Afghanistan News

Hundreds flee as battle looms in Afghan south

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Hundreds of families fled their homes in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday as foreign and Afghan forces prepare to drive out Taliban insurgents who have overrun several villages, officials and witnesses said. About 600 Taliban insurgents took over several villages in Arghandab district in the south on …

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Afghanistan and Iraq drive up global refugee toll

GENEVA (Reuters) – The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan drove up the number of world refugees for a second straight year in 2007, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said there were 11.4 million refugees under its responsibility at the end of 2007, …

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Afghanistan conference to raise cash and set strategy

PARIS (Reuters) – Ministers will pledge funds for Afghanistan and review their development strategy for the fragile Central Asian state at a donors conference which got underway in Paris on Thursday. More than six years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban regime that sheltered al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, …

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FACTBOX: Breakdown of troop numbers in Afghanistan

(Reuters) – Afghanistan meets international donors on Thursday in Paris, where President Hamid Karzai will ask for $50 billion to fund a development plan that his government has drawn up. Here is a breakdown of current national deployments within the 40-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which …

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Britain pledges $1.17 billion in Afghan aid

PARIS (Reuters) – Britain will provide about 600 million pounds ($1.17 billion) in reconstruction aid to Afghanistan through 2012/2013, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Thursday. “In the period up to 2012/13, the U.K. will be committing about 600 million pounds to the Afghan reconstruction effort,” Miliband told reporters …

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