Suicide bomber kills 6 in Kabul hospital attack

KABUL: A Taliban suicide bomber targeting NATO medical trainers infiltrated Kabul’s main military hospital on Saturday and blew himself up in a tent full of Afghan medical students eating lunch, killing six and wounding 23.

No foreign medical doctors or nurses were among the dead or wounded, Afghan and NATO officials said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting foreign trainers and Afghan doctors who work with them. He claimed two bombers took part, but Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zaher Azimi spokesman said only one attacker was involved and only one blast was heard at the Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital.

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French bread and croissants in Kabul

On the wall of Le Pelican cafe in Kabul's dusty suburbs are photographs showing a baker's dozen of Afghan children beaming over a tray of pastries fresh out of the huge oven behind them.

Nearby shelves are stacked with their wares - croissants, pains au chocolat, baguettes, apple and peach tarts and turnovers, sugar cookies, a variety of breads - which teenagers Habib and Zahir carefully put in paper bags for enthusiastic customers.

In a city that has little trace of the sophistication of its past, Le Pelican Boulanger is more than just a welcome oasis for an expatriate community living and working as if under siege.

The cafe's French owners, Jacques and Ariane Hiriart, have built it from scratch to educate children from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara community, who have long suffered discrimination and exclusion.

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Russia eyes a Soviet-era Kabul icon

Bombed hollow and bullet scarred, the ruins of Russia's Cultural Centre stagger over Kabul like a modern day Ozymandias, warning would-be imperialists of the perils of meddling in Afghanistan.

Amid burgeoning nostalgia for what the Soviets achieved, disillusionment at Nato failures and the looming prospect of an American withdrawal, Moscow has decided to tear down the ruins and reassert its presence in Kabul once more.

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Fresh protests in Kabul over Koran burning

KABUL (AFP) – Fresh protests erupted in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday 5th April over the burning of a Koran by a US pastor, taking angry and violent demonstrations into a fifth day, an AFP photographer said.

Several hundred people gathered at Kabul University chanting "death to America" and "we want the burner of the Koran to be tried" in the wake of previous protests which have left 24 people dead, including seven UN staff.

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NATO forces repel attack on Kabul base

KABUL, Afghanistan – Three insurgents attacked a NATO base on the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital Saturday but were killed by coalition forces before they could enter the compound, NATO and Afghan police said.

NATO told The Associated Press in an email that three of its soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack against Camp Phoenix, but that their injuries were not serious. The coalition said at least one attacker was possibly wearing a suicide vest. It added that the attack had ended.

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6 French soldiers injured by suicide bomber

PARIS - The French military says six of its soldiers were lightly wounded in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber blew up his car near their transport vehicle on 30th March 2011.

Military spokesman Thierry Burkhard says Wednesday's attack also lightly wounded four Afghans, three of them children. The attacker was driving a car filled with explosives.

The attack took place in the Tagab region of Kapisa province, east of Kabul.

U.S Embassy Kabul - security contractor fired

The U.S State Department has fired a contractor hired to provide security at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, less than six months after the company won the $274 million job.

The department ended its agreement for embassy security with EOD Technology of Lenoir City, Tenn., because the company was not going to be able to start work on May 1, as the contract required, the State Department said Thursday in a statement.

ArmorGroup North America will continue to guard the embassy for at least the next four months until a replacement for EOD Technology is found.

The State Department said in 2009 that it would not renew its contract with ArmorGroup after its guards were caught engaging in lewd behavior and drinking excessively at their living quarters.

Two die in suicide attack at Kabul shopping mall

Two people were killed today (14th Feb) in a suicide bombing at a shopping mall that is frequented by foreigners in Kabul, officials said.

The blast happened in Charrahi Ansari area in downtown Kabul. City Center is a shopping mall frequented by foreigners and wealthy Afghans.

Private security personnel guarding the Kabul City Centre shot at the attacker after he tried to enter the mall, said Zamarai Bashiri, Interior Ministry spokesman.

'The bomber managed to explode his vest, and two guards were martyred,' Bashiri said. Two more people were injured.

Mohammad Zahir, head of the criminal investigative department of the Kabul police, said his forces were trying to find out if more bombers were inside the building.

Two police helicopters were hovering over the area while roads to the Share-e-Naw area, where the mall is located, were cordoned off by security forces.

The attack came two days after five bombers attacked police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing 21 people and injuring at least 60.

Afghan police recruits graduate

KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 7) – Afghan Uniform Police recruits completed an eight-week basic training course with a graduation ceremony at the Joint Security Academy Southwest here, Feb. 3.

During the two-month course the students learned the techniques and skills necessary to become effective police officers.

“You’ve learned policing skills, you’ve learned combat skills and many of you have learned to read and write,” said Lt. Col. Marcus Williams, commanding officer, JSAS, during his graduation speech. 
 

Embrace Islam or face gallows: Afghan worker told

An Afghan Red Cross activist, who had embraced Christanity, faces death sentence handed down by a court in Afghanistan.

Physiotherapist Said Musa, 45, will be executed within three days, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

Local government chief killed in east Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – Gunmen disguised as soldiers killed a local government chief on his way to work in Afghanistan's volatile east Monday, according to officials.

The acting chief of Khost province's Bak district was shot by four men wearing Afghan national army uniforms as he was driving from his home to the office at about 9 in the morning, provincial police chief Abdul Hakim said.

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Afghan president critical of aid bypassing Kabul

AFGHAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai has said that western allies were compounding his country’s corruption problems with “parallel structures” of direct aid and private security firms.

Mr Karzai told the Munich Security Conference he would commence a three-year transition of power into Afghan hands on March 21st, the Afghan new year.

However, he complained that his efforts to “focus on the drivers of corruption” were being undermined by western dealings with regional leaders that bypass Kabul.

Read full story at Irish Times

Canada's hired guns in Afghanistan

OTTAWA - Canada spent more than $41 million on hired guns in Afghanistan over four years, much of it going to security companies slammed by the U.S. Senate for having warlords on the payroll.

Both the Defence and Foreign Affairs departments have employed 11 security contractors in Kabul and Kandahar since 2006, but have kept quiet about the details.

Now documents tabled in Parliament at the request of the New Democrats provide the first comprehensive picture of the use of private contractors, which have been accused of adding to the chaos in Afghanistan.

Read more at Yahoo