The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal
Court (ICC) says he is gathering information about possible war crimes
in Afghanistan.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo says that he will be examining claims relating to both Nato soldiers and Taliban insurgents.
He said the court had received allegations from many sources, relating to attacks and collateral damage.
But the court will only become involved if Kabul or the UN Security Council ask it to look into allegations.
Afghanistan signed the treaty that established the Hague-based court.
Here may be the single strangest fact of our American world: that at
least three administrations -- Ronald Reagan's, George W. Bush's, and
now Barack Obama's -- drew the U.S. "defense" perimeter at the Hindu Kush;
that is, in the rugged, mountainous lands of Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration and Congress begin a heated debate about how many more American troops to send to Afghanistan, military observers, soldiers on the ground there and some top Pentagon officials are warning that dispatching even tens of thousands more soldiers and Marines might not ensure success.
Some even fear that deploying more U.S. troops, especially in the wake of a U.S.
KABUL - Afghanistan's U.N.-appointed election watchdog said on Tuesday it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" in last month's presidential election and ordered a recount of suspicious returns.
The announcement came on the same day a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a NATO military base at Kabul's main airport killing three civilians, the Afghan capital's worst attack since the vote.
KABUL - Two devastating suicide attacks in Afghanistan in the fortnight since elections show the Taliban is penetrating ever deeper in its war against the Kabul government and its international backers.
Insurgents are taking advantage of the government's inability to provide security to spread their tentacles from areas where they have long held sway.
Britain is failing to learn from the “military mistakes” made in Iraq in
developing ways to defeat the Taleban in Afghanistan, according to a series
of critical articles published in an internal army journal.
One devastating contribution, from a former sergeant-major in The Parachute
Regiment who has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, also paints an
alarming picture of soldiers and their families under huge stress from
repeated tours.
KABUL/WASHINGTON - The United States and its allies must change strategy and boost cooperation to turn around the war in Afghanistan, the top U.S. and NATO commander there said on Monday, wrapping up a much-anticipated review.
U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal said the situation was "serious" but the 8-year-old war could still be won. He gave no indication if he would ask for more troops but is widely expected to do so in the coming weeks.
President Barack Obama has staked his presidency on winning his “necessary” war in Afghanistan. Coming into office, one of his first acts, on Feb. 18, was to boost US troop levels in that country by 17,000, bringing the total number of soldiers and Marines in the country to about 57,000, to which one must also add about 33,000 other soldiers from NATO countries and Australia. That’s 100,000 foreign soldiers fighting against Taliban fighters.
As the government of Afghanistan, under the watchful eye of
Washington, prepared for its second national election since the U.S.
invasion of 2001, we sat down with Shazia, a Kabul resident and member
of the powerful organization RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the
Women of Afghanistan. We wanted to ask her about the current situation
in her country, and the experiences of women under the regime of Hamid
Karzai and his American backers.
The official results of Afghanistan's presidential elections won't be known for weeks. The ballots cast around the country need to be brought to Kabul — some by donkey and helicopter — and counted. Nevertheless, U.S.
