Afghanistan News Center

Afghanistan News July 3, 2008: Today's headlines.....

Top UN official highlights plight of children
Radhika Coomaraswamy
KABUL, 3 July 2008 (IRIN) - Nowhere in the world are children suffering as much as in Afghanistan, a top UN official has said.

UN presses Pakistan to boost regional effort to stabilize Afghanistan
By STEPHEN GRAHAM Associated Press / July 3, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A senior U.N. official called Thursday for Afghanistan's neighbors to work toward mending tense regional relationships so the conflict-torn country can be rebuilt.

Time to refocus the war in Afghanistan: Obama
Pajhwok News, 07/02/2008
PAN NEW YORK - Addressing the first election meeting with his political rival Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Friday asserted he would focus on Afghanistan if elected as the US President in the November elections.

US against talks with Pakistan's Taliban chief: envoy
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — The United States does not approve of negotiations with Pakistan's top Taliban commander but backs Islamabad's talks with tribal elders near the Afghan border, a senior US envoy said Wednesday.

FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 3
July 3 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 1200 GMT on Thursday:

Afghanistan summons Pakistani envoy over militants leaders' statement
KABUL, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan Foreign Ministry Thursday summoned the charge-de-affairs of the Pakistani Embassy to Afghanistan and lodged a protest over the remarks of Pakistani militants' leaders, a statement of the ministry said.

Bush says US to send more troops to Afghanistan
By BEN FELLER Associated Press Thu Jul 3, 1:07 AM ET
WASHINGTON - Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by year's end. He conceded that June was a "tough month" in the nearly seven-year-old war.

Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight
by Jim Lobe antiwar.com July 3, 2008
Six and a half years since the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month.

Big Oil pumps up the ugly Afghan and Iraqi mix
LAWRENCE MARTIN The Globe and Mail (Canada) / July 3, 2008
In the war zones, the oil deals are coming on stream.
Afghanistan recently signed a major agreement to build an American-backed pipeline. It will traverse the Kandahar region where Canadian forces are fighting. If they're still there, Canadians could well be called on to be a pipeline protection force.

Japan donates 2.7m dollars for Afghan refugees in Pakistan
Text of report by official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP)
Islamabad, Pakistan, 1 July: The government of Japan has contributed 2.7m dollars to assist Afghan refugees in Pakistan, continuing a tradition of humanitarian generosity towards the world largest refugee-hosting country.

The Long Arm Of Pakistan
Times of India By Haroun Mir 07/02/2008
KABUL -The latest terrorist attack on a prison in Kandahar was not the work of the Taliban alone. In fact, all significant terrorist attacks during the last several months in Afghanistan have the imprint of Al-Qaida both in the planning and execution.

Eco-bazaars install solar street lamps
www.quqnoos.com Written by PAN Wednesday, 02 July 2008
Province bordering Kabul starts to use solar power to light up markets
BAZAARS in a province bordering Kabul are slowly trading in their hurricane lamps and diesel generators for a more eco-friendly energy source.

New top general sees soldiers out of Afghanistan by 2011
The Globe and Mail STEVEN CHASE July 2, 2008
OTTAWA-Canada's new top general says he's still confident Canadian soldiers can quit combat operations in Kandahar by 2011, despite a surge in Taliban attacks and gloomier assessments of the Afghan war from the Pentagon.