Provides the latest RSS feeds for Afghanistan News. For more headlines on Breaking, National, Business, Finance, Sports and World News, visit our home page Central Asia Times.com http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/cat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c/ en-us Sun, 19 May 2013 01:42:00 -0400 Sun, 19 May 2013 01:42:00 -0400 30 A senior police official was killed in Afghanistan's Farah province when two Taliban militants opened fire on him, an official said Saturday. Ghani Khan, the police chief of Khak-e-Safid district, was visiting Charbagh area outside provincial capital Farah city Friday night. Khan was killed on the spot as two Taliban militants, riding a motorcycle, came across and sprayed bullets, reported ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214606432/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 18:30:01 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214606432/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghanistan's parliament has delayed action on a measure aimed at protecting women's rights. Activists say the move Saturday is a blow to progress made in women's rights in the conservative Muslim country since the ousting of the Taliban from power. The Taliban observed strict Islamic rule that banned Afghan women from attending school or participating in most public activity. ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214606428/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 18:15:10 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214606428/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c A three -day Afghan film festival was inaugurated here by the Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammand Abdali. Speaking on the occasion, theAfghan Ambassador appreciated the work of some . Bollywood actors of the fifties and sixties and expressed the need to revive old camaraderie with India. An Afghan filmmaker, Siddiq Barmak threw light on the difficulties, which they faced while ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600764/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:30:03 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600764/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c The coming provincial government was ready to hold talks with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) senior leader has said. Pervez Khattak, who is soon-to-be Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that they have no enmity with the Taliban. The PTI central Secretary General said the Taliban were also Pakistanis and requested the ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598015/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 02:40:03 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598015/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): At least nine people were killed and more than 55 others wounded Friday evening when two back-to-back explosions rocked Kandahar city, capital of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a provincial government spokesman said. "The initial reports said that three police officers and six civilians had died and over 55 wounded in two explosions which took place in ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214596880/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 01:20:03 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214596880/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Jim Towse, father of Cody Towse, talks about his son at his home in Elk Ridge Saturday, May 18, 2013. Cody Towse was standing near an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan when it went off. The military has been unable to locate ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214608866/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 22:01:59 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214608866/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghanistan Islamic fundamentalist politicians in Afghanistan have stopped a debate on whether to give parliamentary approval to a law protecting women against violence.Proceedings were brought to an end amid angry scenes when traditionalists demanded a repeal of the law.The Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law, which was passed by a presidential decree in 2009, is seen as a ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607803/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 20:10:38 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607803/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c The fierce opposition highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam once kept Afghan women virtual prisoners in their ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607804/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 19:59:35 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607804/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Women shout during a march to denounce violence against women in Kabul on September 24, 2012. Rashida Manjoo, the expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating and reporting on violence against women recently stated that "The failure of States to guarantee women's right to a life free from violence allows for a continuum of violence which can end in their death." ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607143/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 19:19:44 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607143/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan women, and sometimes even little girls, are sold or traded to pay family debts. So-called honor killings are a constant threat to women, especially in the country’s vast rural areas, where even talking to a man who is not a close relative can be perceived as a transgression punishable by death. Betrothals of girls as young as age 7 are not unknown; in some parts ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607144/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 19:17:39 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214607144/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c KABUL - A Turkish businessman was kidnapped by armed assailants in Afghanistan late on Sunday.Sami Yavuz, head of Afghanistan Turkish Industrialists & Businessmen's Association, was kidnapped at around 11:40 p.m. on Sunday.Armed assailants forced 41-year-old Yavuz to get on a car, and kidnapped him in Kabul.Yavuz has been living in Kabul with his family for more than ten years.Afghan ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214605956/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 17:10:02 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214605956/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c The Reuters news agency quotes an unidentified White House aide as saying the president has decreased his request for funding the war in Afghanistan by 10 percent for the 2014 fiscal year budget. The report says the president reduced his original request from $88.5 billion to $79.4 billion. The White House issued a statement Friday saying the change was made to account for the drawdown of troops ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604876/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 15:47:20 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604876/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c In this April, 2013 file photo, an Afghan woman peers through the the eye slit of her burqa as she waits to try on a new burqa in shop in the old town of Kabul, Afghanistan. Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked a law on May 18, 2013 that aims to protect women's freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604314/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 14:47:33 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604314/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c The Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law, which was passed by a presidential decree in 2009, is seen as a benchmark piece of legislation marking progress since the fall of the Taliban regime nearly 12 years ago.But ratification by parliament was postponed after several MPs branded the bill as against Sharia law - the Islamic teachings drawn from the Koran, the Prophet Mohammad and ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604306/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 14:25:59 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604306/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c KABUL, Afghanistan ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604191/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 13:19:07 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214604191/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Conservative religious politicians in Afghanistan blocked legislation today aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience.The fierce opposition highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ousting of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam once kept ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602986/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 12:20:52 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602986/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c anti-Taliban campaign in western Afghanistan in front of his house. Abdul Ghani was leaving his driveway in his car when the two raced up and opened fire in Farah province. Provincial ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214603056/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 12:10:39 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214603056/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c KABUL, Afghanistan ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602909/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 11:54:33 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602909/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Kabul: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai will be on a two-day visit to India starting Monday. He will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on enhancing strategic ties, security and developmental work in the run-up to next year's withdrawal of western troops. As Afghanistan braces for 2014, we travelled extensively in the AfPak region to find out whether the proposed end of ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602570/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 11:26:40 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214602570/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Kabul, May 18 (Prensa Latina) Two explosions in the eastern provinces of Khost and Paktika killed and injured dozens of people, police sources reported today. According to Head of Security in Khost province Mohammad Yagoub, a borderguard died and three were wounded by a blast in the eastern area of the capital, while six civilians were also injured. On the other hand, a blast killed a person and ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601934/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 10:43:26 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601934/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghanistan's parliament has blocked a law banning violence against women in what is being seen as a serious blow to the progress of women's rights. President Hamid Karzai approved the legislation by decree in 2009 but the country's politicians were required to endorse it. However, a rift between conservative and more secular members of the assembly meant the debate was ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601759/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 10:28:38 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601759/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c An Afghan MP has accused her conservative opponents of blocking a law to protect women's rights saying parts of it violate Islamic principles.The law was enacted in 2009 by presidential decree but Fawzia Koofi wanted to cement it with a parliamentary vote to prevent its future reversal.The law bans child marriage and the practice of selling and buying women to settle disputes. Kofi said the ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601366/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 09:19:20 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601366/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c A law banning violence against women, considered a major step forward in women's rights in Afghanistan, failed to pass parliament. The law would have also created shelters for abused women, and limited the number of wives permitted to ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601430/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 09:08:45 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601430/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c LAWMAKERS in Afghanistan have blocked a law that aims to protect women's freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of marriage. The move highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the Taliban, whose strict interpretation of Islam kept Afghan women virtual prisoners in their ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601428/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:41:14 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214601428/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c An Afghan legislator says conservative lawmakers have blocked approval of a law that aims to protect women's freedoms, saying parts of it violate Islamic principles. The failure highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam added to the hardship in the lives of Afghan women. The law has ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600953/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:24:44 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600953/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c free tours, open to the public , twice a month.We made the trip, cameras in hand and notebooks at the ready, to learn more about the simulated battlefields in which imaginary conflicts loop, day after day, without ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600954/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:17:05 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600954/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Expressing surprise over S&P's threat to downgrade India's credit rating, India Inc termed the agency's affirming its negative outlook on the country as unfortunate and ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600955/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:13:02 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600955/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghanistan expects to begin the first commercial oil production in its history in a little under two months. The country's mining minister, Wahidullah Shahrani, has told the ABC processing will start at the Amu Darya basin in Afghanistan's north in July. The project is operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation and is expected to eventually supply Afghanistan with its ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600956/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:11:39 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600956/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Two people died and at least 13 were injured Saturday in two separate roadside bomb explosions in Afghanistan, police said. An explosion in Khost city killed an Afghan border police guard and injured three others, as well as six civilians, provincial security chief Mohammad Yaqoub said. One person died in another explosion in eastern Paktika province in the Yahya Khel district when a tractor ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600957/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 08:08:37 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214600957/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c An Afghan worker helps excavate part of the mountaintop copper works above the ancient city at Mes Aynak in February. Afghanistan is believed to be sitting on massive mineral and metal deposits. But many obstacles have prevented large-scale mining from getting ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214599534/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 05:30:30 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214599534/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Officials say Police Chief Abdul Ghani was near his home late Friday when gunmen shot him. No one has been detained in the case. The Associated Press quotes a local official as saying Ghani had led a crackdown on insurgents in his district of Khaki Safad that resulted in the killing and capture of several Taliban leaders. The spokesman said that made him a target for Taliban ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598853/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 04:34:24 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598853/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c An Afghan police chief has been killed after two militants riding on motorcycles opened fire on his vehicle in western Afghanistan. Abdul Ghani, police chief of Khak-e Safid district in Farah Province, was killed instantly outside his home late on May 17. Provincial spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandai said that Ghani was rushed to hospital but was declared dead upon arrival. Ghani had led ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598854/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 04:29:39 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598854/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghanistan Australia could help Afghanistan develop its fledgling mining industry and tap into mineral and energy reserves estimated to be worth trillions of dollars. The country is eager to find a new source of revenue when international aid starts to decline and foreign forces withdraw next year. Afghan mining minister Wahidullah Shahrani, has already met with various Australian Government ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598878/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 04:18:46 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598878/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c May 17, 2013: Marine Sgt. Ross Gundlach, of Madison, Wisc., gets a kiss from Casey, a four-year-old yellow labrador that he worked with while deployed in Afghanistan, as the two are reunited during a surprise ceremony at the Statehouse in Des Moines, ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598429/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 03:01:49 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214598429/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Raza Haider in Karachi was part of a plan hatched by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other banned outfits to destabilise the country. Haider was gunned down in the financial capital along with his security guard by unidentified gunmen inside Jamia Masjid on Monday. Malik said outlawed ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597058/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 01:04:39 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597058/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c It was his first deployment, and Army Specialist Mitchell Daehling, 24 and just married, was thrilled to be shipping out to Afghanistan, following in the footsteps of his beloved maternal grandfather, a Purple Heart recipient. And Daehling had big plans for his return: He and his bride were going to throw a wedding party to celebrate after their intimate June ceremony, then go on a ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597174/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 00:50:48 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597174/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Pakistan on Thursday summoned Afghan Charge d'Affaires and lodged protest over unprovoked firing on a border check post, the Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry said that two soldiers were injured in firing by Afghan troops late Wednesday. "The Afghan Charge d'Affaires was summoned to the Foreign Office today for conveying protest of the Government of Pakistan on an ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597046/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Sat, 18 May 2013 00:37:57 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214597046/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Afghan mining minister, Wahidullah Shahrani, says his country has launched an aggressive program to develop a strong base for the governance of the mining ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214596168/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 23:59:06 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214596168/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday trimmed his funding request for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations by 10 percent, reflecting his plans to wind down the U.S. presence in that ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214595585/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 22:42:35 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214595585/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c A soldier from Liberty drowned Wednesday in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while attempting to cross a body of water during combat operations, the defense department announced ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214594957/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 21:51:40 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214594957/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c FORT THOMAS, Ky. - A Kentucky veteran who was working as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan has died in an explosion in Kabul that killed at least 15 people including six Americans.The father of Michael Robert Bradford, 26, of Fort Thomas and Augusta, Ga., said his son was smart, good in different sports and about to become a father.Gary "Moose" Bradford, also of Fort Thomas, told The ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214594132/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 20:43:40 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214594132/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c the Associated Press reported . There were two vehicle IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," Javed Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214593134/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 19:31:19 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214593134/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Battalion, 8th Marines, patrolled hard in the mountainous, heavily disputed Kajaki Dam area of Helmand province.Between missions, they broke their remote firebase down to the nails and plywood. They were going home. Derstine’s commanders explained that this was not your usual "RIP" or swap-out with a follow-on unit. (In the military RIP stands for "Relief in Place" ... http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214591979/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c Fri, 17 May 2013 17:56:32 -0400 http://www.centralasiatimes.com/index.php/sid/214591979/scat/6e1d5c8e1f98f17c