Stories about Afghanistan from June, 2011
Russia / Afghanistan: Photos From A School in Kabul
Photoblogger zyalt publishes [ru] pictures from a school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Schools have neither electricity nor water. Students are forced to get into classrooms after breaks by class monitors. Despite all this, comprehensive education would be unimaginable in Afghanistan just ten years ago, blogger writes.
Afghanistan: Instability on the Borders
Joshua Foust analyzes the continuous tensions on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and direct fighting between the two country's militaries, and says the situation is aggravating.
Russia: Rodric Braithwaite's “Afgantsy”
In Moscow's Shadows writes about Rodric Braithwaite's Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-89, a “new study of the Soviet war on Afghanistan.” OpenDemocracy.net published exclusive excerpts from the book in April – here and here.
Afghanistan: $60 million class action against Blackwater
Nick Fielding addresses the problem of killed or injured civilian contractors in Afghanistan through the story about U.S. lawyer Scott J Bloch, who filed a $60 million class action lawsuit in order to recover the four former security specialists’ payment of social security, unemployment insurance, and unpaid benefits.
Afghanistan: Repeating What We Already Knew
Joshua Foust reviews the U.S. Senate's damning report on Afghanistan reconstruction and misuse of aid money, adding that “it says little new, but appears to do so in an authoritative way”.
Afghanistan: Building bridges with Pakistan
UmairJ writes about the visit of Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai to Islamabad in an attempt to better relationship between the two nations and seek support of Pakistan in forcing the Taliban to a compromise.
Afghanistan: Assessing recent negotiations with Taliban
Nick Fielding opines on the state of negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, reviewing a report by the New America Foundation.
Afghanistan: Border War Expands
Joshua Foust says that Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in a low-level border conflict with militants crossing the border to attack both militaries as well.
Afghanistan: Contractor Mistreatment
Joshua Foust writes about the workers, employed in Afghanistan to different service businesses, and the bad conditions they face, including food riots, sexual abuse, appalling living conditions, and recruitment fraud.
