AFGHANISTAN/US: Washington Ups the Ante

Despite growing domestic opposition to his plans for escalating U.S. military intervention in Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush is calling for a sharp increase in Washington's economic and military commitment to Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN: Most Italians Want to Quit

Fifty-six percent of Italians want Italian soldiers to leave Afghanistan, according to an opinion poll commissioned by the daily news online La Repubblica.

SOUTH ASIA: India Abandons the Raj Approach to Neighbours

India is fashioning a major shift in its relations with its smaller neighbours Bhutan and Nepal by revising bilateral treaties which embody asymmetry, inequality and imbalance.

PAKISTAN: By-election Test for Musharraf’s Afghan Policy

A parliamentary by-election in the Bajaur agency, scheduled for Wednesday, is turning out to be a test for Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s policy in the tribal areas that border Afghanistan and subjected to missile attacks by the United States military for harbouring al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

CHALLENGES 2006-2007: From Stockholm to Kandahar

As Canada's military looks to expand the size of its force, upgrade its equipment and increase its budget in the coming years, critics of the Canadian Armed Forces are worried that such moves would compromise the nation's traditional role as a peacekeeper and erode Ottawa's international stature as a middle power interested in promoting peace.

AFGHANISTAN: Frustration Mounts With Pace of Rebuilding

Five years after the ouster of the Taliban, Afghans remain broadly supportive of their government and the western forces that protect it, but that support appears to be slipping due primarily to frustration with the pace of reconstruction, according to a new survey released here this week.

PAKISTAN: ‘Gitmo Is Like Being Alive in Your Own Grave’

''Guantanamo brings images of a man in orange overalls, his face down and a soldier holding him by the neck, like a dog on a leash," says 14-year-old Zahra Paracha. "Animals are treated better,'' she tells IPS.

MEDIA-AFGHANISTAN: Speaking Up Against Domestic Violence

In Afghanistan's pervasive culture of violence, women and girls are powerless to resist being traded to settle family disputes and debts; rape and abduction; and forced marriages. Violence is widely tolerated by the community.

AFGHANISTAN: ‘Moderates, Not Military, May Win War on Terror’

NATO's struggle to defeat a rising insurgency in south and south-east Afghanistan along with its failure to secure additional troops at its summit in Riga are being promoted by many foreign policy experts as a failure for the grouping and a victory for the Taliban and other Islamic extremists.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: ‘War on Terror’ an Excuse for Disappearances

"A taste of their own medicine would be the best punishment for these people," says Mohammad Atif, 23, when asked how agents of the state who kidnapped and detained him for two years should be punished. "The only problem is no one can touch these people."

AFGHANISTAN: NATO Mission Sees Death Toll Zoom This Year

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's surprising claim that NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) troops are "winning" the military mission against the Taliban has to be verified on the ground in Afghanistan.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Reporting the Truth Can Be Fatal

''I just reported the truth,'' says 38-year-old Dilawar Wazir Khan wearily, explaining to IPS over the telephone why he was kidnapped and tortured.

AFGHANISTAN: Wage Hike as Anti-Corruption Move

The Hamid Karzai government has decided to raise the salaries of government employees in an attempt to rein in widespread corruption in Afghanistan.

DISARMAMENT: The Silent Killers in the World’s War Zones

When mortars and rockets fall silent in the world's battle zones, the killings do not necessarily end with ceasefires and peace talks.

AFGHANISTAN: NATO Strikes – Parliament to Probe Civilian Deaths

As concern mounts about increasing civilian casualties in bloody battles between coalition troops and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, a team of parliamentarians is preparing for an on-the-spot probe of non-combatant deaths in Panjwayi district.

AFGHANISTAN: Free Abducted Italian Journalist – Taliban Call

An Italian freelance photojournalist kidnapped in southern Afghanistan by unidentified gunmen should be immediately released, a Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday.

AFGHANISTAN: Hope Loses Out to Fear on Kabul Streets

Anxiety has replaced the hope of a new beginning in Afghanistan's turbulent history two years after Hamid Karzai was made president of the war-torn country with the support of a U.S.-led coalition.

POLITICS: Musharraf’s Memoir Sets Cats Among Pigeons

By launching his memoir amidst a two week-long high-powered publicity blitz across three continents, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has set a cat, or rather several cats, among the pigeons.

POLITICS-US: War on Terror Returning to Its Cradle

Five years after the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was putting the final touches on a brilliant campaign plan to oust the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies from power, Afghanistan is back in the headlines here, and the news isn't good.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Back in Business in Border Areas

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's controversial peace deal with Pakistan-based Taliban has already resulted in a new assertiveness by the ‘Islamic Scholars' in the Waziristan agency which borders Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN: Casualties Raise New Doubts in Italy

Italian politics is once again torn by bitter controversies over military presence in Afghanistan after 31-year-old Italian soldier Giorgio Langella was killed and another five were injured Sep. 26 near Kabul.