Afghanistan news stories on Newser

Afghan School Girls Sprayed With Poison

Kevin Spak — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:20:32 CDT

One hundred and twenty-two Afghan school girls and three teachers were sprayed with poison and hospitalized today, the latest in a long string of poisonings designed to deter girls from going to school. The poison induced dizziness, vomiting, and headaches, and made some girls pass out, but "generally they are...

Doctors Abducted in Afghanistan

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:12:41 CDT

Two foreign doctors and their three Afghan colleagues have been kidnapped in a remote area in the extreme northeast Afghanistan, officials said today. The kidnapping occurred yesterday as the group was traveling on horseback between Yaftal and Ragh districts about 56 miles from the provincial capital of Faizabad, a Badakhshan...

US Ambassador to Afghanistan Stepping Down

Rob Quinn — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:55:47 CDT

America's special envoy to Afghanistan is preparing to step down after nearly a year in one of diplomacy's most taxing jobs, sources tell Reuters . Ryan Crocker—who came out of retirement last summer to become the US ambassador in Kabul—is expected to leave the post as early as this...

NATO Confirms 2014 Afghan Pullout

Mon, 21 May 2012 19:41:52 CDT

President Obama and leaders around the globe locked in place an Afghanistan exit path today that will still keep their troops fighting and dying there for two more years, acknowledging there never will be point at which they can say, "This is all done." Obama, presiding over a 50-nation war...

Obama Tells Karzai: 'We're on the Right Track'

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 20 May 2012 14:35:00 CDT

President Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today at the NATO summit and urged world leaders to agree on post-2014 Afghanistan, MSNBC reports. "What this NATO summit reflects is that the world is behind strategy we've laid out," Obama said of the plan to pull out coalition troops in...

Afghan Flash Floods Kill 19

Sun, 20 May 2012 05:25:48 CDT

Flood waters ravaged a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 19 people and destroying hundreds of homes, officials said earlier today. About 60 other people were missing and rescuers were looking for them across Sar-e-Pul, the capital of a province with the same name, said the national disaster...

9 Killed in Afghanistan Market Blast

Matt Cantor — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:41:00 CDT

An explosion in a northern Afghanistan market has killed nine people, according to the country's interior ministry. One of those killed was an official from a nearby council, the AP reports. The bomb blast took place this morning in a shop in the Ghormuch district of Faryab province. Meanwhile, police...

Assassin Kills Top Afghan Peace Broker

Sun, 13 May 2012 10:28:35 CDT

An assassin today shot dead a former high-ranking Taliban official working on reconciling Afghanistan's insurgency with the government, a fresh blow to peace efforts as Kabul announced it was gradually taking the lead from the US-led coalition for providing security in much of the country. A gunman with a silenced...

For 20th Time This Year, Afghan Soldier Strikes NATO

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:21:42 CDT

A man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot dead a US service member in the east of the country, one of two NATO troops killed today, military officials said. NATO didn't officially disclose the nationality of the victim, but a senior US defense official said he was an American soldier....