News of another attack on the infamous Intercontinental hotel in Kabul, resulting of the slaughter of at least 40 – but this number will probably rise as the full extent of the attack will come to light. To anyone involved with Kabul, it’s history repeating itself, as the hotel was attacked back in 2011 with … Read More
Australian kidnapped in Afganistan. Katherine Jane Wilson a member of the Zardozi charity is another victim of Afghan Kidnap and Ransom. The 60 year old snatched from her villa in the eastern city of Jalalabad (J’bad) in the early hours of 28th April by armed men in uniforms. There is little information at present, but there … Read More
Charleston: hate crime or domestic terrorism? This is the question being asked after the slaughter of nine church goers in one of Americas oldest cities. But the massacre has been overshadowed by another gruesome shooting in Sousse, Tunisia, with a second lone gunman taking 38 lives, the similarities between the two attacks striking. The latter … Read More
In May 2015, ISIS seized the city of Palmyra, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that lies in the Syrian Desert 215km north east of the capital Damascus. Another World Heritage Site the city of Hatra in northern Iraq has already become a casualty of the fanatical group. The question is; will ISIS destroy ancient Palmyra? … Read More
As Iraq is pushed closer to chaos by IS/ISIS forces, there is concern that Afghanistan – the other country invaded as a result of the policies undertaken after 9/11 – will follow, as troops from the NATO derivative ISAF, will be pulled out later this year. However before the Afghans can look at the scheduled pull … Read More
Acts of violence need to have a political context in order for them to be officially classified as a terrorist attack, if not their just criminal. However within a conflict or post conflict environment such as Afghanistan, the lines between the differing of categories of attacks can get so blurred that they often cease … Read More
Charlie Wilson’s War, the 2007 blockbuster in which Tom Hanks plays the flamboyant US Congressman, initiated – with the help of the CIA – what is probably ‘the biggest covert operation in history’. It was called Operation Cyclone, and involved the supply of arms to the beleaguered Afghanistan forces that were facing the Soviet invasion … Read More
With counting reaching the half way mark in the Afghan elections, there appears to be clear a favourite. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – the runner up to President Karzai in the 2009 elections – is way ahead of his nearest rival, the ex warlord and technocrat Ashraf Ghani, with Rassul – the candidate favoured by the … Read More
Afghanistan, ‘The Grave Yard of Empires’, – as it has become known – consists of 34 provinces, the most infamous of which – its name now synonymous with death and destruction – being Helmand. The following is a short account of my involvement there during 2010 – 2011, and is written in respect and admiration … Read More
