Author Archives: Jon Boone
Afghan president demands control of Bagram prison
Hamid Karzai reacts to being sidelined from Taliban talks by ordering US hand over main military prison within one monthHamid Karzai, furious at being sidelined from Afghan peace talks, has thrown his government into yet another dramatic confrontation … Continue reading
Afghan child bride had escaped torturers but was sent back
Outcry over case of Sahar Gul who was returned to her in-laws despite their attempts to force her into prostitutionA 15-year-old Afghan girl who was nearly tortured to death by her husband and his family attempted to escape her attackers more than four… Continue reading
Afghan woman jailed after being raped is freed after two years in Kabul prison
Woman sentenced to 12 years in prison for ‘adultery’ after reporting rape to police is finally releasedAn Afghan woman who was jailed after being raped by a cousin has been released from the Kabul prison where she has spent more than two years, althou… Continue reading
US cuts put British-backed Afghan hydropower project in doubt
Kajaki dam turbine, hauled 100 miles across Helmand by British forces, may be deemed not cost-effective to installCuts to the US government’s Afghanistan development programme have put in doubt the future of a 220-tonne hydroelectric generator that Bri… Continue reading
Does the US military want Afghanistan to get even nastier?
In Afghanistan, insurgents are growing ever more sadistic in their attacks, as the suicide bombing of pilgrims in Kabul showed. But could the US war machine actually want to provoke the Taliban?Even by Afghanistan’s high standards, the massacre of Shia… Continue reading
Hamid Karzai tells loya jirga: no US military pact until night raids cease
Afghanistan president outlines conditions for continued presence of US troops, saying Kabul wants national sovereigntyHamid Karzai has told a national gathering of Afghan elders that he will not sign a long-term military pact with the US until night ra… Continue reading
Afghan finance minister admits doubts over Kabul Bank’s missing $1bn
Omar Zakhiwal pledges to prove sceptics wrong as IMF backs asset recovery scheme after 18-month disputeSerious doubts remain that Afghanistan will be able to recover nearly $1bn (£631.4m)frittered away on disastrous business ventures and now worthless… Continue reading
Afghan tribal meeting to discuss pact with US amid death threats
Taliban claim to have undermined security for loya jirga, which will map the future of relations between Afghanistan and the USA tribal gathering to debate a long-term military and economic pact between Afghanistan and the US after most foreign troops … Continue reading
Taliban target mobile phone masts to prevent tipoffs from Afghan civilians
The mobile phone industry – often cited as one of the country’s biggest post-2001 successes – is reporting crippling damageAfghanistan’s communications infrastructure has become the latest casualty of the intensified war between Nato and the Taliba… Continue reading
Afghan soldiers disarmed after attack on Australian allies
Soldier turned his weapons on colleagues at base in Uruzgan province, seriously wounding three of themAll Afghan soldiers working in a patrol base in southern Afghanistan have been disarmed and confined to barracks after one of them turned his weapons … Continue reading