10 killed, 17 hurt in Afghanistan blasts
Eight civilians and two police officers were killed when two mines planted in a playground went off Sunday in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, officials said.
The blasts in Arghandab district wounded 12 other civilians and five police officers, the country's interior ministry said.
The explosions took place during a picnic hosted by the former police chief of Arghandab district in the province, said the province's district governor.
No one immediately claimed responsibility.
"The leadership of Ministry of Interior strongly condemns the insurgent's un-Islamic and inhumane action," the ministry said. "The police have launched an investigation in to the case."
Inside an Afghan bank massacre
CNN's Phil Black reports on a Taliban-led massacre in an Afghan bank.
4 killed in Pakistan attacks targeting tankers carrying fuel for NATO
Four people were killed in northwest Pakistan Friday when more than two dozen armed attackers blew up oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan, police said.
Militants wielding automatic weapons first killed two guards at the main gate of a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar city, where 18 tankers were parked, senior police official Imtiaz Shah said.
The attackers then planted explosive devices under a dozen tankers, he said, and killed two drivers who were sleeping in the terminal.
About 15 tankers were damaged after catching fire in the blasts, which occurred around 2 a.m. Friday, Shah said.
Read the full storyAnger over plans for women's shelters
CNN's Phil Black reports from Afghanistan on the outrage over the government's plans to take over women's shelters.
Accused CIA contractor appears in Pakistan court
Raymond Davis, the American accused of killing two Pakistani men, appeared in a Pakistani court Friday where he was handed documents that detailed the case against him.
The court then adjourned until March 3 when Davis is expected to be formally charged.
The case has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a key ally in the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, and many Pakistanis are outraged by the incident.
Davis has said that the shooting occurred after he was attacked by two men as he drove through a busy Lahore neighborhood on January 27, according to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.
Read the full storyRolling Stone: Army manipulated visiting VIPs in Afghanistan
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is ordering an investigation into a scathing Rolling Stone magazine report that says the Army ordered soldiers trained in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting lawmakers to secure more troops and funding for the war, the military said Thursday. FULL POST
Suspected drone strike kills 5 militants in Pakistan
A suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region killed five suspected militants on Thursday, intelligence officials told CNN.
Two intelligence officials said the drone fired two missiles on the militant's hideout in the area of Data Khel in North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The intelligence officials asked not be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau Thursday's suspected drone strike was the eleventh this year.
More civilian casualties reported in northeastern Afghanistan
Just days after the governor of an northeastern Afghanistan province claimed dozens of civilians were killed in a NATO-led mission targeting insurgents, new allegations of civilian casualties surfaced in a nearby province Thursday.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force is investigating the claims stemming from an operation Thursday morning in the Alah Say district of Kapisa province, the military said in a statement. Armed insurgents were the target, ISAF said.
FULL POST
Afghan minister: We'll need U.S. help after 2014
Afghanistan will need help from the United States after a planned withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2014, Afghanistan's defense minister said Wednesday.
Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak made the comment to Defense Secretary Robert Gates during a visit to the Pentagon in Washington.
"It will need your help beyond 2014," Wardak said.
Gates complimented Afghanistan for taking what he called an increasingly leading role in their security.
President Barack Obama has announced plans to begin withdrawing some troops from Afghanistan this July, with all U.S. combat troops scheduled to be out of Afghanistan by 2014.
Read the full story
Tension between Petraeus, Afghans over airstrike, children
The U.S. military is denying Afghan government accusations that Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, callously dismissed concerns of an airstrike burning children in a northwest village.
The accusation, reported by the Washington Post, stemmed from a weekend meeting in Kabul between Afghan officials and the general to discuss an airstrike in Kunar province.
Afghan officials say the strike killed nearly 50 women and children, in addition to 16 insurgents. The International Security Assistance Force said its weapons system video showed that 36 insurgents carrying weapons were killed.
Read the full story
