Free Republic

ZABUL, Afghanistan (April 12, 2011) – An explosion critically injured a 13 year-old boy near the village of Sinan in the Dey Chopan district of Zabul province, Afghanistan, April 7. The boy was injured by a rocket propelled grenade from insurgent elements who were firing on Afghan and coalition forces nearby. Afghan special operations forces, advised and assisted by coalition forces, responded to the scene and assessed the boy’s condition as urgent. The combined team provided medical care to stabilize the boy and evacuated him to a coalition medical center in the Uruzgan province for emergency care, said a coalition...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 17, 2008 – Avoiding civilian casualties is a high priority for U.S. aircrews, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Gates came to Bagram to get a full picture of the American aviation effort in Afghanistan. Civilian casualties from American and NATO bombing attacks are causing fury in parts of Afghanistan. “We’re very concerned about this; it’s a high priority for us,” Gates said. “We work at that hard, work at it harder and then take another look to see what more we can do to limit innocent people who are killed when we go...

Russia played a trump card in its strategic poker game with the West yesterday by threatening to suspend an agreement allowing Nato (sic) to take supplies and equipment to Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia. The agreement was struck at a Nato (sic) summit in April to provide an alternative supply route to the road between the Afghan capital and the Pakistani border, which has come under attack from militants on both sides of the frontier this year. ... Mr Kabulov also suggested that the stand-off over Georgia could lead Russia to review agreements allowing Nato (sic) members to use...