What Chicago Summit means for Afghanistan
Ambassador Simon Gass On 20-21 May in Chicago, NATO will not be the only subject on the agenda, but it will be one of the most important. At the last NATO Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, NATO and ISAF,…
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Host nations to help Afghan refugees: Anwari
KABUL): The minister of refugee and repatriation affairs said on Wednesday the international community and regional countries have pledged facilities for the Afghans who are ready to return home. The pledges were held out at a conference on "Voluntary repatriation,…
Text of Afghan-German cooperation agreement
KABUL): Following is the text of the long-term bilateral cooperation agreement signed between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday: The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Government of the Federal…
US committed to local police programme
WASHINGTON (PAN): The United States remains committed to the Afghan Local Police (ALP) programme which is doing “a good job” and has made considerable progress in increasing its capabilities and strength, the Pentagon said Monday. “Transition is progressing, we are…
Opposition parties slam hasty signing of accord
KABUL and the US government. But the Haq Wa Adalat party welcomed it. Respecting Afghanistan’s national sovereignty, the long-awaited agreement was inked in accordance with the recommendations of last year’s traditional Loya Jirga and the United Nations Charter. Speaking on…
US to give Afghanistan $600m aid to combat drugs
HERAT CITY (PAN for combating drugs during 2013. International cartels were trying tom find a market for drugs and enhance their use, William R. Brownfield told a news conference in western Herat province. The main drug-trafficking routes to Central Asia,…
US-Afghan sign healthcare MoU for refugees
WASHINGTON (PAN services to refugees returning to the country. The MoU signed by the Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne C. Richard and visiting Afghan Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil, ensures that returnees will continue to…
Afghan-US strategic pact finalised: Faizi
KABUL and the United States on Sunday finalised the contents of the much-talked strategic partnership pact, which would be sent to both countries’ parliaments for the final consultations, an official said. President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi told Pajhwok Afghan…
NZ to spend $43m on Bamyan reconstruction: Coleman
BAMYAN CITY (PAN projects over the next four years in the central province. Dr Jonathan Coleman told a news conference in Bamyan City, the provincial capital, New Zealand was yet to decide on withdrawing its soldiers. The troops would stay…
Ambulances donated to public health dept
MAIDAN SHAHR (PAN department in central Maidan Wardak province, the governor’s office said. The vehicles worth $450,000 (22,446,000 afghanis) had jointly been donated by the Turkish Provincial Reconstruction), the governor’s house said in a statement. It said the assistance would…
US working on long-term pact with Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (PAN, the White House said on Tuesday. “We are in the process of working with the Afghan government on the framework of our long-term partnership,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told a news conference. “The specifics of that…
Pak leaders oppose ISAF supply resumption
ISLAMABAD (PAN. The supply line was closed immediately after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airstrike in the Mohmand tribal region in November. Relations between Islamabad and Washington plummeted to a new low after…
US to fund Afghan rule of law, anti-drug efforts
KABUL with $238 million for the continuation of key rule of law and counternarcotics programmes, the US embassy said. An agreement to the effect was signed between Deputy Foreign Minister Javed Ludin and the US Embassy’s Coordinating Director for Rule…
Japan donates $11 m for socio-economic survey in Ghor, Daikundi
KABUL and central Daikundi provinces, an official said on Sunday. An agreement for the multiple surveys was inked between Japan’s Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative Laurent Zessler and Habibullah Mowahid, deputy director of Central Statistic department.…
Germany pumps in $312 million aid to Afghanistan
KABUL this year that would be spent in Kabul, Kunduz, Takhar, Badakhshan, Baghlan and Balkh provinces. On Sunday, Afghan Finance Minister Hazrat Omer Zakhelwal and German Minister for Development of Economic Cooperation Dirk Niebel signed an agreement to mobilize the…
Food for needy families in Parwan
CHARIKAR): The process of distributing wheat to 20,000 poor families in central Parwan province is underway on Saturday, an official said. Abdul Kabir Farzam, agriculture department head, told Pajhwok Afghan News the campaign was launched from the capital Charikar, where…
Needy families in 20 provinces to get food aid
KABUL, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) would distribute 60,000 tonnes of wheat to poor families in 20 provinces across the country over next two months, officials said on Saturday. Nearly 3,000 families had already received assistance under the first phase…
US promises relief for Badakhshan avalanche victims
KABUL): The United States on Wednesday offered condolences to the families of those lost in a tragic avalanche in the northern province of Badakhshan. Scores of villagers were killed and the homes of many more destroyed when the massive…
Distribution of winter aid, agri inputs begins
JALALABAD/AIBAK (PAN inputs to farmers started in Nuristan, Nangrahar and Samangan provinces on Monday, officials said. Muhammad Nabi Ahmadi, the deputy governor for Nuristan, told Pajhwok Afghan News the assistance was being distributed to about 880 destitute families, with each…
Funds for treatment of kids with heart defects approved
KABUL): The Cabinet on Monday approved a fund for the treatment of 2,000 children born with holes in their hearts, the Presidential Palace said. The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) had requested financial support for the children, with 513 of…
Karzai orders aid to the disabled, martyrs’ kin
KABUL): The Ministry of Labour, Social, Martyrs and Disabled Affairs would be released 417 million afghanis within a week time, the Presidential Palace said on Sunday. The Ministry of Interior would pay the money through the Ministry of Finance. The…
Powerful Sar-i-Pul men draw stipends on fake names
SAR-I-PUL (PAN): Some powerful individuals and government officials, using fake names, have been benefiting from stipends meant for families of martyrs and people with disabilities in northern Sar-i-Pul province, residents complain. There has been no transparency in the distribution of…
Balkh farmers assisted; aid being distributed in east
MAZAR-I-SHARIF/JALALABAD (PAN): More than 5,000 farmers in northern Balkh province received food items, while the process of distributing aid to poor families launched in three eastern provinces on Thursday, local officials said. Each farmer in Balkh was given 200 kilograms…
UNFPA pledges $6.1m for maternal health services
KABUL. An agreement to the effect was signed between acting health public minister Dr. Soraya Dalil and UNFPA country director for Afghanistan, Laurent Zessler, in Kabul. Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News after signing the pact, Dalil said the amount would…
