Afghanistan Considered One of the Most Corrupt Countries
Region: AfghanistanBy Omid Bidar Afghanistan is considered the world's most corrupt country, ranking roughly on par with North Korea and Somalia in an annual survey [1] of 176 nations published on December 5 by Transparency International [2] (TI). TI is a Berlin-based global corruption watchdog that compiles annual corruption rankings. In the last year's survey [3], Afghanistan was slightly above North Korea and Somalia, tying with Myan... more
Views: 920"Silk Road" Plan Supported by US
Region: AfghanistanBy News Briefing Central Asia - News Briefing Central Asia The United States is calling for greater trade, transport and energy links between Central and South Asia, in a strategy it calls the “New Silk Road”. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton first raised the issue last year, and used a speech in Singapor... more
Views: 867Opium Production in Uruzgan Unchecked
Region: AfghanistanAuthorities say they are powerless to act even though they know opium poppy is being grown on large tracts of land. By Ezatullah Latifi - Uruzgan province in central Afghanistan is fast becoming a major source of opium, and local informal powerbrokers are making millions of dollars from the trade. The authorities appear powerless to act against ... more
Views: 970Afghan Commentators Not Enthused About Obama
Region: Afghanistan
More complaints than congratulations from local commentators. By Mina Habib Afghan commentators interviewed by IWPR greeted Barack Obama’s re-election as United States president with muted enthusiasm and a list of concerns about his record in his first term. Afghanistan did not figure large in Obama’s election campaign, and the perception in Kabul was that he was treating it a... more
Views: 960Afghanistan's Leather Trade
Region: AfghanistanAnimal skins are a top export, but traders say they will never make money unless the government kick-starts the tanning industry. By Golab Shah Bawar - Afghanistan Kamaluddin shouts at his team to load up the trucks as quickly as possibly so that they get on the road. By the afternoon, they should have made the run down from the... more
Views: 995China & Russia set to take more external miles!
Region: Afghanistan
Saeed Minhas Has Pakistan again been chosen by an arrangement of super powers of the world to become harbinger of a change for returning the world from uni-polar to a bi-polar status? More important than what the super powers are capable of and what they are planning for their ends is the fact that Pakistan is finding itself on just another cross-road. If one leads towards the bitter friends in far off lands, the... more
Views: 886Insider Attacks: Beginging of an end
Region: Afghanistan
Insider-attacks — beginning of the end Saeed Minhas Grisly figures of insider-attacks commonly known as green-over-blue incidents, reminded me of the prediction of Owais Ghani, one of those three in Pakistan’s history to have served as governor in both the forward posts of Afghan-Pakistan borders and under both dictatorial and civilian regimes, when he said in a typical whispering sound in 2009 th... more
Views: 867Experts Skeptical As U.S. Blacklists Militant Group
Region: AfghanistanPakistan’s secret service, not its proxies, is the real problem, Afghan experts say. By Hafizullah Gardesh Experts in Afghanistan say the United States decision to include the militant Haqqani network on the list of designated “foreign terrorist organisations” will have little effect on reducing insurgent attacks launched from neighbouring Pakista... more
Views: 988Major Public Hospital in Afghan Eastern Region Struggles to Cope
Region: AfghanistanBy Hijratullah Ekhtyar - Afghanistan Nangarhar doctors overstretched by swelling patient numbers and dearth of equipment. Mobin Khan’s 12-year-old son Samiullah clearly needs specialist medical help. Both his legs were broken in a car crash in 2010, and two years later he remains confined to a wheelchair. After a recent ... more
Views: 1327Afghan Parliament Questions Defense Failure to Counter Cross-Border Attacks
Region: Afghanistan
Ministers blamed for not doing enough to prevent rockets raining down from neighbouring Pakistan. By Hafizullah Gardesh, Mina Habib - Afghanistan’s defence minister Abdul Rahim Wardak has resigned after parliament called for him to go, along with Interior Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi. Wardak’s announcement on July 7 came four days af... more
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