Afghan | Common News Update

Nov292020 by adminNo Comments

Afghan officials say 34 killed in separate suicide bombings

World

Afghan officials say at least 34 people have been killed in two separate suicide bombingsBy TAMEEM AKHGAR Associated PressNovember 29, 2020, 9:15 AM• 3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleKABUL, Afghanistan -- At least 34 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in Afghanistan that targeted a military base and a provincial chief, officials said.In eastern Ghazni province, 31 soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded when the attacker drove a military humvee full of explosives onto an army commando base before detonating the car bomb, according to an official in Afghanistan’s National Security Council, who spoke anonymously because he was not permitted to speak directly to the media.Ghazni provincial health department chief, Zahir Shah Nikmal, al...

Jul272020 by adminNo Comments

UN says Afghan civilian casualties down by 13% this year

World

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan has noted a drop in the number of civilians killed and wounded in violence in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last yearBy RAHIM FAIEZ Associated PressJuly 27, 2020, 8:33 AM3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleKABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan saw a 13% drop in the number of civilians killed and wounded in violence across the country in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to a U.N. report released Monday. The report credited the drop in casualties in part to the reduction of operations by international forces — which now only act when called upon and in support of the Afghan forces — and also to a decrease in the number of attacks by the Islamic State group...

Jul202020 by adminNo Comments

Oversight gap leaves Pentagon unsure if Afghan drone project has helped, IG says

Business

July 17 (UPI) -- An oversight failure left the Pentagon unable to judge if a $ 174 million Afghan surveillance drone project is effective, an inspector general's report says. Released on Friday by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, the report notes that at least $ 174 million was spent between 2015 and 2019 to supply Afghanistan's security forces with ScanEagle remotely piloted aircraft. Advertisement It adds, though, that the Defense Department is unable to determine if the project is effective, if the Afghan forces can sustain it or what the immediate and long-term impacts of the investment. "SIGAR found that Naval Air Systems Command [NAVAIR] -- responsible for overseeing the ScanEagle contracts, and [drone manufacturer and Boeing subsidiary] Insitu -- is unable to determin...

Dec142019 by adminNo Comments

‘Insider attack’ kills 23 Afghan soldiers sleeping, provincial council says

World

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- An 'insider attack' at military base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killed at least 23 soldiers as they slept, provincial council members said. The attack at the Ghazni province base wiped out nearly the entire unit, officials said. Head of provincial council Nasir Ahmad Faqiri said that 23 security personnel were killed. "Seven local security personnel who obviously under patronage of the Taliban outfit opened fire on their colleagues on a checkpoint in Qarabagh district, where they were asleep, killing 23 on the spot and run away with their weapons," Faqiri told Xinhua. Similarly, a member of the provincial council, Esmatullah Jamuradwal, told The New York Times that 23 soldiers were killed in the attack, adding that only one soldier of the 24 in the Territorial A...

Aug272019 by adminNo Comments

MD Helicopters gets $50.4M logistics support contract for Afghan Air Force

Business

Aug. 26 (UPI) -- MD Helicopters Inc. was awarded a $ 50.4 million contract for logistics support of Afghanistan Air Force helicopters, the U.S. Defense Department announced. The contract is a modification of a prior agreement, and work will be done in Kabul and Mesa, with a completion date of May 2020. The nature of the logistics work was unspecified in Friday's Defense Department announcement. The Afghanistan Air Force has 28 of the Mesa, Ariz., company's MD-530F aircraft, with 154 more on order as the Afghan military transitions from Russian and former Soviet bloc-made aircraft. The Afghan Air Force currently has 100 helicopters from the Russian Mil Mi-17 and Mi-24 series, and 43 U.S.-made Bell, HAL and Sikorsky helicopters, in addition to the MD fleet. The Afghan Air Force consisted o...