THE FORGOTTEN WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

An Afghan policeman looks at a wounded man and children sitting in the main hospital in Khost 
city on October 1, 2012

News

10/01/12 VOA: Suicide Bomber Kills 14 in Afghanistan A suicide bomber has attacked a joint Afghan-NATO patrol in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 14 people. NATO says the deaths Monday include three coalition service members and their interpreter. It did not identify the nationalities of the soldier or provide further details on the attack.

10/01/12 LATimes: 3 NATO service members killed in Afghan suicide attack A suicide bomber driving a motorcycle packed with explosives rammed his bike into a patrol of Afghan and international forces on Monday morning in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 14 people, including three NATO service members and their translator, officials said.

09/30/12 DoD: Army Casualty Identified Sgt. 1st Class Riley G. Stephens, 39, of Tolar, Texas, died Sept. 28, in Wardak, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire. Stephens was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.

09/30/12 KP: 4 killed, 3 injured following blast in eastern Afghanistan According to local authorities in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, at least 7 Afghan civilians were killed or injured following an explosion near Eidgah mosque in eastern Jalalabad city on Sunday.

09/30/12 WaPo: Home from Iraq and Afghanistan, many combat veterans look to serve again _ in elective office The link between U.S. military service and running for office is as old as the republic itself. It started with George Washington, who famously wrote that, “When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.”

09/30/12 ToloNews: 1000 Cases of Violence Against Women in 3 Months Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) received more than 1,000 cases of violence against women in the first three months of the Persian year, according to MOWA Head of Rights Department Fauzia Amin. "In the first three months of this year [March 21-June21], the Ministry of Women's Affairs recorded more than 1,000 cases of violence, murder, and suicide of women," Amin said.

09/30/12 Reuters: Exxon yet to inspect Afghanistan's biggest oil project Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's biggest non-state oil company, has not yet accepted an offer to look over a new Afghan oil concession in the country's north, possibly indicating a fading appetite to invest in the conflict-wracked country.

09/30/12 NPR: Insider Attacks Hinder Transition Out Of Afghanistan In recent months, suspected insurgents have been turning on their U.S. and NATO trainers in a series of insider attacks. There have been more than 50 this year, including an apparent insider attack on Sunday. Host Rachel Martin talks with Seth Jones, a political scientist at the RAND Corporation and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary general of NATO.

09/30/12 BNA: 3 Taliban commanders killed in Herat Herat (BNA) three commanders of Taliban with their 4 colleagues were killed in a military operation in the Shindand district of Herat province last night. These commanders were came under air attack of NATO while terrorist activities and lost their lives.

09/30/12 ToloNews: Zabul Schools Under Threat from Militants Residents of south-western Zabul province said Sunday that they are concerned about multiple schools closing because of insecurity and the threat of insurgents. Zabul's Shamelzai district, in the south-east of the province, has been particularly hard hit by the country's instability with residents claiming all its schools have been forced shut.

09/30/12 CBS/AP: U.S. service member dead in Afghan insider attack A U.S. service member was killed in an apparent insider attack by Afghan forces in the east of the country late Saturday. A civilian contractor with NATO and at least two Afghan soldiers also died in the attack, according to a coalition statement and Afghan provincial officials. The nationality of the civilian was not disclosed.

09/29/12 NATO: ISAF casualties KABUL, Afghanistan (Sep 30) – An International Security Assistance Force service member and an ISAF civilian contractor died following a suspected insider attack in eastern Afghanistan yesterday.

09/29/12 AP: Afghan police, soldiers dying alongside NATO partners in insider attacks Afghan Army Sgt. Habibullah Hayar didn’t know it, but he had been sleeping with his enemy for weeks. Twenty days ago, one of his roommates was arrested for allegedly plotting an insider attack against their unit, which is partnered with NATO forces in eastern Paktia province.

09/29/12 LATimes: Change of U.S. command expected in Afghanistan The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan is being transferred and another Marine general will take over the war effort early next year as the United States and its allies shrink their combat role against the still-potent insurgency.

09/29/12 KUNA: Insurgent leaders killed in ISAF airstrike in Afghanistan Two local insurgent leaders were among five militants killed in an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airstrike in the western province of Herat in Afghanistan on Saturday, said reports. The Taliban's administrative chief and his deputy for Shindand district were killed along with three other suspects in the air raid, citing Afghan National Army (ANA), spokesman Nastwa Nasiri from the state-run Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported.

09/29/12 KP: 2 Afghan police, 20 militants killed in Afghan violence According to local authorities in western Herat province of Afghanistan, at least 2 Afghan police officers were killed following an explsoion at Adraskan district. The officials further added two other police officers were also injured following the blast.