30 April 2010

Afghan Feminists Fighting from Under the Burqa, The Guardian, 30 April 2010 

EXCERPT: "Feminists in Afghanistan are forced to operate as underground movement, often using the burqa as a convenient disguise. As a committed feminist, there are few symbols of women's oppression that Parween hates more than the burqa. But compromises are necessary in a country where fighting for women's rights can be a controversial and dangerous...

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30 April 2010

Al-Qaeda's Allies: Explaining the Relationship Between Al-Qaeda and Various Factions of the Taliban After 2001 [pdf], New America Foundation, 19 April 2010

EXCERPT: "While al-Qaeda fighters continue to cooperate with the Taliban on a tactical level, al-Qaeda and the Quetta Shura have diverged strategically since 2001. This development can be ascribed to al-Qaeda's relocation to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2001?2002?hundreds...

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30 April 2010

Reckless Private Security Companies Anger Afghans, The Associated Press, 30 April 2010

EXCERPT: "Private Afghan security guards protecting NATO supply convoys in southern Kandahar province regularly fire wildly into villages they pass, hindering coalition efforts to build local support ahead of this summer's planned offensive in the area, U.S. and Afghan officials say. The guards shoot into the villages to intimidate any potential...

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30 April 2010

Afghanistan Forces Face Four More Years of Combat, Warns NATO Official, The Guardian, 29 April 2010

EXCERPT: "British and other foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan face a 'very tough' time ahead and can expect to be engaged in a combat role for three or four more years, Nato's most senior civilian official in the country said today. Mark Sedwill, a former UK ambassador to Afghanistan, warned of further troop deaths in the region, saying:...

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