At least a dozen people killed in series of attacks as Taliban warns withdrawal of foreign forces will not dampen jihadi fervour The Taliban began its annual spring offensive following the end of the poppy harvest with a series of attacks on Monday around Afghanistan that killed at least a dozen people. The violence came as foreign troops speed up their departure, and Afghan forces prepare for a tough...
Which conflicts have led the most ex-armed forces members to seek help from Combat Stress, the veterans' mental health charity? Between 2012 and 2013, the number of veterans reaching out to the charity from the Afghanistan conflict rose by 57% and over 7,000 deployed in Northern Ireland have been in contact. Using the menu to the left of this interactive you can see how the figures have changed since...
Combat Stress charity reports 57% increase in number of ex-military personnel needing treatment in 2013 and says UK must prepare for escalation The number of Afghanistan veterans seeking help for mental health problems surged in 2013 and is likely to peak again this year as the British military ends its 13-year conflict in the country, according to new figures published on Monday. There was a 57%increase...
Abdullah Abdullah receives endorsement from two failed but influential candidates who have strong support in Kandahar The frontrunner after the preliminary round of Afghanistan's presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, has strengthened his position in advance of next month's runoff, with endorsements from two failed but influential candidates. Zalmai Rassoul and Gul Agha Sherzai, who have lined up...
Abdullah Abdullah won the endorsement of the third-place candidate in advance of a runoff vote set for next month....
After turning away from prescribed narcotics, a wounded Army sergeant has found hope. And some doctors see lessons for the business of long-term pain management....
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday that it had begun an investigation after graphic photos surfaced appearing to show at least one British service member posing next to the corpse of a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan in 2012....
Senior officer says incident is clear breach of policy but suggests photos reflect soldier's 'understandable joy' at killing enemy A senior British military commander has defended the actions of two RAF servicemen who took photographs showing at least one of them giving the thumbs-up sign while posing next to the body of a dead Taliban fighter, suggesting they reflected their "understandable joy"...
5 - 9 May: Catch up with the highs, the lows and the hot topics in development this week Aliko Dangote and Nduka Obaigbena, two Nigerian business leaders who have lead the launch of a safe schools initiative in response to the growing number of attacks on the right to education in Africa . "Africa is not poor. We have the resources and if we manage them well, we can do very well." - @KofiAnnan...
MoD investigating pictures, confirmed as genuine, of RAF squadron member in pose at Camp Bastion in Helmand The Ministry of Defence is investigating pictures showing a member of the British armed forces in Afghanistan posing with his thumb up beside the dead body of a Taliban fighter. An MoD spokesperson described the actions of the soldier as inappropriate. Continue reading... ...
Confusion in Aab Bareek as sudden arrival of blankets, food and tents sparks scramble from neighbouring villages, says UN Crowds of outsiders have rushed to the remote Afghan village that was buried in a landslide to try to pick up aid supplies meant for survivors of the disaster, the UN has said. Continue reading... ...
Schoolgirls from Jakarta to Timbuktu describe what education means to them and their outrage at the Boko Haram abduction The first time I heard about the kidnappings of schoolgirls in Nigeria was on Twitter, when the headline came up in my feed. I told my best friend about it and she was pretty surprised because she didn't know about it yet. Continue reading... ...
Group aims to cleanse 'the filth of the infidels' from Afghanistan, targeting military bases and embassies as well as translators The Taliban have announced the start of their annual "spring offensive", vowing a final summer of bloody attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan before the 13-year Nato combat mission ends. The group said the offensive, starting on Monday, would cleanse "the...
The World Health Organization issued a new alert on the disease, which was once thought to be nearly eradicated, saying three countries had allowed it to spread....
The plight of kidnapped girls is set against the corruption and inequality that the west's economic war has helped to create It seems almost beyond belief that more than 200 girls can be kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria , held by the terrorist group Boko Haram, and threatened on a video shown worldwide with being sold into slavery by their captors. The disbelief is compounded by today's...
China's Uighur militants appear to be getting more sophisticated, with links to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's time to take them seriously The knife attack in which six people were injured in southern China is the third high-profile incident at a Chinese train station in a little more than two months. It seems that China is in the grip of a mounting terrorist campaign, with militants apparently able...
The effort to get assistance to the hardest-hit in Abi Barak was being hampered by a lack of effective management at the site of the landslide....
With thousands thought to have perished in Friday’s landslide, officials have shifted their focus toward survivors, while anguished relatives are still digging for their loved ones’ bodies....
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series Continue reading... ...
Magnum photographer Steve McCurry has been photographing the people, culture and landscape of Afghanistan since the late 1970s. His atmospheric pictures document a country which remains stunningly beautiful despite decades of devastating conflict. They can be seen at an exhibition at the Beetles Huxley Gallery in London from 12 May-7 June Emma Graham-Harrison on Steve McCurry's images of Afghanistan...