New York Times: Flawed Justice After a Mob Killed an Afghan Woman (included Video "The killing of Farkhunda)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Farkhunda had one chance to escape the mob that wanted to kill her. Two Afghan police officers pulled her onto the roof of a low shed, above the angry crowd.But then the enraged men below her picked up poles and planks of wood, and hit at her until she lost her grip and tumbled down.Her face bloodied, she struggled to stand. Holding her hands to her hair, she looked horrified to find that her attackers had yanked off her black hijab as she fell. The mob closed in, kicking and jumping on her slight frame. [more...]
 This video contains scenes of graphic violence!!!!

guardian: Afghan woman stoned to death for alleged adultery

Killing – shown in 30-second video of men hurling stones at woman – is blamed on Taliban, but activists say it may have been ordered by tribal leaders [more...]

guardian: Afghan judges free three jailed for torture of child bride Sahar Gul

Three freed despite imprisoning, starving and burning girl sold into marriage as new laws could prevent relatives testifying against each other [more...]

CNN: Bombers attack luxury hotel in Kabul

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Fighters armed with bombs and small arms attacked Kabul's InterContinental Hotel, where they fought Tuesday with Afghan security forces, Chief of Criminal Investigation Mohammed Zahir told CNN.  [more...]

Al Jazeera: Hotel in Kabul under attack

Six suicide bombers stormed the Intercontinental Hotel, popular with foreigners and officials, Afghan police say. [more...]

Spiegel Online: Selbstmordkommando stürmt Luxushotel in Kabul

Ein Anschlag hat das vor allem von Gästen aus dem Westen besuchte Hotel Intercontinental in Kabul erschüttert. Nach Angaben der Polizei starben mehrere Menschen. Die radikalislamischen Taliban haben sich zu dem Angriff bekannt - das Kommando hielt die Anlage stundenlang besetzt. [mehr...]

spiegel online: Zehn Tote bei Krawallen vor Bundeswehr-Camp

Im Einsatzgebiet der Bundeswehr in Afghanistan hat es einen tödlichen Zwischenfall gegeben. Bei einer Kundgebung vor einem Lager der Deutschen kamen mindestens zehn Menschen ums Leben. Afghanische Polizisten, aber auch deutsche Soldaten sollen auf gewalttätige Demonstranten geschossen haben. [mehr...]

FP: An open letter to Osama bin Laden [Offener Brief an Osama Bin Laden]

Editors note: below and reproduced in full with the author's permission is an open letter written by Noman Benotman, a former commander in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and a former associate of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In al Qaeda strategy meetings in Kandahar in 2000, Benotman warned the al-Qaeda leadership of ‘total failure' to realise their aims and called on bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to abandon violence. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, he distanced himself from al-Qaeda and later resigned from his own jihadist organisation. He has more recently been instrumental in negotiations with Libya's government to free former LIFG leaders, and in persuading these leaders to formally renounce terrorism. He also recently joined the London-based Quilliam Foundation as a Senior Analyst.

"Is it not time for believers to humble their hearts to the remembrance of
God and the Truth that has been revealed. Quran, 57:16

Dear Osama bin Laden Abu Abdullah, ......
[more...]

Spiegel Online: "Osama, bitte beende die Gewalt!"

Wired: Cyberwar Against Wikileaks? Good Luck With That

Should the U.S. government declare a cyberwar against WikiLeaks?

On Thursday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told a gathering in London that the secret-spilling website is moving ahead with plans to publish the remaining 15,000 records from the Afghan war logs, despite a demand from the Pentagon that WikiLeaks “return” its entire cache of published and unpublished classified U.S. documents. .................
Since the Afghan war logs were posted, it’s emerged the 77,000 records already published contain the names of hundreds of Afghan informants, who now face potentially deadly reprisal from the Taliban. WikiLeaks’ publication of those records has drawn criticism from human rights organizations and the international free press group Reporters Without Borders.
[more...]

Guardian: Afghanistan war logs: WikiLeaks urged to remove thousands of names

Human rights groups including Amnesty raise fears of 'deadly ramifications' for people named in secret US files.
Human rights groups have urged the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks to remove thousands of names from the leaked Afghanistan war logs over fears of "deadly ramifications" for the people identified. [more...

Spiegel Online: USA warnen vor Veröffentlichung weiterer Afghanistan-Dokumente

Die Enthüllungsplattform WikiLeaks will 15.000 weitere Geheimdokumente zum Krieg in Afghanistan veröffentlichen - die US-Regierung ist alarmiert: Ein solcher Schritt wäre "der Gipfel der Verantwortungslosigkeit", so das Verteidigungsministerium. [mehr...]

TIMES: Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban - Afghanische Frauen und die Rückkehr der Taliban

The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose. [more...]

WIRED: WikiLeaks Posts Mysterious ‘Insurance’ File

In the wake of strong U.S. government statements condemning WikiLeaks’ recent publishing of 77,000 Afghan War documents, the secret-spilling site has posted a mysterious encrypted file labeled “insurance.” [more...]

New York Times Blog "Caucus": Political Points: WikiLeaks and Watchdogs

The Times’s Jeff Zeleny, Eric Schmitt and Floyd Norris join Sam Roberts to discuss the newly released U.S. military documents on the war in Afghanistan and the search for the first head of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. [more...]

NPR (Public Radio): Reporter's View: How The WikiLeaks Story Developed

WikiLeaks' release of more than 90,000 military intelligence reports to The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel revealed many new insights long suspected but never corroborated about the war in Afghanistan. [more...]

Spiegel Online: Washington macht gegen WikiLeaks mobil

US-Präsident Obama will Härte demonstrieren - und neue Kriegsenthüllungen um jeden Preis vermeiden. Seine Regierung nimmt jetzt WikiLeaks-Gründer Assange ins Visier: Er sei ein linker Eiferer und gefährde das Leben der US-Soldaten. Sogar rechtliche Schritte werden geprüft. [mehr...]

Tagesspiegel: Verräter! Verräter? - (WikiLeaks)

Der Feldjägerbericht zu Kundus und andere Geheimdokumente: wikileaks.org macht sie öffentlich
Es ist ein Team von Namenlosen, das den Regierungen und Unternehmen dieser Welt seit drei Jahren das Lügen schwer macht. Ihre Identität ist unbekannt, ihre Adresse nicht: [mehr...]

Wired: Taliban Pays Its Troops Better Than Karzai Pays His

Are the Taliban shelling out more money for their fighters than the U.S. and the international community are for Afghan security forces? The American military says no, and e-mails the chart below to make its case. But it’s not the most persuasive document. And it’s undermined by one of the reports in WikiLeaks’ trove of war logs. [more...]

New York Times: The War Logs

Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan’s military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand, even as Pakistan receives more than $1 billion a year from Washington for its help combating the militants, according to a trove of secret military field reports to be made public Sunday. [more...]

Spiegel Online: Die Afghanistan-Protokolle

The Guardian UK: The Afghanistan WAR LOGS

WikiLeaks: Kabul War Diary