Afghanistan News Center

Afghanistan News May 11, 2008: Today's headlines.....

Taliban suspects on hunger strike in Afghan jail
KABUL (AFP) - About 300 Taliban suspects have been on a hunger strike in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar prison for a week demanding fair trials, rights groups and local lawmakers said Sunday.

NW Afghanistan hit by plague of locusts
KABUL, May 10 (Reuters) - Afghan authorities are examining the extent of an unprecedented locust infestation that has prompted local officials in some areas to offer wheat as a reward to residents for killing the insects.

Key al Qaeda member killed in Afghanistan: web
Sun May 11, 7:57 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - A prominent member of al Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website on Sunday.

Afghan, foreign security forces kill several militants in Afghanistan
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - Officials say Afghan and international forces have killed several militants in eastern and southern Afghanistan.

Who Are the Afghans Just Released from Guantánamo?
by Andy Worthington antiwar.com / May 10, 2008
For the five Afghans who returned home on the same flight as al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Haj and the other three prisoners described in my previous article, the future is disturbingly uncertain. As I reported last December

Big powers have increased insecurity in Iraq, Afghanistan: FM
TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said on Saturday that the failed policies of big powers have increased insecurity, instability in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.

Afghan police seize car stuffed with explosives
Ryan Cormier , Canwest News Service Saturday, May 10, 2008
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Police seized a vehicle filled with a variety of explosive materials in the province of Kandahar Saturday afternoon.

Afghan national army strength rises to 76,000
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-11 18:43:05
KABUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The strength of Afghan new armed forces has risen to more than 76,000, spokesman of Afghan defense ministry said Sunday.

"Women Helping Women: Stitch by Stitch" - Afghan Women's Collaboration
Rubia Logo, embroidered by Darrai Noor. Art Daily
WILMINGTON, DE.-The WCA-Philadelphia has partnered with Rubia to organize the collaborative project, entitled: “Women Helping Women: Stitch by Stitch.” The project involved the creation of a quilt, which showcases the work

‘No peace if Afghanistan seeks military solutions’
* Former Interior minister sceptical that $4bn package can reduce militancy
Daily Times, Pakistan Staff Report Sunday, May 11, 2008
PESHAWAR-Peace overtures in the NWFP will not sustain if Afghanistan continues to look for military solutions to militancy, former Interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said on Saturday.

NPJ launched for ending the insurgency
Zubair Babakarkhel - May 8, 2008 - 19:14
KABUL, (PAN): A reconciliatory body with the name of National Peace Jirga (NPJ) was formed Thursday here to bring the armed opponents of the government on the negotiations table for ending the ongoing insurgency.

Four reconstruction projects executed in Nangarhar
Abdul Moeed Hashmi & Fared Tanha - May 8, 2008 - 16:46
JALALABAD (PAN): Four reconstruction projects have been executed under the National Solidarity Program (NSP) with the total cost of five million afghanis in the eastern Nangarhar province, an official said on Thursday.

Second Former KBR Employee Sentenced for Scheme to Defraud the U.S. Department of Defense
FOXBusiness Friday, May 09, 2008
ALEXANDRIA, Va.,
James N. Sellman, 26, of Arnold, Md., a former Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR: 32.05, -0.66, -2.01%) employee who worked in Afghanistan, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 26 months in prison for conspiring to receive bribes