Tolo News: Nazima Khirzad, an Afghan ski racer, has won a bronze medal in the 4th CAS Karakoram International Alpine Ski Cup 2020 in Pakistan. The four-day competition was held in Pakistan’s Swat city, and ended on Tuesday with Khirzad winning the bronze medal in the slalom category. Click here to read more (external link).
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 11, 2020
Reconstruction and stabilization activities in Afghanistan have left 5,135 people killed or injured during a period of 17 years following the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban, according to a new report by a U.S. government watchdog.
The report released late on February 11 by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that 2,214 people have been killed in largely U.S.-led projects to rebuild the country.
SIGAR, which monitors the billions of dollars Washington spends in the war-ravaged country, said the deaths were the result of Taliban and other militant attacks from 2002 through 2018.
Another 2,291 people were wounded in projects from infrastructure construction to building schools across Afghanistan.
The survey also identifies 1,182 individuals who were either kidnapped or went missing.
More than 70 percent of those killed or injured and about 86 percent of those kidnapped were Afghans, mostly civilians, according to the report titled The Human Cost Of Reconstruction.
The deaths included 284 Americans, both civilian and military.
The majority of casualties occurred during the height of the reconstruction efforts between 2008 and 2011, the report shows.
With reporting by dpa and AP
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Tolo News: Students from Afghanistan in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, seek the Afghan government’s help, saying they are in a dire situation due to a strict quarantine over the past two weeks. The novel coronavirus has so far killed over 1,000 people and has affected over 42,000 others. Government figures show that there are 61 Afghan students in Wuhan. Click here to read more (external link).
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
1TV:Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on Tuesday unveiled his plan for peace with the Taliban. According the plan, all parties to the conflict should commit to ceasefire, release of prisoners and integration of the Taliban fighters into the Afghan Security Forces during negotiations. They should also agree on formation of an interim government that would hold election, Hekmatyar said. Click here to read more (external link).
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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 11, 2020
ISLAMABAD – Afghan officials say a suicide blast near a military academy in Kabul early Tuesday killed at least six people, including four soldiers.
The bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body at a checkpoint near the entrance to the capital city’s Marshal Fahim Military Academy.
Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the blast injured at least 12 people, including both civilians and military personnel.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack but the military academy has been the target of suicide bombings in the past by the Taliban insurgency and Islamic State militants.
Tuesday’s violence came after around three months of a lull in such attacks in Kabul, mainly attributed to ongoing peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
A suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital last November had killed at least 12 people, including a foreign national working with the United Nations.
The turbulent months-long U.S.-Taliban dialogue being hosted by Qatar has appeared to bog down in recent days over Washington’s demands for the insurgent group to commit to a “significant and lasting” reduction in violence before a deal is signed to end the 18-year-old Afghan war, America’s longest.
Massoud Andarabi
1TV: Afghan Acting Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi has ordered the ministry’s personnel not to give interviews to press or remark on social media. If needed, necessary procedures should be made following instruction by the ministry’s leadership and in coordination with the general directorate of strategic communications, according to the order. Click here to read more (external link).
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ISIS trainees
The Washington Post: Interviews with Afghan and U.S. officials and seven self-described Islamic State members now in Afghan custody paint a picture of a group that has a history of persevering despite territorial and leadership losses, thanks in part to a sophisticated recruitment system and the use of extreme violence to control civilian populations. Click here to read more (external link).
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Curling in Afghanistan (file photo)
Tolo News: The Afghan curling team held a training session on Sunday ahead of their match in the “Winter Games” in the central province of Bamiyan. Women curling athletes are also attending the event, said Halima Rezee, the chairperson of Women’s Curling Federation Committee. “We have the membership of Afghanistan’s Curling Federation, but we have a problem and that is that we don’t have a budget and a filed,” Rezaee said. She said curling is a new sport in the country and it is not supported by relevant government institutions. She added the fans of this sport are increasing. Click here to read more (external link).
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