Afghanistan News

Australia urges Europe to do more in Afghanistan

SYDNEY (AFP) — Europe should deploy more troops to the dangerous southern regions of Afghanistan, Australia’s foreign minister said Friday as the country mourned its second soldier killed there in three weeks. Alexander Downer said Australia would welcome forces from NATO’s European members joining them in southern Afghanistan, the former …

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NATO ‘losing’ fight in Afghanistan

NATO has “lost” its military campaign in Afghanistan, a former UN envoy warned Thursday, as Britain’s prime minister met his Afghan counterpart and coalition defense ministers struggled with strategies in the war-ravaged country.    

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Ottawa lobbying NATO allies for help in Afghanistan

Canada is putting pressure on individual NATO allies for support in southern Afghanistan, but no definite troop commitments have been made. “They will be badgering, questioning, pushing France, Italy, Spain and other countries to get involved in the south, to take on a much stronger combat role,” CTV’s Paul Workman …

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War cost in Afghanistan, Iraq could go to $2.4 trillion in next decade

WASHINGTON | The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could total $2.4 trillion in the next decade, according to a nonpartisan budget analysis issued Wednesday. The White House dismissed the figures from the Congressional Budget Office as hypothetical. “We are on an unsustainable fiscal path, and something has …

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NATO under pressure for more Afghan troops

The United States will lead pressure on European allies to supply more troops and equipment to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan at NATO talks on Wednesday but could come away frustrated, alliance sources said. Defence chiefs will however reaffirm their commitment to maintaining a 17,000-strong peace force in the breakaway …

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NATO defense talks likely to focus on Afghanistan, Turkey

The mounting tension on Turkey’s border with Iraq and U.S. demands for European allies to do more in Afghanistan are expected to dominate a meeting of NATO defense ministers opening Wednesday in the Netherlands. Although not on the official agenda, the situation on Turkey’s southeastern frontier risks overshadowing the two-day …

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