Showing posts tagged Afghanistan
US hands over Bagram prison to Afghan authorities BBC News: The US has handed over to Afghanistan the only prison still under American control, resolving an issue that has strained ties between the countries. A transfer ceremony took place at the prison, which was renamed the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan. It had been delayed while the two sides finalised a deal over the fate of prisoners considered dangerous. Photo: Afghan soldiers at a handover ceremony (Getty Images)

US hands over Bagram prison to Afghan authorities

BBC News: The US has handed over to Afghanistan the only prison still under American control, resolving an issue that has strained ties between the countries.

A transfer ceremony took place at the prison, which was renamed the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan.

It had been delayed while the two sides finalised a deal over the fate of prisoners considered dangerous.

Photo: Afghan soldiers at a handover ceremony (Getty Images)

President Obama to announce return of 34,000 US troops CNN: In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Obama will announce that by this time next year, 34,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will have returned home, according to sources with knowledge of the president’s speech. The move will reduce the number of U.S. forces in the country by half. Photo: U.S. and Afghan soldiers rest during a operation on a cold morning near the town of Walli Was in Paktika province, on Nov. 2. (Goran Tomasevic / Reuters) View high resolution

President Obama to announce return of 34,000 US troops

CNN: In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Obama will announce that by this time next year, 34,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will have returned home, according to sources with knowledge of the president’s speech.

The move will reduce the number of U.S. forces in the country by half.

Photo: U.S. and Afghan soldiers rest during a operation on a cold morning near the town of Walli Was in Paktika province, on Nov. 2. (Goran Tomasevic / Reuters)

US rescinds military ban on women serving in combat U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey formally signed a memo today to rescind a 1994 military ban on women serving in combat.“It’s clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military,” Panetta said. “If members of our military can meet the qualifications for the job, then they should have the right to serve regardless of creed or color or gender or sexual orientation.”More on Panetta and Dempsey’s remarks from BreakingNews.com.Photo: Sergeant Crystal Groves, a U.S. Marine, stands in formation during a ceremony for the 235th birthday of the Marines on Nov. 10, 2010, at Camp Delaram in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

US rescinds military ban on women serving in combat

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey formally signed a memo today to rescind a 1994 military ban on women serving in combat.

“It’s clear to all of us that women are contributing in unprecedented ways to the military,” Panetta said. “If members of our military can meet the qualifications for the job, then they should have the right to serve regardless of creed or color or gender or sexual orientation.”

More on Panetta and Dempsey’s remarks from BreakingNews.com.

Photo: Sergeant Crystal Groves, a U.S. Marine, stands in formation during a ceremony for the 235th birthday of the Marines on Nov. 10, 2010, at Camp Delaram in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

Prince Harry leaves Afghanistan after 20-week tour of duty Prince Harry has left Afghanistan after a 20-week tour of duty as a co-pilot gunner in Apache attack helicopters, the British Ministry of Defence said tonight.In just-released, candid interviews conducted with several news organizations, Harry addressed an incident last year where he was photographed naked in a Las Vegas hotel room: “I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down.”Watch BBC News’ video of Harry’s interview.More details on Harry’s deployment from the Today Show.Photo: Prince Harry is shown an Apache helicopter by a member of his squadron at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan on Sept. 7, 2013. (John Stillwell / PA)

Prince Harry leaves Afghanistan after 20-week tour of duty

Prince Harry has left Afghanistan after a 20-week tour of duty as a co-pilot gunner in Apache attack helicopters, the British Ministry of Defence said tonight.

In just-released, candid interviews conducted with several news organizations, Harry addressed an incident last year where he was photographed naked in a Las Vegas hotel room: “I probably let myself down, I let my family down, I let other people down.”

Watch BBC News’ video of Harry’s interview.

More details on Harry’s deployment from the Today Show.

Photo: Prince Harry is shown an Apache helicopter by a member of his squadron at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan on Sept. 7, 2013. (John Stillwell / PA)

Prince Harry returns to Afghanistan to pilot attack helicopters Prince Harry has flown into Afghanistan to begin a 4-month tour of duty with the British army, where he will command one of the UK’s Apache attack helicopters, The Guardian reports.Photo: Prince Harry, or Captain Wales as he is known in the military, prepares his Apache helicopter to go out on a mission during his training in the U.S. earlier this year. (Sgt Russ Nolan Rlc / MoD)

Prince Harry returns to Afghanistan to pilot attack helicopters

Prince Harry has flown into Afghanistan to begin a 4-month tour of duty with the British army, where he will command one of the UK’s Apache attack helicopters, The Guardian reports.

Photo: Prince Harry, or Captain Wales as he is known in the military, prepares his Apache helicopter to go out on a mission during his training in the U.S. earlier this year. (Sgt Russ Nolan Rlc / MoD)

Allies order restrictions on airstrikes targeting Taliban in civilian homes

The senior allied commander in Afghanistan has ordered new restrictions on airstrikes against Taliban fighters who hide in residential homes, coalition officials told the New York Times on Sunday.

The decision comes in response to a NATO attack in the eastern part of the country last week that Afghan officials say killed 18 civilians.

(Source: The New York Times)