A suicide bomber killed an Afghan girl and an American woman and wounded five others in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. According to the Associated Press, the blast occurred in a busy shopping area popular with foreigners. The 23-year-old American woman who was killed, Jamie Michalsky, worked as a translator in Uzbekistan. She was in Afghanistan seeking […]
Women, Violence, and the Elections in Afghanistan
As he did in Thursday night’s debate, President Bush repeatedly refers to the number of people registering to vote in Afghanistan for the October 9 Afghan presidential election. Bush said, “Ten million citizens have registered to voteÉForty-one percent of those 10 million are women.” The Feminist Majority is closely following the election process and is […]
Representatives Question Security on Eve of Elections in Afghanistan
Members of the House International Relations Committee examined the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan during a hearing on US security policy in Afghanistan last Thursday. According to Chairman Henry Hyde’s (R-IL) opening statement, “While this is a commendable achievement and an important milestone in Afghanistan’s political reconstruction effort, it will only be a marred snapshot […]
Candidates Begin Campaigning for Afghanistan’s Presidential Elections
Despite threats from the Taliban to disrupt the upcoming elections in Afghanistan, campaigns for the first post-Taliban elections began today. A Taliban spokesman, Abdul Hakimi, stated that Taliban fighters would target all presidential candidates, parliamentary candidates running in April’s parliamentary elections, and anyone who voted, reports Reuter’s. In addition, the Taliban has been making recent […]
Voter Registration in Afghanistan Flawed
While reports show that there are over 10 million people registered to vote in Afghanistan’s October presidential elections, it has become evident that the election registration process is Afghanistan is seriously flawed. According to BBC News, this number greatly exceeds the total estimated number of eligible voters for the whole country. United Nations officials originally […]
Taliban Commits Deadly Attacks in Afghanistan
The American Security Company, Dyncorps Inc., suffered a deadly attack in Kabul by a car bomb killing ten people, including three Americans. Just hours later, nine people, eight of them children, were killed by a bomb that exploded outside of their school in Southeastern Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, the Taliban has claimed responsibility […]
Deployment of Extra Peacekeeping Troops to Afghanistan Still Unclear
Earlier this week, the French and German-led military unit, Eurocorps, took command of NATO peacekeeping forces (ISAF) in Kabul. The transition occurred two months before Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban elections are scheduled to take place. In June, NATO stated that it would increase the size of peacekeeping troops from 6,500 to 10,000 for the elections. It […]
Two Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan
In another deadly attack against civilians, two Afghans working for a German aid agency were killed in southeastern Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, a field officer and a driver working for the aid group Malester were killed in their car from gunshots. These murders were the latest in a string of deadly attacks on […]
Report: Afghanistan Could Implode With Terrible Consequences
A recent British Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs report asserts that the improvement of security in Afghanistan is one of the highest priorities in the world. The report concludes that more resources for the current International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are desperately needed. According to the report, “There is a real danger if these resources […]
At Least Two Killed at Polling Centers in Afghanistan, Aid Group Leaves
At least two people were killed, including a member of the Afghan election coordinating body, by an explosion at a polling center in Ghazni, Afghanistan. The United State’s military puts the number of Afghans killed at six, including two UN workers, while United Nations is reporting only two deaths. According to Reuters, Afghan authorities are […]
Bush Policies on Iraq and Afghanistan Fail Women
Several leading women’s groups released a scorecard grading the Bush Administration on its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan that affect women, including women’s political participation, health, and security. After announcing that President Bush received a “C” for rhetoric and an “F” for reality regarding women’s security in Afghanistan and Iraq, Eleanor Smeal, president of the […]
Two UN Elections Offices Attacked in Afghanistan
A United Nations Election Office located near Kabul, Afghanistan was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades early this morning. Another UN Election Office in Kandahar was attacked a few hours later, killing a policeman and injuring an election worker. According to Reuters, the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, said, “We are facing attacks– direct attacks […]
Security Situation Continues to Worsen in Afghanistan
Four Afghan civilians, including two children, were killed by a roadside bomb aimed at the international peacekeeping force (ISAF) in Afghanistan this week. According to IRIN News, the security situation is not improving as Afghanistan moves closer to the elections that are scheduled to occur in September. According to the acting chief of public information […]
US Watchdog Urges Improvement of US Strategy in Afghanistan
The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently issued a report stating that while US humanitarian and short-term assistance benefited Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, longer-term reconstruction projects achieved limited results due to late funding and lack of a comprehensive reconstruction strategy. The report, entitled “Afghanistan Reconstruction: Deteriorating Security and Limited Resources Have Impeded Progress; […]
Chinese Workers Latest Fatalities in Taliban Crusade to Derail Elections in Afghanistan
Yesterday, gunmen killed an Afghan guard and 11 Chinese road workers as they slept in the Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. The Associated Press reports that yesterday’s brutal attack was the deadliest on foreign civilians since the Taliban lost power. Four other Chinese workers who were injured in the attack are listed in stable condition. […]
Aid Workers Killed and Women Threatened in Afghanistan
Five humanitarian aid workers were killed a few months before the first elections in Afghanistan are to take place. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the murders. According to Reuters, three foreign and two Afghan staff members of Doctors Without Borders were killed in the northwestern province of Badghis on Wednesday. The attacks bring the […]
Representatives Raise Concerns About Lack of Security in Afghanistan
At yesterday’s House International Relations Committee hearing on US policy in Afghanistan, several Representatives pressed for more security and reconstruction funding in Afghanistan. Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the committee, fears that “we may be on the verge of losing the battle for a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan due to the lack of […]
Security Is Main Concern in Afghanistan
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on Afghanistan on Wednesday, several witnesses asserted that security is the main concern in Afghanistan. Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Group stated that efforts in Afghanistan “may fail because the administration has been unwilling to recognize the magnitude of threats which we face and to direct sufficient […]
Afghanistan’s Disarmament in Serious Jeopardy
The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan’s disarmament program is in “serious jeopardy.” According to UN News, the top UN official in Afghanistan warned that the disarmament program is in danger because of obstruction by militiamen in the country. According to the spokesperson for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, “the Afghan people […]
Ban on Female Singers Lifted in Afghanistan
After pressure from reformists in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s party, the ban on women performers on television and radio that was imposed last Friday was lifted. Female entertainers had been declared un-Islamic in the Southeastern province by the deputy provincial governor of Nangarhar. The provincial government ordered state-run television in Jalalabad to stop broadcasting Afghan […]