War Glance
One of the internet's biggest sources of classified government information has released video of what it says is a US helicopter firing at civilians in Iraq.
WikiLeaks, a website that publishes anonymously sourced documents,released what it called previously unseen footage on Monday.
It said the footage filmed from a helicopter cockpit shows a missile strike and shooting on a crowded square in a Baghdad neighbourhood in July 2007. The website said 12 civilians were killed in the attack, including two journalists, Namir Nour El Deen and Saeed Chmagh, who worked for the Reuters news agency.
The two men appear to survive the first strike and attempt to get away, but the helicopter returns a second and third time.
Video shows 'US attack' on Iraqi civilians
Pakistan army accused of extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses
The Pakistani army has allegedly committed hundreds of retaliatory killings and other ongoing human rights abuses in the Swat Valley since the end of its successful anti-Taliban offensive there in September, threatening billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid to a crucial ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The extrajudicial execution of up to 300 alleged Taliban supporters and sympathizers in the area around Mingora, the Swat capital, has been documented by New York-based Human Rights Watch, which conducted interviews with more than 100 Swat families in February and March. A report on the alleged abuses, including torture, home demolitions and illegal detentions and disappearances, is scheduled for release this month.
US special forces 'tried to cover-up' botched Khataba raid in Afghanistan
US special forces soldiers dug bullets out of their victims’ bodies in the bloody aftermath of a botched night raid, then washed the wounds with alcohol before lying to their superiors about what happened, Afghan investigators have told The Times.
Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a police officer and his brother were shot on February 12 when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home in Khataba village, outside Gardez in eastern Afghanistan. The precise composition of the force has never been made public.
The claims were made as Nato admitted responsibility for all the deaths for the first time last night. It had initially claimed that the women had been dead for several hours when the assault force discovered their bodies.
At Least 30 Killed in Baghdad Explosions
Iraqi officials say three car bomb blasts rocked central Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 160 others. Iraqi officials say two of the explosions were near the Iranian and Egyptian embassies.
A security spokesman told the French news agency the near-simultaneous blasts were suicide car bombings. The blasts shook buildings and shattered windows, sending a column of smoke across the Iraqi capital. Gunfire was heard after the explosions as helicopters flew over the city.
Afghanistan world’s top pot grower
Long the world’s largest producer of opium, the raw ingredient of heroin, Afghanistan has now become the top supplier of cannabis, with large-scale cultivation in half of its provinces, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Between 10,000 and 24,000 hectares of cannabis are grown every year in Afghanistan, with major cultivation in 17 out 34 provinces, the UN drug agency (UNODC) said in its first report on cannabis production in Afghanistan.
While some countries grow cannabis on more land, Afghanistan’s robust crop yields - 145 kg of resin per hectare compared to around 40 kg per hectare in Morocco—make it the world’s largest producer, estimated at 1,500-3,500 tonnes a year.
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US aid going to 'bribe' Afghanistan partners
The Pentagon is pouring millions of dollars into equipment and training for its smaller partner nations in the Afghanistan war, a new effort that could encourage some countries not to abandon the increasingly unpopular conflict.
The money comes from a $350 million Pentagon program designed to improve the counterterrorism operations of U.S. allies.
While the funding cannot be openly used as an enticement for NATO nations to either send troops to Afghanistan or keep them in the country, the budding initiative sends the message that those who commit to the counterinsurgency fight could be rewarded.
The U.S. is committing more troops to Afghanistan to beat back a stubborn Taliban-led insurgency — and watching in dismay as allies, including Canada and the Netherlands, look to pull troops out of the 8-year-old war or remove them from combat duties. Roughly 87,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan now, and about 100,000 are expected to be in place by late summer.
Iraqi artist who opposed Saddam now fights 'terrorist' label
A federal judge is forcing the Department of Homeland Security to process the permanent-residency request of an Iraqi artist despite the U.S. government's claims that he could be considered a terrorist under post-Sept. 11 laws. The ruling in favor of Sami Alkarim, a refugee whom McClatchy profiled earlier, is expected to prompt others to file similar suits.
About 7,000 refugees are trapped in legal limbo because immigration authorities have branded them terrorists even though many of them opposed dictators, helped the U.S. government in countries such as Afghanistan or, in Alkarim's case, were tortured in one of Saddam Hussein's most notorious prisons.
That's because the Obama administration has interpreted the Patriot Act and other laws to mean that refugees and asylum seekers are barred from living and working in the U.S. if they supported or were members of armed groups in their homelands.
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