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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - After a frustratingly long three-year wait, the fledging Afghan National Army finally has a new weapon in its arsenal: the Canadian C7 rifle. Some 42 boxes of surplus weapons arrived at the ANA base just up the road from Kandahar Airfield last week, Brig.-Gen. Gul Aqa said Wednesday in an interview with The Canadian Press. And training is already underway. Aimed at replacing the Afghan army's old Soviet-era AK-47s in order to bring the force's fire power capabilities in line with that of NATO countries, the Canadian rifles are a welcome addition, Aqa said. "They're very modern...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2007 – Afghan National Army soldiers assisted by coalition advisors have completely wiped out Taliban insurgents in a key southern province, a coalition commander said today. “My assessment of the threat in this province is that the insurgency has suffered a total defeat this summer due to the combined efforts of the ANA and coalition forces,” Army Lt. Col. Karl Slaughenhaupt told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from the tiny Afghan town of Qalat. Slaughenhaupt is senior advisor to 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, of the Afghan National Army. He and his coalition team members...

FBI Raids North American Headquarters of Japan's All Nippon Airways; Search Warrant Under Seal LOS ANGELES (AP) -- FBI agents raided the North American headquarters of Japan's All Nippon Airways on Thursday, authorities said. Agents executed a federal search warrant at ANA's customer relations and services office in Torrance early Thursday, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. She declined to say why the office was under investigation because the search warrant was under seal. In a statement issued by ANA's headquarters in Tokyo, the company said it had not yet confirmed the reason for the investigation. "There is no suspicion of...

Just breaking on Fox channel...if you can believe it.

MUSA QALA, Afghanistan - Coalition and Afghan forces killed 26 suspected militants Wednesday in fighting in eastern mountains, while in southern Afghanistan, more than 11,000 troops prepared for their biggest offensive since the fall of the Taliban five years ago. Suspected Taliban militants attacked a coalition logistics patrol in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, killing one American soldier and wounding two others, the U.S. military said. About 100 British troops were quickly air-dropped in to support the patrol and coalition air fire killed or wounded 12 militants in the area, said coalition spokesman...

US sets up £215m deal for Afghan arms - from Russia By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 22/05/2006) American defence officials have secretly requested a "prodigious quantity" of ammunition from Russia to supply the Afghan army in case a Democrat president takes over in Washington and pulls out US troops. The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Pentagon chiefs have asked arms suppliers for a quote on a vast amount of ordnance, including more than 78 million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 100,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 12,000 tank shells - equivalent to about 15 times the British Army's annual requirements. The Bush...

SEATTLE, Jan. 31, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today launched the 737-700ER (Extended Range), following an order conversion from ANA (All Nippon Airways) for two airplanes. The 737-700ER has the longest range capability of any 737 commercial family member, and is able to serve new nonstop, point-to-point routes profitably. ANA exercised rights to substitute 737-700s with 737-700ERs. The two 737-700ERs are part of a larger order announced June 23, 2003, for 45 737-700s. "The value of the Next-Generation 737 family continues to grow with the 737-700ER, and we are delighted to have ANA as the launch customer," said...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2005 – Afghan National Army forces and U.S. Marines killed more than 40 enemy combatants during an offensive operation over the last few weeks in the districts of Chawkay, Asadabad, Pech and Narang, in Afghanistan's Konar province. The ANA and Marines fought side by side in 29 separate engagements against the enemy, disrupting hostile activity during Operation Whalers. The operation's purpose was to disrupt enemy forces in the area and to clear the way for successful elections, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials said. "The ANA have demonstrated their abilities with great success," said Marine...

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Outgoing Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano met with leaders of Macedonia's main ethnic Albanian parties at the weekend and denounced activities by extremist elements in Macedonia. According to media reports, Nano held separate talks with Democratic Union for Integration leader Ali Ahmeti and the Democratic Party of Albanians' Arben Xhaferi in settlements on the Albanian-Macedonian border. Nano reportedly condemned extremist elements in the Kondovo region in particular and repeated that regardless of who assumes power in Tirana, Albania stands for stability in Macedonia and the region. (A1 TV, Dnevnik - 08/08/05)

As an Afghan I support the US and coalition forces presence in Afghanistan. In the current situation, the US presence is really important for peace and stability. Like me, most Afghan people support the US presence, even though Afghan people have always been against foreign forces and occupiers. But they know that the US and coalition forces are here to help Afghanistan and the Afghan people and they are not here to occupy our country.? After the 1992 civil war between various factions of the Mujahideen, and during the Taliban regime, thousands of people lost their lives. The situation was...

MIANA SHIEN, Afghanistan - The bodies of 76 suspected rebels were found in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said Saturday, bringing to 178 the number of insurgents killed in one of the deadliest bombardments by U.S. and Afghan forces since the Taliban fell in 2001. U.S. military officers and Afghan officials, meanwhile, met near the mountainous battlefield with dozens of local tribal chiefs to urge them to help combat militants still holding out. Though no major fighting has occurred in or around Miana Shien district since three days of airstrikes ended Thursday, about 80 rebels are believed...

June 23, 2005: In several days of fighting, American warplanes, and Afghan troops, chased several dozen Taliban from a town in southern Afghanistan, found their camp and attacked it. Some 76 Taliban were killed, and another 30 were captured, including several leaders. A dozen police and soldiers were killed, and a few Americans wounded. About 400 Afghan police and troops were involved, plus a few dozen American troops. American bombers and attack helicopters did most of the damage at the Taliban camp the Taliban were trying to reach. There are believed to be several hundred Taliban gunmen in the hills...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan : Afghan and US forces have killed 132 Taliban militants and surrounded four of the ousted regime's top commanders after a three-day battle in the south of the country. The brother-in-law of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is one of the key figures under siege in a mountain hideout, the Afghan defence ministry said Thursday. The claim could not be independently confirmed. "132 Taliban were killed," in the operation in a restive area on the borders of Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, defence ministry spokesman Mohammed Nu'man Atifie told AFP. "If you look at the number of...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Fighting raged across southern Afghanistan on Sunday as the U.S. military pounded suspected Taliban positions with airstrikes that killed as many as 20 militants along a narrow mountain footpath. A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, claimed his fighters had assassinated a kidnapped Afghan police chief and five of his men for collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition. U.S. aircraft opened fire on a group of suspected Taliban along a narrow footpath in the high mountains northwest of Gereshk, in southern Helmand province, after rebels had pinned down a coalition ground patrol with rocket and small-arms fire. "Initial battle-damage assessments indicate...

CHICAGO - They call her "Ana." She is a role model to some, a goddess to others — the subject of drawings, prayers and even a creed. She tells them what to eat and mocks them when they don't lose weight. And yet, while she is a very real presence in the lives of many of her followers, she exists only in their minds. Ana is short for anorexia, and — to the alarm of experts — many who suffer from the potentially fatal eating disorder are part of an underground movement that promotes self-starvation and, in some cases, has...

Growing up, I knew that I wanted to work in the medical field. The reasoning for my choice sounded like the response of a beauty pageant contestant -- I wanted to help people. Trite as that sounds, that really was my reason. I graduated from nursing school 23 years ago and have only worked in the nursing profession since that time. I have always been proud to be a nurse - even when some in my family said that I was "too smart" to be "just" a nurse. Nursing has never been just a job that has a great deal...

Growing up, I knew that I wanted to work in the medical field. The reasoning for my choice sounded like the response of a beauty pageant contestant -- I wanted to help people. Trite as that sounds, that really was my reason. I graduated from nursing school 23 years ago and have only worked in the nursing profession since that time. I have always been proud to be a nurse - even when some in my family said that I was "too smart" to be "just" a nurse. Nursing has never been just a job that has a great deal...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2005 CONTACT: Joan Hurwitz, 301-628-5020 Cindy Price, 301-628-5038 Carol Cooke, 301-628-5027 American Nurses Association Statement on the Terri Schiavo Case Statement Attributed to Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, RN, President The Terri Schiavo case raises complex and emotional issues about the end of life. The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes the difficulty of the situation, however, ANA has consistently upheld the right of patients, or if the patient is incapacitated, the right of the designated surrogate, to decide whether to submit to or continue medical treatment. As nurses, we are ethically bound to assist our patients...

NINE ethnic Albanians have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison by a Serbian court for the murder of a policeman and "terrorist activities". Two men - Llirim Jakuppi and Beshim Tahiri, both tried in absentia - were handed 15-year sentences for the March 2002 murder of fellow ethnic Albanian Selever Fazliu, a member of Serbia's special police, the Beta news agency reported. Another seven ethnic Albanians were handed between one and seven year jail terms for "conspiring to form a terrorist group", the court said. The nine were said to belong to the Albanian National Army (ANA),...

A prime minister who is accused of involvement in war crimes. RAMUSH HARADINAJ is, at just 36, Europe's youngest prime minister. He may also be its most controversial. That is hard to credit, as he sits calmly in his spacious office in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. His neatly pressed blue shirt, red silk tie and buffed brogues are in stark contrast to the mud-spattered camouflage he wore six years ago, when he was a senior commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought a vicious war against the troops of Yugoslavia's (and Serbia's) former president, Slobodan Milosevic. It is Mr Haradinaj's...