AL-JAZEERA
Most international troops are withdrawing from Afghanistan this year.
After 12 years of a US-led invasion, parallels are being drawn with the Soviet exit decades ago. That withdrawal is now widely seen as a disaster.
A Russian diplomat warned that forgetting Afghanistan altogether combined with pulling the troops could mean more problems for the international community.
Al Jazeera‘s Bernard Smith reports from Kabul.
al-Jazeera
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Riot police withdrawn after protests spurred by president’s controversial drive to push through new constitution.
Last Modified: 05 Dec 2012 11:33 GMT
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“The Egyptian president has returned to work in Cairo, although scores of protesters angered by his drive to push through a new constitution are still blocking one gate of the presidential palace.
Mohamed Morsi left the palace in the northern Cairo district of Heliopolis on Tuesday evening as tens of thousands of demonstrators surged around it, clashing briefly with police.
A presidential source said Morsi was back at work in the palace on Wednesday, even though up to 200 demonstrators had camped out near one entrance overnight.
Traffic was flowing normally in the area and riot police had been withdrawn, a witness said.
The rest of the Egyptian capital was calm, despite the political furore over Morsi’s November 22 decree handing himself wide powers and shielding his decisions from judicial oversight.
Controversial charter
Egyptian police fired tear gas at opposition protesters demonstrating on Tuesday evening against Morsi’s drive to hold a snap referendum on the draft constitution.
Live television footage showed that some protesters broke through police lines and got too close to the presidential palace late on Tuesday night.
Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo said: “We saw thousand of people surrounding the palace on all four corners, outnumbering the police and getting close to the presidential walls.”
As the exit date for Western combat forces nears, their challenge will be to keep up the training of Afghan fighters amid a climate of growing suspicion.
It is not just the security forces who are being targeted. Civilians are also being attacked.
Al Jazeera‘s Jennifer Glasse visited one family that has witnessed loss firsthand.
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Syria launches ground assault on Aleppo
Fierce fighting rages in city’s key district of Salaheddine, with government troops and rebels both claiming advances.
Last Modified: 09 Aug 2012 07:21 GMT
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Syrian forces renew Aleppo assault Assad forces said to be massing near commercial capital, as activists report fresh violence across country.
Last Modified: 27 Jul 2012 10:16 GMT
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AL-JAZEERA NEWS
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Syrian military bombards rebel strongholds The battle for Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, rages into sixth day, as military launches aerial campaign.
Last Modified: 26 Jul 2012 09:07 GMT
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Government forces have deployed helicopter gunships as they battle rebels in the Syrian capital, witnesses say.
The besieged opposition stronghold of Barzeh was under heavy assault on Sunday, according to activists.
“This is the first time Damascus has witnessed such fierce shelling,” Thabet Salem, a journalist in Damascus, told Al Jazeera. “There are very huge explosions.”
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said “many individuals were injured” due to rocket and helicopter shelling of the Grand Mosque in Barzeh which set the mosque on fire.
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Government forces reportedly also deployed in the outskirts of the Mezzeh district. Residents said rebels withdrew from the district after heavy aerial and ground bombardment.
Fighting also engulfed several district of Aleppo, Syria‘s main commercial hub, on Sunday. Residents reported clashes near the main intelligence base in the city.
An activist told the AFP news agency that government troops launched an assault on the Salaheddin district at dawn in a bid to reclaim it from rebel hands.
“Violent clashes have been taking place since the early morning,” the activist said. FULL POST
Flag-map of Syria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
