VOA News / August 12, 2017 Blackwater founder Erik Prince’s controversial proposal to privatize a large portion of the U.S. war in Afghanistan is being met with growing opposition in Kabul and Washington. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering the proposal as part of his monthslong review of the war in Afghanistan, where the U.S.
Press TV / August 12, 2017 At least 13 people, including women and children, have been killed when a pair of mortar blasts ripped through their house in Afghanistan’s northern province of Faryab, a local official says. The deadly incident occurred in Dawolat Abad district on Friday evening, said General Dilawer Shah Dilawer, the Faryab
Press TV / August 11, 2017 An air raid conducted by foreign forces in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of at least 16 civilians in the eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. According to TOLO News, the air raid hit a civilian vehicle in Haska Mina district late on Thursday. Women and children were among
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 10, 2017 U.S. Republican Senator John McCain has proposed a new “strategy for success” in Afghanistan, which includes more counterterrorism forces in the war-torn country and giving them more freedom to target the Taliban, the Islamic State, and other extremist groups. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and
Politico: Instead of approving their plan for more troops as anticipated, the president has caught his generals off guard by questioning whether the 16-year-long effort to stabilize Afghanistan is still worth it, according to current and former military officials familiar with the conversations. Meanwhile, news reports raise the prospects he might replace the top U.S. commander
Tolo News: Despite six days having passed since the massacre in Mirza Olang valley of Sayyad district of northern Sar-e-Pul province, the security forces have not yet launched military operations to clear the area of insurgents. The residents of Mirza Olang were blaming the local police and public unrest forces of “negligence” over the massacre in
Press TV August 9, 2017 Reports say the death toll from a Taliban attack on a remote Shia village in northern Afghanistan has risen to 60. The civilians, including women and children, were massacred during an attack on the Mirza Olang Village in the northern Sar-e Pol Province overnight Sunday. A number of Afghan security
Press TV August 7, 2017 Militants have massacred dozens of civilians, mostly Shia Hazaras, in “a brutal, inhumane way” after attacking a village in a remote area of Afghanistan’s northern province of Sar-e Pul, officials and locals say. The militants, whose identity was not immediately known, raided a security outpost in the Mirzawalang area of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 7, 2017 Afghan authorities in Kabul are increasing security in the area of the capital that houses foreign embassies and government offices after a series of attacks killed hundreds of people in the city and across the country. Salem Ehsaas, the acting police chief of Kabul, told the Reuters news
Navy Times: Erik Prince’s proposal to bridge the Afghanistan air force’s capability gaps with his own private air force faces a mountain of legal hurdles, government oversight, and raises new questions about private military companies operating in roles typically in the purview of nation states. On Wednesday, Military Times reported that the former Blackwater CEO had submitted a proposal