The Pentagon has quietly eliminated troop statistics for Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria from its website, according to the Military Times. The Department of Defense's quarterly troop statistics, released in December, now has blank spaces for those Middle Eastern countries. The Military Times in December reported that the now-missing Defense Manpower Data Center data showed the U.S. had 26,000 troops total in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria — more than 15,000 troops in Afghanistan, more than 1,700 in Syria, and nearly 9,000 in Iraq. Now, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan have an asterisk by their names, denoting, "With ongoing operations any questions concerning DoD personnel strength numbers are deferred to OSD Public Affairs/Joint Chiefs of Staff." The statistics on those countries are now also missing from the September 2017 report. The Defense Manpower Data Center has yet to release its most recent quarterly report, which is late. President Trump Trump has expressed his desire … [Read more...] about Pentagon takes down troop numbers in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan: Report
Afghanistan
ISIS fanatics in Afghanistan burn children’s games like Snakes and Ladders as warped jihadis claim they’re anti-Islamic
LOOPY ISIS clerics have a new enemy in their sights - Snakes and Ladders. Religious hardliners in the regime’s stronghold in Afghanistan have branded innocent kiddies’ games "anti-Islamic". ISIS has released pictures taken by the group’s Hisba religious police in the country's remote Khorasan province of Snakes and Ladders, draughts and chess boards going up in flames. Elsewhere they have also been burning fields where farmers grow poppies and cannabis plants for the international drugs trade. ISIS fighters in Khorasan – close to the border with Pakistan – call themselves IS-KP. The pictures were said to have been taken in Nangarhar, which is under the group's control. In recent months ISIS's propaganda arm has been releasing a flurry of pictures showing its hardline activities – including gruesome execution videos. It is believed the group's ranks in Afghanistan have been swelled by ISIS fighters and leaders fleeing the battlefields in Syria and … [Read more...] about ISIS fanatics in Afghanistan burn children’s games like Snakes and Ladders as warped jihadis claim they’re anti-Islamic
Pakistani prime minister in Afghanistan to ease tensions
Updated 11:41 pm, Thursday, April 5, 2018 Photo: Anjum Naveed, AP Image 1of/1 CaptionClose Image 1 of 1 FILE - In this July 31, 2017 file photo, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrives at the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan. The foreign ministry says Abbasi will travel to the Afghan capital for a daylong visit on Friday, April 6, 2018 to discuss a range of issues, including how to facilitate talks between Kabul and the Taliban. less FILE - In this July 31, 2017 file photo, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrives at the Parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan. The foreign ministry says Abbasi will travel to the Afghan capital for a ... more Photo: Anjum Naveed, AP Pakistani prime minister in Afghanistan to ease tensions 1 / 1 Back to Gallery KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Pakistan's … [Read more...] about Pakistani prime minister in Afghanistan to ease tensions
The Italian ‘injecting hope’ in Afghanistan
Alberto Cairo (centre) with a patient in Afghanistan. Physiotherapist Alberto Cairo has spent more than two decades working with the Red Cross in Afghanistan. He talks to The Local about regime change, rehabilitation and the man who changed his life. Alberto Cairo heads up the International Committee of the Red Cross’ (ICRC) orthopaedic programmes in Afghanistan, overseeing the organization’s work with people suffering from physical disabilities. Based in the country’s capital Kabul, he oversees a nationwide team of 750 that sees hundreds of patients every day. December 3rd marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities, giving The Local the chance to find out how Italians are making a difference. Speaking from Kabul, Cairo explains how he came to be in Afghanistan and what life is like working within the fragile state. How did you come to be in Afghanistan? One of my dreams was to be a physiotherapist and I liked travelling, so I thought why not … [Read more...] about The Italian ‘injecting hope’ in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s tobacco problem
Afghanistan's tobacco problem Author : Mohammad RazaiMohammad Razai BSc BA MB BChir MA, FRSA is a medical doctor and global health researcher. He was born in Afghanistan, trained at University of Cambridge and is currently practicing in London, UK. On a nonchalant spring morning a couple of yards from the stucco-walled hospital in downtown Kabul, a group of young men were sharing a cigarette under soaring sun-bleached poplar trees. Amidst tufts of grass, dandelions and wild flowers of the hospital lawn, cigarette butts were thrown casually, littering the spring landscape. The jaunty teenage boys puffing away on cheap cigarettes are the faces of Afghanistan's burgeoning tobacco epidemic. But what is the magnitude of the tobacco problem in Afghanistan? Is it possible to control it by conventional means in a country ravaged by rising insecurity, endemic corruption and crippling poverty?Afghanistan is home to one of the world’s highest death rates due to … [Read more...] about Afghanistan’s tobacco problem