Asia

Turnout in the Afghanistan parliamentary elections was disappointingly light, some 40% below expectations, according to Euronews. Some 10 percent of polling stations that had been intended to be used simply did not open because of fears of Taliban attacks. Those closures were on top of the 10 percent or so that it had already been […]

As Afghans went to the polls Saturday morning, Taliban slammed a rocket into the area of the capital where the Radio and Television building stands. It caused no casualties. Pajhwok News Agency reports that 40 private hospitals in Kabul have made plans for extended hours because of the election, which they clearly expect to be […]

On Thursday, a hundred or so demonstrators gathered outside a US military base at Mirwais in southern Afghanistan on hearing that there had been a ritual Quran-burning inside the base. In fact, it had been a routine pit burn of documents. At one point in the rally, a demonstrator raised an AK-47 toward a base […]

Thousands of angry protesters rallied in West Kabul on Wednesday, chanting “Death to America,” “Death to Christians,” and “Death to Karzai,” burning tires, and blocking a road going south. Police fired in the air, killing one protester and wounding 5 others. Some reports say that 35 police officers and 10 protesters were injured. Reuters reports […]

The Pashtun-majority province of Logar just south of Kabul saw further protests on Sunday against American threats of Quran-burning, which turned deadly, leaving two dead and five wounded in Barki Barak district. This according to the Pajhwok News Agency. The crowd, estimated at 1,000, that gathered to protest the desecration of their holy book chanted […]