Freedom Expression in Afghanistan

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Freedom of _Expression in Afghanistan can be seen from two different points of view.
If we consider the current realities of Afghanistan as a mega picture, freedom of _expression will have but only a niche in it. A closer look will prove that such a freedom is associated with a range of factors and parameters.

Authorities' vision is quite dissimilar to the opinion of those liberals who have the experience of media undertaking. The State has formulated the rules of mass media in which freedom of _expression has significantly been safeguarded.

But, the implementation of such rules would be highly difficult. The culture of tolerance of opponents has not become institutionalized. There have a number of instances in which the 'official' guardians of freedom of _expression have not tolerated criticism of their deeds.

The most important evidence, showing lack of freedom of _expression and its representation in Afghanistan, is apparently unknown groups that can be termed as warlords or sometimes terrorists.

As a matter of fact, this country is at the edge of falling into the mafia trap. Some even believe that the present state is in the grips of Drug Mafia.

The blocking factor of freedom of _expression over the centuries and years has only and merely been the "Sharia-oriented vision by some religious leaders, who consider themselves as "commissioners of religion. They do misuse religious orders in line with their own benefits.

This group has many times prevented the establishment of freedom, and betrayed the public. Their opposition to Amanullah, a freedom-loving king, who freed his country from the British, made him to leave his country for good and curse it.
I think in order to overcome this obstacle; one has to take careful but strong steps. Any rapidity could result in a fresh disaster. Gone are the era of revolutions and insurgencies. One has to think of reforms, and try one's bests towards achieving freedom of thoughts and _expression.

Source: http://kabul2.blogsky.com

Afghan Blogger among 7 best blog in the WORLD

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Congratulation to all Afghan Bloggers, I have a good news today. Yesterday, I heard an Afghan Blogger Sohrab Kabuli the owner of http://kabul2.blogsky.com (Notes from Kabul) among among 60 blogs from International selected the best blog for defending the Freedom Expression.

This will be a good news for those Afghan who are defending the Freedom expression and censorships.
This also would be a good news for encouraging Afghan youths to join in Blog world. The thing which is very new in Afghan society it gives an idea to move for their developments.



Reporters Without Borders selected around 60 blogs that, each in their own way, defend freedom of expression. The organisation then asked Internet-users to vote for the prize-winners - one in each geographical category. More information about the Blog awards.

After two months of voting, here are the results :

ASIA
Screenshotswww.jeffooi.com
Country: Malaysia
Language: English

AFRICA AND MIDDLE
Shared Pains http://kabul2.blogsky.com
Country: Afghanistan
Language: Farsi
And
Al Jinanehttp://www.emarrakech.info/prana
Country: Morocco
Language: French

EUROPE
ICT lexhttp:/www.ictlex.net
Country: Italy
Language: Italian

AMERICAS
Press Think http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink
Country: United States
Language: English

IRAN
Mojtaba Saminejad http://8mdr8.blogspot.com
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi

INTERNATIONAL
Netzpolitikhttp://www.netzpolitik.org
Country: Germany
Language: German

Love you Angelina Jolie!

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“It is not a good idea” said Angelina Jolie, pretty Hollywood star and goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR. She was expressing her reaction over the idea of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to relocate the Afghan refugee camps out of Pakistan back into Afghanistan.

Angelina, who was in Pakistan on a four day mission to focus world attention toward the hundred thousands of Afghan refugees, feared that moving of the refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan would add the people’s suffering.Angelina Jolie is one of those female film stars who used to rule over the hearts of millions of the male spectators of Hollywood Movies. She is quite extraordinary as she made her first screen debut at the age of five, alongside her father in the Hal Ashby-directed comedy “Looking to Get Out”. She was 16 when she struck out on her own finding work as a professional model in London, New York and Los Angeles and appearing in music videos for the likes of Meatloaf, the Lemonheads, Lenny Kravitz and the Rolling Stones.1993 she started her professional carrier as film star from “Cyborg II, Glass Shadow”. Then a series of blockbuster movies like “Leg”, “Playing God”, “Pushing Tin”, “Original sin”, “Bone collector”, Tome raider” etc. booted up her status as one of the high profile actresses.She was named as the honorary ambassador for UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on 27th of August 2001 by Ruud Lubber UN high commissioner for refuges. Since that she has been helping refugees in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cambodia and Pakistan. Another worth mentioning point is that Angelina covers all costs related to her missions and shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff. She has been proved to be a committed and devoted ambassador for UNHCR.

Covering her hairs by traditional shawl during her visit to a refugee camp near Peshawar said that she was dismayed by the lack of funds spent on education. She further said there was a need to boost development efforts in Afghanistan as fast as possible, "especially in the rural areas so that people can return to their homes." According to the UN officials Pakistan is receiving $12 million per year as aid for around one million refugees in the various camps around Pakistan.More then two decades of chaos forced hundred thousands of our country fellows to leave Afghanistan and shelter themselves mostly in neighboring countries Pakistan and Iran. Though the number of refugees in Pakistan has been a political issue rather then a technical one but still a big number of Afghans are living in Pakistan’s refugee camps without any doubt. Their life conditions according to reports are not very good and need to be improved. UN says over 2.3 million of refugees have already repatriated home and in spite of the undesirable condition another 400,000 are expected to return to their home this year.After Presidential Elections and formation of his technocrat cabinet a wave of hope is created in the hearts of hundred thousands of people for a better and safe future. Afghan started looking forward toward a news Afghanistan based on mutual respect and golden principles of coexistence. Afghan started dreaming to live in a completely new and democratic society. Soon after snow melt and start of spring a series of bloody battles and lose of tens of people from the both sides of Taliban/al Qaeda and coalition/Government forces once again made worried the innocent people who didn’t yet completely waken from their sweat dream. The level if insurgency will certainly affect the repatriation of refugees back to their home. At least the refugees belong to the South and Eastern parts of country, the areas which are supposed to be the strong holds of Taliban and al Qaeda militants. But still the hope is still alive that Afghanistan will never go back to that disastrous period which remains always as the spot on the recent history of our country.

Afghans as well as the international community are not going to allow the situation to be worsened as it was in early nineties. Anyhow the valuable work of Angelina Jolie for deprived refugees throughout the world and specifically Afghan refugees who the part of our existence and we are incomplete with them. We appreciate all your efforts Angelina Jolie and respect all your emotions for our homeless brothers and sisters.Angelina jolie please allow us to tell you that “WE LOVE YOU”. And wish you good luck in every walk of life.

Senseless Killing US soldiers

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On Monday, a suicide car bombing in the city of the Kandahar killed five US soldiers. This was the second of such attack in as many weeks. Although afghan and US officials insisted that only five soldiers were injured in the latest in string of assaults in the former Taliban stronghold, independent sources claimed five American soldiers were killed in the bombing of the convoy on the Kandahare – Heart Highway.

Mohammad Ayub Salangi, the chief of police for the province said the attack which involved a taxi drove and crashed into the coalition forces. He added it was a suicide bombing that left the attacker’s body blown to pieces. But the US led coalition force’s spokeswomen in Kabul, Cindy Moore said only four soldiers had been wounded in the attack.

The Taliban, on the other hand, claimed that at leas 10 people were killed in the blast. Their spokesman spoke to Media news agency and claimed responsibility for the attack. Wherever, the casualty figure, the result is more killing of young soldiers by the extremists who claim to do it in the name of Islam.

Suicide Bomber killed Four US troops...

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Four US troops were killed when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-packed car into an American military convoy in the troubled southern Kandahar province on Monday.

Afghan and US officials insisted only five soldiers were injured in the latest in a string of assaults in the former Taliban stronghold, but independent sources claimed five American soldiers were killed in the bombing of the convoy on the Kandahar-Herat Highway.

Provincial police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi said to Media the attack - involving a taxi car crashed into the coalition forces' convoy - took place near the mausoleum of Mir Wais Baba. He added it was a suicide bombing that left the attacker's body blown to pieces.

Salangi continued the injured were shifted to hospital before his arrival on the spot. "I have unconfirmed reports that five soldiers have been killed," he informed.
But coalition forces' spokeswoman in Kabul Cindy Moore said only four soldiers had been wounded in the attack. "They have been shifted to hospital for medical treatment and investigations are underway."

She explained the coalition forces were conducting a routine patrol when an improvised explosive device hit their convoy, wounding four US service members. According to the spokeswoman, the injured were evacuated to the Kandahar airfield.

In media, Colonel James Yonts of the US army described the soldiers as members of a provincial reconstruction team (PRT) assigned with civil-military aid work in the restive region.

"One of the four wounded is in a serious condition," he revealed, saying the victims were receiving medical attention at the Kandahar airfield." Yonts would not conjecture as to who might have mounted the daring assault.

However, Kandahar city police chief General Salem Ihsas, without elaborating his assertion, told Media charred body parts of the bomber suggested he was an Arab national.
A senior intelligence official in Kandahar divulged the explosive-packed car hit the convoy carrying officials of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), killing two people and wounding three others. He believed the attacker was an Arab.

Witnesses said three of the injured soldiers were carried on stretchers into a military helicopter while another two choppers were hovering over the area. Soon after the explosion, coalition military vehicles rushed to the site, they claimed.
No one has so far accepted responsibility for the deadly attack. But Taliban have stepped up violence in the south to disrupt the upcoming parliamentary polls scheduled for mid-September.
At least 13 US soldiers have been killed since March in attacks in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, months after top American commanders claimed the Taliban-led insurgency was fast running out of steam.

Ancient town discovered in Afghanistan

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Archeologists have discovered an ancient town in the Nirk district of the central Wardak province.

The town, as old as 200 AD, has been unearthed in Alghata Hill at Dadil village, 50 kilometres west of here. The town is spread over about one and half kilometre area, provincial authorities informed.

Zalmai Mayar, head of the provincial Information and Culture Department, has mentioned to media that the historical site was unearthed on May 24 as a result of a joint survey launched by the UNICSO, Afghanistan Archeology Institute and French Embassy in 2003.

"Forty-five workers took part in the excavation following the discovery of the town," Mayar said, adding walls were engraved with different kinds of paintings. He reckoned it would take about six months to fully unearth the site.

He said 19 of the 40 surveys carried out in different parts of the country had proved successful thus far while chances of discovery of more archeological sites were bright

Italian aid worker freed after 24 days in captivity

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Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni was set free by her kidnapper late Thursday night and handed over to Italian Embassy officials in Kabul.

Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told a clutch of hard-nosed journalists at 10.10pm: "We are glad announcing that her release has finally been secured after long-drawn-out negotiations."

He thanked the Afghan people including religious scholars, widows and tribal elders for their support in realizing the objective. "Throughout the whole episode, we preferred peaceful means of resolving the crisis with a view to ensuring the hostage's safety."


Cantoni also spoke to her parents, friends and family members following her release, the minister said, assuring the government was determined to stone-wall such incidents in future.

"Clinging to our policy we have made no concessions at all, much less pay ransom, to criminals," Jalali asserted, reiterating all possible measures would be taken to block a repeat of such incidents.

Senior intelligence officer at Interior Ministry Jalili earlier confirmed the aid worker had been freed. "All I can tell you is that she has been released," he snapped without elaborating.

Sources disclosed former Kunar governor Malik Mohammad Zarin had played a crucial role in securing the release of the 32-year-old CARE International worker, who was snatched from her car in the heart of the Afghan capital city on May 16.

Approached for comments, Malik Zarin claimed after several rounds of parleys, kidnapper Taimoor's mother was freed around sundown ahead of Cantoni's freedom. "Taimoor had only one demand, which was met to pave the way for Cantoni being set at liberty," the then governor said, adding not even a single penny had been paid in ransom.

Sources familiar with the marathon, tenuous negotiations confided to Media the woman was in good health, "though she appeared a touch pale and enervated." They refused to be dragged into discussing the nuts and bolts of the talks, which remained shrouded in secrecy.

An Interior Ministry statement released hours before the anxiously-awaited development predicted the crisis would soon come to a peaceful end. "We are now 24 days into this crisis, and are hopeful it will end peacefully," Lutfullah Mashal observed.

He continued the government was in regular contact with the kidnapper and Cantoni's safe release remained its top priority all through the sordid saga.

She has been in Afghanistan over the last three years working for the rehabilitation of war victims including widows and children. It will be pertinent to recall that she had been abducted from Qila-i-Moosa district of Kabul.

The Italian embassy in Afghanistan and the Karzai government ran a hectic campaign, distributing posters and stickers bearing Cantoni's photographs with Afghan women and children.

Published in Pashto and Dari languages, the posters urged people to share information, if any, with the government about the Italian national. A day earlier, Kabul schoolgirls held out stickers seeking public help for Cantoni's release.

source: Pajhwak

Woman threatened to stay at home

Female aid workers in Pul-e-Khumri city in Baghlan province have been advised to stay at home after three women were found hanged by the neck on Monday morning in the centre of the city.
The bodies had a letter attached threatening women working for foreign aid organisations, according to local sources. One of the three was identified as being involved with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the second was a local civil servant .The third remains unidentified according to Baghlan deputy governor, Daulat Mohammad Rafee, said to Media.

Silent Atom for Human-being!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Massive Explosion in Kandahar Mosque

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Scores of people including the Kabul police chief were killed and wounded in a massive suicide bombing in the southern Kandahar city Wednesday morning, witnesses and security officials said.

The bomb went off with a big bang inside the Abdul Rab Akhunzada Mosque at 9:00am when a large number of people including senior government officials were performing qul for the Kandahar Ulema Council leader Mullah Abdullah Fayyaz.

Giving an eyewitness account, Mohammad Essa told Pajhwok Afghan News Kabul police chief Gen. Mohammad Akram Khakrezwal, widely respected for his commitment to boosting security in the Afghan capital city, was among the fatalities.

Khakrezwal had gone to the Taliban stronghold to participate in the soyem for the pro-government religious scholar, who was gunned down by two unidentified motorcyclists in the increasingly shambolic city on Sunday.

Although the killing of Khakrezwal is yet to be confirmed officially, a knowledgeable source in the Interior Ministry revealed the senior police officer was among the victims. "Yes, we have received reports that Khakrezwal has perished in the blast," he said on condition of anonymity.

According to participants of the religious ceremony, the explosion jolted the mosque as soon as a man clad in military fatigues entered the premises. "Pools of blood and charred human body parts could be seen all over the place, as the injured screaming out in terror ran for the exit," an eyewitness claimed.

Abdul Jabbar, a doctor at Kandahar's Mirwais Hospital, confirmed they had received 16 dead bodies and 30 injured people, some of them in critical condition. He feared the death toll could go up as many of the injured including government officials were in serious condition.

Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal put the number of fatalities at more than 30, but witnesses claimed the toll could be even higher because "we saw nearly 33 bodies." Up to 70 people were inside the worship-place to offer prayers for the renowned scholar at the time of the bombing.

Soon after Maulvi Fayyaz's slaying vehemently denounced by President Hamid Karzai as a cowardly act, Taliban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi had claimed responsibility for the killing.
Just a week earlier, the ousted student militia had threatened to kill ulema drumming support for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for September 18.

It will be pertinent to explain Gen. Akram Khakrezwal was appointed as Kabul police chief two months back. His resolute stance against armed gangs, bandits and anti-state elements earned him a robust reputation for professional integrity.

In the Taliban era, he had served as Helmand police chief, a province out of the student militia's control at that time. Before assuming charge of office in Kabul, he headed the Balakh police force.

The son of Haji Shahjehan, Khakrezwal was born in Kandahar. After college education, he underwent top-level police training and held a number of senior positions.

news source: pajhwak


Related links:

27 killed in Afganistan Mosque blast

20 killed in bomb explosion in southern Afghanistan
china news

Up to 40 killed in Kandahar explosion
Japan today

17 Killed in blast inside Afghan Mosque
star tribune

More than 30 killed in bomb explosion in south Afghanistan: official

30 die in Kandahar mosque blast

What Alternative i have???

19 people arrested in PRT bombing...

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Police had arrested 19 people for allegedly bombing Baghlan-based Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which left two Dutch soldiers injured on Thursday.

Doutch Soldier Wounded BADLY!

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Yesterday on 26th May, two Dutch soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the northern Baghlan province on Thursday. The bomb was planted on the Pul-i-Khumri -Kunduz Highway.

The wounded soldiers were part of the Provincial Re-construction Team (PRT) working under the NATO-led international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan.

Still ther is now clear news from this incident but eyewitnesses said they heard a big bang and saw the soldiers' vehicle aflame.

As far as Karzai had an speach to Afghan Official for forgiving the Taliban leaders Mullah Mohammad Omar + Gulbidin Hikamtiar ( a Islamic fundamentalist leader). Talian increased thier atacks in highways and remote areas even for innocent people, they call them guilty to have help with government.

Vote for the first Afghan blogger to win the Blog Awards!

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Vote for the first Afghan Blogger!
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An Afghan blogger who blogs from inside Afghanistan is selected to International competition of Freedom Blog Awards in RSF.

Reporters Without Borders is calling on Internet-users to vote online for award-winners from among 60 blogs defending freedom of expression. There are six categories: Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, Europe, Iran and International: http://www.globenet.org/rsf/voteblog.php?cat=&lang=en

Blogs have become significant sources of news for millions of Internet-users. blogs can relay comments, articles and opinions that are not necessarily broadcasted by the major media. Although, weblogs are not a major medium of communication in Afghanistan but this demonstrates Afghans endeavor for freedom. Sohrab Kabuli (Pen name) http://kabuli.org has paid heavily for free expression.

Please take a moment and register your vote here:
To Vote: http://www.globenet.org/rsf/voteblog.php?cat=lang&id=4〈=en
To Vote: http://www.globenet.org/rsf/voteblog.php?cat=1〈=en

Select the "shared Pain"(http://www.kabuli.org); enter your E-mail address – it’s compulsory.

Each Internet-user may vote for only one blog in each category. Please note: your vote will only be counted if you click on the acknowledgement of receipt which will be sent by email. Voting closes on 1st June 2005 and the prize-winners will be announced two weeks later.

Related materials:
Afghan Journalists Awarded for their hard work towards free speech
Free Kambakhsh!
Eventi a cui ha partecipato Nasim Fekrat - Audio
Nasim in Val di Susa
Una mattina a Siena per la libertà in Afghanistan- Video+picture
Tactic: Afghan blogger wins free speech award

Why I am the Freedom of Expression Award Winner?

Afghan Lord awarded the freedom of expression blog awards in Reporters Without Borders.

Seven Afghan Killed in Highway

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Six Afghan aid workers were shot dead by suspected Taliban militants Thursday on the Kabul- Kandahar highway in the southern province of Zabul, when they were transporting a body of a man who was killed in neighbouring Helmand a day before.

Zabul governer said to media that this atack was from Taliban.
Officials have not as yet released the identity of the people killed in either incidents or the aid group they were working for.

The attack comes a day after three engineers, working for a US funded anti-drugs project in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, their driver and a policeman were ambushed and killed by suspected Taliban militia.

Officials added that the workers were involved in providing agricultural incentives to poppy farmer’s in the highest poppy yielding region in Afghanistan.
The bodies of the five people were transferred to hospital in Kalat city.

Italian Woman Kidnapped In Kabul

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Still no sign of Italian relief worker kidnapped in Afghan capital
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Four armed men dragged an Italian woman working for CARE International from her car in the center of Afghanistan's capital on Monday in a bold kidnapping that reinforced fears that militants or criminals are copying tactics used in Iraq.
The kidnapping followed warnings from security agencies that foreigners might be targeted in response to the arrest of a suspect in the kidnappings of three U.N. election workers last year.
A group of "thieves" claimed responsibility for the abduction of aid worker Clementina Cantoni, 32, said Gen. Jamil Jumbesh, head of the Interior Ministry's anti-terror division. He declined to say whether the group had made demands or give other details.
"Four men carrying Kalashnikovs bashed in the window of her car and took her away. They told the driver not to move or he would be shot," said CARE's director, Paul Barker.
The driver had just dropped a Canadian former CARE employee at a house in Kabul's downtown Shahr-e-Naw district when the kidnappers driving a sedan cut off the vehicle and abducted the Italian at about 8:30 p.m., Barker said. The kidnappers then drove toward a nearby Christian cemetery, he said.
Afghan authorities, including President Hamid Karzai, were quickly alerted to the kidnapping after the Canadian woman made a panicked call to Barker, the director said. She made it safely into the house but heard the attackers banging on the car, he said.
Marco Formigoni, a family friend, spoke to reporters outside the Cantoni family home in an upscale Milan neighborhood, relaying the family's hope "that this affair ends quickly and well."
Security forces manning checkpoints through the night found no trace of Cantoni, Gen. Mahboubullah Amiri, a police commander in the Afghan Interior Ministry, said Tuesday.
"They are searching cars and asking the drivers for their documents, but there are no positive signs so far," Amiri said.
It was the second kidnapping of a CARE worker by suspected militants in recent months. Margaret Hassan, the British director of CARE International in Iraq, was kidnapped in Baghdad in October and believed killed, although no body was recovered.
In Kabul, security forces immediately sealed off all main roads leading out of Kabul, said Jamil Khan, head of the criminal investigation department for the city's police. Officers stopped and searched cars in the city center, checking trunks and under seats.
"Police are trying very hard to produce some good news," Khan said.
Cantoni has lived in Afghanistan since 2002, said CARE, one of the largest and most established international aid groups in the country. The organization issued a brief statement calling for her release.
In Rome, the Italian foreign ministry said a crisis unit that has handled past abductions of Italians abroad was working on the case, and that Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini was following the situation.
Relations between the United States and Italy have been strained over the March 4 shooting death of Italian agent Nicola Calipari — who had just helped free an Italian hostage — by U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint in Baghdad.
The abduction follows a string of warnings to the roughly 3,000 foreigners living in Kabul that they could be targeted in attacks, including kidnappings.
On May 7, a suicide bomber blew himself up in an Internet cafe in the same area as Monday's abduction, killing a U.N. worker from Myanmar. Last month, an American civilian was briefly abducted in Kabul but escaped by throwing himself from a moving car.
Kabul had been largely free of the fear of the kind of kidnappings rife in Iraq until October, when three U.N. election workers — one each from the Philippines, Northern Ireland and Kosovo — were seized at gunpoint in the city. They were released unharmed a month later.
A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, though officials and diplomats have suggested criminals — possibly working for factions that oppose the growing authority of the U.S.-backed government — were responsible.
The kidnapping of Cantoni follows a series of violent anti-American protests in Afghanistan sparked by a report in Newsweek magazine alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had placed copies of the Quran in washrooms and had flushed one copy down the toilet to get detainees to talk.
The magazine said Monday it was retracting its report. Newsweek acknowledged Sunday there were errors in the story and said a government source told the magazine he could not now be sure that he saw an account of the toilet reference in a military report.
The report prompted demonstrations in dozens of Afghan cities, and about 15 people were killed in clashes with security forces. Protesters also attacked offices of the government, the United Nations and a string of foreign relief organizations.

By the Kabul River

Removing the Nave bar

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Hello! Finally i overcame to XML codes. I was trying to find out how to remove the Nave bar.

I really did not like to observe the Nave bar although i respect for Blogger service and did not remove the Blogger sign in the right side of my blog. If anyone need help for teachniclly to remove this things i hope to help him. (:

American Marines Killed

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Twenty-three combatants and two American Marines were killed in a fierce gun-battle in the eastern province of Laghman, the US military said on Monday.

The fatalities took place Sunday evening when the Marines - backed by warplanes - clashed with a group of 25 militants in a Laghman area, 50 kilometer northwest of Jalalabad, the military said in a press release issued here earlier.

US spokesman Col. James Yonts, without revealing as to how many suffered injuries in the intense fighting, put the death toll for the fighters at a dozen and said two Marines were also shot dead in the five-hour fight.

But a revised statement released to the media later in the day explained the Marines, after receiving intelligence, rushed to the area to flush out the rebels hiding there. As the soldiers maneuvered toward the insurgents, they came under attack with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

During the course of the fighting lasting five hours, the statement claimed, the fighters split into two groups - one fleeing to a nearby village and the other burrowing into a cave on a ridgeline.

In recent weeks, Taliban and their allies have stepped up attacks on Afghan army troops and US-led coalition forces in different parts of Afghanistan. Scores of combatants and 10 government soldiers were killed last week in fierce clashes in southern provinces, including a clash in Zabul.

Despite coalition forces' assertions that insurgents had been considerably weakened in the wake of crippling military operations, recent weeks have witnessed a palpable surge in violence.

Belying coalition claims, the fighters killed a US soldier in the central Uruzgan province on April 26 in a daring ambush, followed by two days of a high-casualty clash in Zabul.

Not having access to the Internet

Hello to all. I am sorry for not updating this page. I was not in Kabul and did not have access to the Internet. I went to remote area to visit a few friends who are working for a local radio station. I just opened this page now and realized, through page meter which counts numbers of visitors, that I have to regularly post things here, will do it regularly from now on.