ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Germany signed a bilateral assistance agreement with Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior on Wednesday to pledge its support to the Afghan security forces after 2014. Deputy head of mission of the German embassy in Kabul called on the Afghan government to take full responsibility for the training centers built by his country around Afghanistan. "We have built training centers for the police in many provinces. The government of Afghanistan should take responsibility for these centers and continue the process of training the police," said Oliver Owzca at an event in Kabul to sign the assistance agreement between the German police academy of Lübeck and Afghan interior ministry's police academy. The training chief of the MOI police academy Noorullah Zal said the pact is of great value to the Afghan forces. "We are signing an assistance agreement with Lübeck, one of the best academies in the world, to provide security and stability in our country and to have better

"The Afghan Taliban and all its sub-groups, including the Haqqani Network, remain capable of conducting high profile attacks though counter-terrorism pressure has degraded this ability," Dunford said in his Tuesday address to a senate committee in Washington. "However, the Taliban remain firm in their conviction that Isaf's drawdown and perceived ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) weakness...will translate into a restoration of their pre-surge military capabilities and influence." The four-star general pointed out the continued existence of insurgent safe havens. "Safe havens in Afghanistan and sanctuaries in Pakistan continue to provide Taliban senior leadership some freedom of movement and freedom of action, facilitating the training of fighters, and the planning of operations," he said. The General expressed that he has hopes for the peace talks with the Taliban but he believes the efforts have not been as productive as they should be. "I d

The kidnapping happened in the Khaja Dokoh district of Jawzjan yesterday around 12:00pm, district governor Saira Shikeeb told TOLOnews. "Before kidnapping the soldiers, the Taliban also torched a fuel tanker and took the driver hostage. The security forces arrived in the area and started fighting the Taliban insurgents, but they could not rescue the soldiers," she said. "Today we received information that they beheaded the soldiers," she added. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the beheadings in a message to media outlets. Recently, Taliban insurgents have become more active in several parts of the northern province and have targeted the local security forces check-posts. It comes after some unknown armed men shot dead two employees of the Red Crescent and wounded two others Tuesday evening in Jawzjan's Khan Aqa district, local officials said. The head of the Jawzjan Red Crescent said that the incident occurred when one of the Red Crescent staff and his

KABUL, Afghanistan — Roadside bombs and insurgent attacks killed at least 24 people in five separate attacks across Afghanistan as violence steadily rises during this year’s spring fighting season, officials said Wednesday. So far, April has been the deadliest month this year for Afghan and foreign civilians and security forces. According to an Associated Press tally, 182 people have been killed in violence around the nation this month. In western Afghanistan, seven women and children died when their truck hit a roadside bomb near Shindad in Herat province, said Muhiudin Noori, a spokesman for the governor. In the east, another roadside bomb killed five men who were part of a government security force guarding a convoy of trucks in Ghazni’s Qarabagh district, provincial spokesman Fazel Ahmad Sabaoon said. Also in the east, insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Laghman province, killing four village policemen, provincial spokesman Sarhadi Zawak said. In northern Jowzjan province, police c