Helmand province

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US Soldier Killed in Taliban Attack

2 others wounded in Helmand province on Tuesday: officials

(Newser) - An American Special Ops soldier was killed and at least two Americans were wounded in Afghanistan on Tuesday, reports Fox News . Officials say forces were taking part in a counter-terrorism mission near Marjah in Helmand province when they were targeted by Taliban fighters, per NBC News , which was first to...

With US Gone, Afghans Struggle to Keep Taliban at Bay

1.3K killed between June and November in Helmand province: report

(Newser) - Following the departure of most US forces from Afghanistan, clashes between its security forces and the Taliban have been renewed, with brutal fighting returning to areas that had been comparatively quiet, the New York Times reports. From June to November, some 1,300 members of Afghan security forces were killed...

Taliban Attack Kills 12 Demining Workers

2 US soldiers shot dead elsewhere in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Taliban fighters shot dead at least 12 workers clearing mines today in southern Afghanistan, authorities said, part of a series of attacks that saw two US troops killed and a top Afghan court official gunned down. Security in the capital, Kabul, has been stepped up amid Taliban warnings that attacks...

Marine Faces Discharge for Warning About Child Rapist

Jason Brezler sent classified info, turned himself in

(Newser) - Jason Brezler is a highly decorated Marine Corps reserve officer, and has served four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq over 13 years. But now he faces "other than honorable" discharge, and all because he tried to warn his colleagues in Afghanistan about a child rapist, CNN reports. During his...

Military Will Never Use New $34M Afghanistan Base

Critics say it's the most glaring boondoggle in a war full of them: Washington Post

(Newser) - When a two-star general visited the new 64,000-square-foot US military headquarters building at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan, he was impressed. It's "better appointed than any Marine headquarters anywhere in the world," he tells the Washington Post , before adding, "What the hell were they thinking?"...

Taliban: We'll Kidnap or Kill Prince Harry

Prince stationed in volatile province for four month tour

(Newser) - The Taliban is hell-bent on harming Prince Harry during his latest combat tour in Afghanistan. "We are using all our strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping," a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban told Reuters today. "We have informed our commanders in Helmand...

Afghan Soldier Kills 2 US Troops ... Accidentally?

10 Afghan troops dead in separate incident

(Newser) - Two more US troops were killed in Afghanistan by an Afghan soldier today, and while this brings the number of Americans killed at their colleagues' hands in August to 12, Afghan officials say these deaths were actually accidental. An Afghan army rep tells the AP that US and Afghan soldiers...

Taliban Beheads 17 Over Afghan Music Event

Victims were celebrating with instruments, dancing

(Newser) - Taliban insurgents beheaded 17 men and women yesterday for participating in a music event in Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials report. The decapitations occurred after people gathered for a celebration, and were playing music and dancing, according to the chief of the Musa Qala government. They were apparently punished for...

Twin Afghan Bombings Kill at Least 18

Both attacks targeted gov't buildings, including police station in Helmand

(Newser) - Two suicide bombings in Afghanistan killed at least 18 people today, including eight policemen in an attack on a police station in southern Helmand province, reports the AP . Three men with bombs tried to enter a police station. Police spotted the attack and killed one man, but the other two...

6 UK Troops Believed Killed in Afghan Blast

Could be largest loss of life for British forces since 2006

(Newser) - Six British soldiers were believed killed after an explosion hit their armored vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said today. If confirmed, it would be the biggest loss of life for British forces in the country since a plane crash in 2006 killed 14. The soldiers were...

Taliban Hangs 8-Year-Old Afghan Boy

Father refused to give militants a police vehicle

(Newser) - The Taliban has hanged an 8-year-old boy, in tragic retribution after the boy's cop father refused to give militants a police vehicle, reports CNN. The child was kidnapped Friday in the southern province of Helmand, and killed at an unknown point after that. President Hamid Karzai condemned the boy'...

NATO Sorry for Afghan Civilian Deaths

Insurgents hid in a civilian compound, says NATO commander

(Newser) - NATO apologized earlier today for an airstrike that killed at least nine civilians in the insurgent-plagued Helmand province of Afghanistan, reports AP . "I want to offer my sincere apologies for the nine civilians who were killed during the incident in Nawzad district, Helmand province," said the southwest regional...

Loyal Dog Follows Soldier to Death

 Loyal Dog Follows 
 Soldier to Death 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 13, 2011 4:04 PM CDT

Loyal Dog Follows Soldier to Death

They'll rest in peace together, says pal of Liam Tasker, Theo

(Newser) - A soldier's loyal bomb-sniffing dog died just hours after his master was killed in an Afghanistan firefight, and his family believes the pooch died from a broken heart. British Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, was shot dead in Helmand Province with his springer spaniel, Theo, at his side. Theo had...

US Sending Tanks to Afghanistan for First Time

The 68-ton machines have a main gun that can destroy a home a mile away

(Newser) - The US military is deploying a company of heavily armored tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, in response to the ever-more intense opposition NATO is encountering from the Taliban. Marines in the southwest will get a batch of M1 Abrams tanks, which will allow them...

Entire Afghan Police Station Defects to Taliban

19 cops cut a deal with insurgents, sack, burn station

(Newser) - An entire Afghan police station defected to the Taliban today, with as many as 19 officers joining insurgent fighters in sacking and burning their own station, the New York Times reports. The lone remaining cop of the station southwest of Kabul—the chief—said that the turncoats took their guns,...

July Deadliest Month for US in Afghanistan

Three more American deaths bring total to 63

(Newser) - Three US service members have been killed in blasts in Afghanistan, bringing the toll for July to at least 63 and making it the deadliest month for American forces in the war. The three died in two separate blasts in southern Afghanistan yesterday. US and NATO commanders had warned that...

Afghans: NATO Strike Targeted Civilians

Villagers: 52 civilians killed in Helmand skirmish

(Newser) - Amidst the flood of leaked news of previously unreported civilian casualties in Afghanistan, angry Afghans say a NATO rocket attack on their Helmand province town on Friday deliberately targeted civilians, killing 52. "The foreign forces could see us," a villager who claims 17 members of his extended family...

Afghan Cops Kill 64 in Drug Busts

36K pounds of narcotic seized in Helmand raid

(Newser) - Afghan cops say they have killed 64 militants and drug traffickers during a 3-day operation in Helmand province, according to law enforcement authorities. Ten other people were arrested and 36,000 pounds of narcotics were seized, along with weapons and suicide vests. Afghan authorities said that the dozens of people...

Pilot Shot in Head Still Lands With Afghan Injured

Hangs onto controls with blood in his eyes

(Newser) - A British pilot shot in the head managed to land his aging helicopter full of Afghanistan war wounded in a safe zone. Lt. Ian Fortune, 28, has ferrying wounded on a Chinook chopper last month when it suddenly "shuddered," said reporter Mike Brewer, who was on board doing...

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah
 Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah 
Feb 25, 2010 9:34 AM CST

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah

Government aims to win residents' allegiance with jobs, projects

(Newser) - The Afghan flag was raised today in Marjah after a two-week offensive that left at least 10 coalition troops and 150 Taliban fighters dead and set the stage for the Afghan government’s hopeful return to an area it ceded two years ago. The governor of Helmand province was at...

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