Read more
Two attacks struck the Afghan capital at almost the same time on Wednesday Almost simultaneous attacks in Kabul have left at least 16 people dead and 44 injured, the health ministry says. The two suicide attacks took place at about midday local time (07:30 GMT) on Wednesday, targeting a police station and intelligence agency offices. … Read more
An Afghan policeman linked to the Taliban shot dead 11 of his colleagues at a checkpoint in the southern province of Helmand, officials said Tuesday, in the latest so-called “insider attack”. The incident occurred late Monday as the policemen were sleeping in their barracks in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. “A policeman affiliated to the … Read more
Eleven members of an Afghan family, including women and children, were killed in a grenade attack on their home in the country’s volatile east, officials said Monday. The attack, which left three others wounded, occurred in Laghman province on Sunday but no militant group has so far claimed responsibility. “Eleven people were martyred after two … Read more
The UN voiced “grave concern” Sunday over the killing of at least 25 civilians in the escalating conflict in the southern opium-rich province of Helmand, most of them in US air strikes. American bombardment in Sangin on Thursday and Friday killed 18 people, nearly all women and children, the United Nations said, as fierce fighting … Read more
Five officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been killed in a bomb attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan, officials have confirmed. They died in blasts at the governor of Kandahar’s guesthouse on Tuesday, where several others were also killed. The UAE ambassador was injured. The UAE said the men had been carrying out “humanitarian, educational … Read more