KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Rising death tolls, military timetables slowed. Infighting in the partner Government. War-weary allies packing up to leave — and others eyeing an exit.

Events this spring — from the battlefields of Helmand and Kandahar to the halls of Congress — have served as a reality check on the Afghan war, a gruelling fight in a remote, inhospitable land that once harboured the masterminds of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The Taliban have proven resilient and won’t be easily routed. Good Afghan Government won’t blossom any faster than flowers in the bleak Afghan deserts. Phrases like "transition to Afghan control" mask the enormous challenge ahead to make those words reality.  Read more... (1206 words, 1 image, estimated 4:49 mins reading time)

ealand’s involvement in the Afghanistan conflict, saying the country is “doing its bit”.

There are about 220 Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan including a provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan Province and the Special Air Services (SAS) who last year returned to Afghanistan as part of an 18-month commitment, training an elite group of Afghan commandos known as the Crisis Response Unit.

Lieutenant-General Jerry Mateparae told TVNZ programme Question and Answer that New Zealand was contributing to an international effort.  Read more... (358 words, 1 image, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

KABUL, Afghanistan — The current U.S.-led military operation in Helmand province is a trial run for what could be the decisive clash with the Taliban in Afghanistan this summer in the area that is its spiritual home — Kandahar.

Officials at the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) say the focus of the coalition will shift from Helmand to Kandahar — the big prize for both the Taliban and the coalition. Kandahar city is home to around 1 million people, while Marjah, the target of the massive ongoing offensive in Helmand, is an obscure dusty town of 85,000 inhabitants that had turned into a Taliban stronghold.  Read more... (588 words, 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Family and comrades of Lance Sergeant David Walker honour the memory of a ‘terrific’ family man and ‘rock-hard’ soldier

Tributes have been paid to Lance Sergeant David Walker, of 1st Battalion Scots Guards, who was killed in Afghanistan while fighting the Taliban.

Walker, 36, died on Thursday in Nad-e-Ali, an insurgent stronghold in Helmand province. He was the third British solder killed while taking part in Operation Moshtarak – a joint UK, US and Afghan assault against the Taliban.

His family released a statement which read: “We are devastated by the loss of David, who was a terrific husband and father.  Read more... (496 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Deepening a rift between allies, Afghan investigators on Wednesday sharply contradicted accounts by NATO officials about the deaths of 10 civilians in eastern Afghanistan, saying a visit to the remote site showed that nearly all those killed were school-age boys and one was an elderly man. They blamed international forces for the deaths. NATO officials said earlier this week that all those killed last weekend in a joint operation by Afghan and international forces in a remote district of eastern Kunar Province were armed insurgents who smuggled bombs.  Read more... (1039 words, 1 image, estimated 4:09 mins reading time)

Ten Afghan civilians – including nine schoolchildren – who died in an attack in eastern Kunar province were killed by US troops, an Afghan MP claims.

Gulhar Jalal, investigating Saturday’s incident for the Afghan government, said they were killed as they slept.

Hundreds of students joined protests against the deaths on Wednesday in neighbouring Nangahar province.

A coalition spokesman confirmed the operation and that some were killed, but denied they were civilians.

He said the incident was part of a joint operation alongside Afghan troops against an insurgent network that had been tracked for some time.  Read more... (287 words, 1 image, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

Five months before parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, donor nations are worried about another messy vote and some international officials are even discussing whether the polls should be delayed.

Five months before parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, donor nations are worried about another messy vote and some international officials are even discussing whether the polls should be delayed.

After years of encouraging democracy, some Western nations find themselves in the uncomfortable position of wondering whether another round of voting will do more harm than good in the violence-wracked country.  Read more... (1074 words, 1 image, estimated 4:18 mins reading time)

KABUL — Five months before parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, donor nations are worried about another messy vote and some international officials are even discussing whether the polls should be delayed.

After years of encouraging democracy, some Western nations find themselves in the uncomfortable position of wondering whether another round of voting will do more harm than good in the violence-wracked country.

The parliamentary elections are due in May. Donor nations, including the U.S. and Britain, fear the upcoming vote could be a repeat of the August presidential election, which was rife with ballot-box stuffing and deadly violence, unless deep reforms are made to clean up the Afghan-run electoral process.  Read more... (1048 words, 1 image, estimated 4:12 mins reading time)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is having problems with both of his extended families, his blood — and lately bloody — kin, and his political family, which includes Afghanistan‘s “elected” government, Karzai’s reshuffled cabinet, and the Western governments that are spending blood and billions to prop up the Karzai regime. And as it turns out, it’s all very incestuous.

The recent killing of 18-year-old Waheed Karzai, the son of one of President Karzai’s cousins, allegedly by Hashmat Karzai, a first cousin of the President, offers a lesson for the West: Afghanistan is still a nation of men, not of laws, and will remain so for some time to come. Honor killings without legal consequences are accepted practice, notwithstanding the veneer of democracy imposed on the country since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.  Read more... (531 words, 1 image, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

American and Afghan relatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai cast doubt Tuesday on Afghanistan‘s move to investigate the slaying of a young Karzai family member, saying the Afghan government does not want to bring the suspected killer to justice in part because of his U.S. military connectons.

BALTIMORE —

American and Afghan relatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai cast doubt Tuesday on Afghanistan’s move to investigate the slaying of a young Karzai family member, saying the Afghan government does not want to bring the suspected killer to justice in part because of his U.S. military connectons.  Read more... (837 words, 1 image, estimated 3:21 mins reading time)