US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 559 (The Charlotte Observer)
(The Associated Press) As of Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, at least 559 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Monday at 10 a.m. EST. Of those, the military reports 406 were killed by hostile action. Outside the Afghan region, …
Quake jolts Pak, Afghan areas (Gulf Times)
KABUL: A moderate earthquake jolted northeastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan early yesterday, seismologists said. The 5.9-magnitude quake struck at 12:53am around 255km northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul, the US Geological Survey said.
Taliban whopper: claim 5,220 foreign troops killed (AP via Yahoo! News)
The Taliban has long exaggerated its military successes, but its figures for 2008 may be the militia’s most startling claims yet.
Earthquake rattles Afghanistan, Pakistan (AFP via Yahoo! News)
A strong earthquake shook northeastern Afghanistan and Pakistan early Monday, sending people running from their homes, but there were no immediate reports of damage, witnesses and officials said.
Australian soldier killed in Taliban rocket attack in Afghanistan (People’s Daily)
Australian defense force chief Angus Houston said on Monday an Australian solder was killed during a Taliban rocket attack overnight in Afghanistan. The soldier is the eighth Digger to die in Afghanistan. He said Taliban insurgents engaged an Afghan forward operating base in Oruzgan Province Sunday evening Australian time. “As a result of this indirect fire, it is with deep regret that I inform …
US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 559 (AP via Yahoo! News)
As of Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, at least 559 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Monday at 10 a.m. EST.
Turn the tables on the Taliban (The Murray Valley Standard)
Afghanistan is not going well. Events are not yet catastrophic but if the situation doesn’t change we’ll probably lose the war. The Taliban and al-Qaeda, and not the Afghan people, will control the country.
NATO, Afghan forces kill nine rebels in Kandahar (The Daily Star Lebannon)
Nine Taliban militants were killed in a gunfight early Monday by Afghan and NATO troops in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a senior police official said. The gunfight erupted after Taliban-linked militants attacked Afghan and NATO security forces in the restive province’s Panjwayi district.
Taliban whopper: claim 5,220 foreign troops killed in Afghanistan last year (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)
KABUL, Afghanistan – The Taliban have long exaggerated their military successes, but their recent claim that they killed more than 5,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan last year may be the militia’s most startling yet.
Taliban militants destroy health center in S Afghanistan (People’s Daily)
Taliban militants destroyed a clinic in southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a provincial official said on Monday. “The Taliban insurgents Saturday night entered the health clinic of Arghandab district and exploded it after asking all clinic employees out,” Abdul Qayum Pakhla, director of Health Department of Kandahar, told Xinhua. This clinic, he added, had provided service to around 20,000 …
AFGHANISTAN: Little to eat for IDPs in makeshift Kabul camp (AlertNet)
Source: IRIN Azizullah’s family left their home in the Sangin District of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, because of the worsening conflict, drought and food security situation. Their new home is a one-room mud-hut in the western outskirts of Kabul where over 4,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have established a makeshift camp.
Taliban’s harsh justice rules parts of Kandahar (Edmonton Sun)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Justice comes swift and severe in the town of Senjaray. It comes in tarrings and in public humiliation. The guilty are sometimes banished from town or lose their hands to an axe’s blade. Some are executed.
