KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters. Taliban militants pose with their weapons as they drive their car in Wardak province. (File photo) In an exclusive telephone interview Friday night with CNN, Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said the Taliban intelligence wing was actively gathering information on foreign aid workers. "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with it under our new constitution," he said. He added that he was telling "Afghan brothers not to work with NGOs." In the 15-minute interview, arranged by an intermediary for CNN, Hanafi repeated the Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools. "Our law is still the same old law which was in place during our rule in Afghanistan," he said. "Mullah Mohammad Omar was our leader and he is still our head and leader and so we will follow the same law as before." "In my opinion," he added, "Taliban aren't allowing girls to go to schools because Taliban want women to preserve their respect by staying in their homes, not to work as laborers for others." Dozens of crimes across the country, especially acid attacks, have marred the opening of the new school year in Afghanistan. Afghan girls have been burned and scared randomly with acid as punishment for going to school. More than 600 schools did not open this year because of security issues, according to the Afghanistan Education Ministry.  Watch what females face in Afghanistan » The schools that did open, however, remain defiant. Young women admitted to CNN being fearful but also said they are determined to get an education and better their lives. It is a sentiment echoed by their principal, a 35-year veteran of Afghanistan's girls schools. "I am asking those who close schools and throw acid on girls to let the children of this country go to school because it's crime to close the schools, a crime against the children of this country," said Safia Hayat, principal of the Zarghona Girls School in Kabul. Hanafi, meanwhile, went on to discuss possible reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. "I don't think there can be any discussion of peace until the the foreigners leave Afghanistan," he said referring to the presence of coalition troops. While he seemed to confirm that some reconciliation talks were ongoing, Hanafi also said he wondered what kind of peace was possible as long as Afghans are still dying in NATO bombardments. Hanafi described himself as a commander in the southern province of Helmand, but announced a new Taliban offensive in the north was about to begin and that he would be playing a key role there.

Question: What pledge did Hanafi repeat?

Question: What group were the Taliban trying to keep out of school?

Question: Which people were being threatened?

Question: Who did the commander give an interview to?

Question: Who was gathering information?

Question: What is the itelligence wing doing?

Question: Who gave an exclusive interview to CNN?

Answer: to keep girls out of public schools.

Answer: girls

Answer: foreign aid workers,

Answer: CNN,

Answer: Taliban intelligence wing

Answer: actively gathering information on foreign aid workers.

Answer: Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi

Summary:
Top Taliban commander issues threat to execute foreign aid workers .
Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said intelligence wing was gathering information .
Hanafi repeated Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools .
Commander gave exclusive telephone interview Friday night to CNN .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai bowed to Western pressure Tuesday, agreeing to take part in a presidential runoff vote in two weeks. Hamid Karzai failed to score a first round win in August's election. Karzai, who will face his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah in the November 7 second round, said he was putting his country's interests over his own. "It was not important who the winner is, and we need to leave this to the people of Afghanistan to judge who the winner was," Karzai said at a news conference through an interpreter. "Whether I am the winner or not, it's probably in my interest, but I prefer the national interest of Afghanistan over my personal interests." Western powers, particularly the United States, had been pushing Karzai to accept the final election results in order to ensure Afghanistan has a legitimate government, particularly as Washington considers beefing up its military presence there. Karzai spoke shortly after Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission certified the election results, which gave him less than the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission had invalidated nearly a third of Karzai's votes from the August 20 presidential election because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." Last month, final uncertified results showed Karzai with 54 percent. "We welcome the decision made by the Independent Election Commission, we believe the session is legitimate, legal and according to the constitution of Afghanistan," Karzai said Tuesday. "It's going to be a historic period that we all are waiting to go through." The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said that it would "support the Afghan National Security Forces' preparations to ensure a safe runoff election." Spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said that ISAF had been preparing for a possible runoff election "for some time." "As in the election's first round, ISAF will only provide third-layer of security, reinforcing the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army in line with the security plan signed by the chairman of the Afghan Independent Election Commission along with representatives from the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Defense, and ISAF in 2008," Shanks said. Karzai's decision was immediately hailed by U.S. Sen. John Kerry, one of several Western representatives who appeared alongside the Afghan president at Tuesday's delayed news conference. Kerry, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Karzai's decision to participate in the runoff "will allow the national leadership to govern with legitimacy." "We believe with this decision by the president today that a time of enormous uncertainty has been transformed into a great opportunity," Kerry said.  Watch President Karzai and Sen. John Kerry discuss runoff elections » Minutes after the news conference concluded, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement praising Karzai for accepting the election results and agreeing to a second round of voting. "While this election could have remained unresolved to the detriment of the country, President Karzai's constructive actions established an important precedent for Afghanistan's new democracy," Obama said. Obama is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, and Kerry has said the results of the country's election should be settled before the United States makes any decision on troop levels.  Watch Nic Robertson discuss pressure President Karzai is under » Abdullah told CNN on Monday he was prepared to participate in a runoff, but said "the door is open" to other alternatives. "There are some practical questions ahead," Abdullah told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, citing winter, the security situation "and other realities on the ground." If the election were not held by early November, winter weather would make voting impossible in some areas and force a delay until spring of 2010, according to Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad. Such a delay, he warned, would be a "recipe for disaster" that would create confusion in Afghanistan and heighten tension between the United States and Karzai's government.

Question: On what date will the runoff election be held?

Question: When is the Afghan runoff election?

Question: In what way were the thousands of votes considered invalid?

Question: What does the runoff follow?

Question: When is the the runoff election scheduled?

Answer: November 7

Answer: November 7

Answer: "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."

Answer: Western pressure

Answer: in two weeks.

Summary:
Afghan runoff election scheduled for November 7, officials say .
Runoff follows probe into election fraud that invalidated thousands of votes .
Runoff with pit Karzai against his former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his country would join the strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, right, meets with Richard Holbrooke in Kabul on February 15, 2009.

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Karzai said he is "very, very thankful" that President Barack Obama accepted his proposal to join the review.

Holbrooke is visiting Afghanistan after a trip to neighboring Pakistan. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tapped Holbrooke as special representative for the two countries, a signal of how the new administration considers Afghanistan and Pakistan intertwined in any solution to the war in Afghanistan and the terrorist threat along their shared border.

At the news conference in Kabul, Holbrooke said Sunday that he conveyed the administration's support of the upcoming elections on August 20, a date recently set by Afghanistan's electoral commission.

"President Obama and Secretary Clinton and the United States government were very gratified to hear President Karzai reaffirm his support of the August 20 decision," Holbrooke said.

Holbrooke's visit comes as Obama plans to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight what he's called the "central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism."

In an interview on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," which aired Sunday, Karzai said that, with a resurgent Taliban, a still-flourishing drug trade and a border with Pakistan believed to be home base for al Qaeda, his country can't afford for U.S. troops to leave any time soon.

"U.S. forces will not be able to leave soon in Afghanistan because the task is not over," Karzai said. "We have to defeat terrorism. We'll have to enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet. We'll have to enable Afghanistan to be able to defend itself and protect for its security ...

"Then, the United States can leave and, at that time, the Afghan people will give them plenty of flowers and gratitude and send them safely back home."

At the same time, Karzai said the actions of troops currently in Afghanistan have turned some of the public against them.

"It's the question of civilian causalities. It's a question of risk of Afghans. It's the question of home searches," he said. "These activities are seriously undermining the confidence of the Afghan people in the joint struggle we have against terrorism and undermining their hopeful future.

"We'll continue to be a friend. We'll continue to be an ally. But Afghanistan deserves respect and a better treatment."

While he said he welcomes additional U.S. troops, Karzai suggested they need to work along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in the poppy fields that fuel a drug trade that threatens to turn the nation into a narco-state -- not in the villages where most Afghans live.

"We have traveled many years on. What should have happened early on didn't unfortunately happen," Karzai said. "Now, the country is not in the same mood as it was in 2002. And so any addition of troops must have a purposeful objective that the Afghan people would agree with."

The Obama administration is conducting several reviews of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, including a review by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in the region. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the original mission in Afghanistan was "too broad" and needs to be more "realistic and focused" for the United States to succeed.

"If we set ourselves the objective of creating some sort of central Asian Valhalla over there, we will lose, because nobody in the world has that kind of time, patience and money," Gates said during a recent Senate hearing.

He called for concrete goals that can be reached in three to five years.

Speaking via satellite from Kabul, Karzai called former President George Bush "a great person," but said he can work with Obama -- despite the president's comments as a candidate that Karzai had "not gotten out of the bunker" to improve security and infrastructure in

Question: What fuels the drug trade?

Question: Who said U.S forces shouldn't leave?

Question: What did Karzai suggest?

Question: What has soured public support?

Question: What did Karzai say forces should focus on?

Question: Who will help to review war on terrorism?

Question: Name of the Afghan president?

Question: Who is Hamid Karzai?

Answer: poppy fields

Answer: Karzai

Answer: they need to work along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in the poppy fields

Answer: actions of troops currently in Afghanistan

Answer: terrorism.

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Afghan President

Summary:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his country will help review of war on terrorism .
He says U.S. forces shouldn't leave Afghanistan soon since task is not over .
Karzai says civilian causalities, home searches have soured public support .
Karzai suggested forces should focus on poppy fields that fuel a drug trade .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan lawmakers have directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of involvement in a string of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, blasting their neighbor as "the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism." The recent attack by a suicide bomber on the Indian embassy in Kabul killed more than 40 people. A Pakistani official Tuesday bristled at the accusation, saying that Afghan lawmakers were making allegations without proof. "We are not an irresponsible nation and we don't blame our failures on others," said a senior official with Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "If they want to engage in this kind of game, let them be." The Afghan Cabinet made the scathing indictment in a resolution Monday, saying Afghanistan would boycott a series of meetings with Pakistan unless "bilateral trust" is restored. In recent weeks a wave of attacks carried out by Islamic militants have killed scores of people in Afghanistan, including an assault on a military outpost Sunday that killed nine U.S. soldiers, as well as a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy a week ago that killed 58 people. The two incidents, along with an assassination attempt against Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a military ceremony on April 27, are "indicative of the attempts by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) to once again occupy Afghanistan and to perish the true right of the people of Afghanistan for national sovereignty," the resolution said. Afghanistan regularly accuses Pakistan's intelligence service -- which once had strong ties with the Taliban -- of orchestrating attacks inside its borders. Pakistan has repeatedly denied involvement, including in the incidents that the resolution cited. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also said there is no indication that "foreign agents" were responsible for the embassy attack. The senior ISI official said Tuesday that if Afghanistan has proof that Pakistani intelligence agents were involved in the attacks, that proof should be presented and the ISI will act on it. The official said that the Pakistani government could also blame incidents in Pakistan, like recent attacks in Karachi and Hangu, on others. But without proof, he said, it would be irresponsible. Pakistan and Afghanistan have a tumultuous history that dates back several years. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, religious schools in Pakistan helped train fighters who battled the Soviets. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996 and imposed fundamentalist rule, Pakistan was one of the few countries that recognized the regime diplomatically. It dropped its support after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Washington and New York. But Afghanistan claims that Pakistan continues to informally support the militants, who operate from havens in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions near the porous 1,500-mile border the two countries share. Adding fresh ammunition to the suspicions, the Rand Corp. -- a U.S. think tank -- released a report last month that said some members of Pakistan's intelligence service and its paramilitary corps were helping insurgents in Afghanistan. The study, funded by the U.S. Defense Department, alleged that members of the two agencies often tipped off militants to the location and movement of coalition forces trying to rout them. It also said personnel within the agencies trained fighters at camps in Pakistan, financed them and helped them cross the border into Afghanistan. The Pakistani military denied and denounced the report, calling it a "smear campaign" designed to "create doubts and suspicion in the minds of (the) target audience." Relations between the two countries are strained to such a point that Karzai has threatened to send troops across the border to take on the militants. "The people of Afghanistan and the international community have come to the reality that Pakistan intelligence institutions and its army have become the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism and extremism to the world and particularly to Afghanistan," Monday's resolution said.

Question: Where is the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism?

Question: Who makes allegations without proof?

Question: What country is "largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism"?

Question: What kind of militants are attacking?

Question: Is Pakistan the leading terrorist country?

Question: What has killed scores of people in Afghanistan?

Question: Who accused of orchestrating attacks?

Question: Where is the killing the worse?

Answer: Pakistan's

Answer: Afghan lawmakers

Answer: Pakistan's

Answer: Islamic

Answer: "the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism."

Answer: suicide bomber

Answer: Pakistan's intelligence service

Answer: Afghanistan,

Summary:
Afghanistan: Pakistan is "largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism"
Attacks carried out by Islamic militants have killed scores of people in Afghanistan .
Pakistan intelligence service often accused of orchestrating attacks .
Pakistan: Afghan lawmakers making allegations without proof .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan is postponing its presidential elections until August 20 due to security and logistical concerns, the country's election commission said Thursday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's five-year term is coming to an end this year. The balloting was originally scheduled for late May, but the independent election commission laid out several reasons for the delay. Security is a factor, the commission said. It also cited a lack of trained staff, incomplete voter registration and the weather. It is difficult to campaign or distribute ballots during the rough winter months in the rugged landscape. The elections are a critical moment for Afghanistan as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends. He was elected in December 2004 in largely peaceful polling. But since then, the Taliban militant movement has regrouped, international troop deaths have increased and there has been an increase in terror attacks, mostly in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan has already registered 3 million voters and is holding voter drives to register more. The United States will deploy additional troops in coming months to provide much-needed security in the run-up to the election. The country expects to hold parliamentary elections in 2010. Meanwhile on Wednesday coalition forces fighting in southern Afghanistan killed four militants, the U.S. military said. Coalition soldiers were targeting a Taliban leader in the Zabul province when militants fired on them, according to a military statement. Soldiers returned fire, killing the four militants. Soldiers then searched their compound and confiscated several assault rifles. This operation comes as the U.S. military is contemplating adding three brigades to the war effort in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that the troop build up could happen by this summer. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report

Question: What is the number of registered voters in Afghanistan?

Question: How many registered voters are there?

Question: Whose term is coming to an end?

Question: Who will deploy extra troops?

Question: What country will assist with providing security for the elections?

Question: How many registered voters are in Afghanistan?

Question: What will U.S. troops deploy?

Question: How long was Hamid Karzai president for?

Question: Whose five year term is ending?

Question: Who is ending a five year term?

Question: Who has registered 3 million voters?

Answer: 3 million

Answer: 3 million

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: The United States

Answer: The United States

Answer: 3 million

Answer: provide much-needed security in the run-up to the election.

Answer: five-year term

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
Afghan presidential elections come as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends .
Afghanistan has registered 3 million voters, holding voter drives to register more .
U.S. troops will deploy extra troops to provide security in run-up to the election .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan officials said 26 people across the country were killed in election day violence, although they hailed Thursday's vote as a success. A woman dips her finger in ink to show she voted in Bamiyan, one of Afghanistan's more peaceful provinces. Nearly 95 percent of the more than 6,000 polling stations across Afghanistan opened on Thursday, according to government and electoral officials. Counting is under way but initial results are not expected for another 36 to 48 hours, while final results will not be certified until mid-September. Officials extended voting until everyone waiting in line had a chance to cast their ballots. "At some [polling stations] there is a very large line," said Azizullah Ludin of Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission. "We have to complete all these people that are coming here." It is the nation's second presidential election since the 2001 fall of the Taliban. Ludin said the decision to add more time to vote was because of a large turnout at some stations and technical issues that delayed voting for others. There were no official details on voter turnout and it has been difficult to get an accurate count of how many Afghans voted in defiance of threats of violence from the Taliban. CNN's Atia Abawi said election officials at one polling station in Kabul had already begun counting ballots after a low turnout when the order to extend voting reached them. Afghan voter turnout low as presidential election nears end » When asked how many ballots had been counted, an election official said 1,000 -- which seemed high to the CNN crew that had been at the polling station all day. "We were there all day and we did not see 1,000 people," CNN's Kevin Flower said. Election workers in central Bamiyan province immediately began reopening the polls after the order to extend voting. "Election workers had put up security tape barriers and even tied down the flaps to their voting tents shortly after 4 p.m. local time," CNN's Ivan Watson reported from the province. "The security tape has been removed and voters are straggling in again." Election observers from 30 groups -- both domestic and international -- said voting in Kabul province was fairly smooth, though a few reports surfaced of irregularities at various polling stations. Afghans were electing a president from 40 hopefuls and 420 members of the provincial council in what was seen in the international community as a high-stakes test for the fledgling South Asian democracy. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the voting and the risk factor in some areas may have been too high for some Afghans to venture out to vote.  Watch an election monitor in Kabul discuss what's being examined » The government ordered a ban on media coverage of incidents of violence in an effort to "ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people" as 300,000 NATO and Afghan soldiers were out in force to safeguard voters. The independent Pajhwok Afghan News, which had announced it would not heed the media ban, posted online reports of deadly attacks across Afghanistan. CNN has not confirmed those incidents. Afghan security officials said voting day violence claimed the lives of 17 Afghan policemen and soldiers, and another nine civilians. An American service member was killed in a mortar strike in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. It did not say where the attack took place. Major fighting continued for a second day in the city of Baghlan, north of Kabul, security sources said. Rockets were fired at the town throughout the day, a day after heavy fighting that claimed the life of the city's police chief, the sources said. Afghans in Baghlan are afraid to leave their homes to cast their ballots, Afghan security officials said. In the eastern city of Gardez, four rockets pounded the outskirts of the city, while a roadside bomb struck in another area, the local security chief said. There were no casualties from either incident. But other parts of Afghanistan have been largely spared the daily drumbeat of car bombs, assassinations and whizzing rockets. Enthusiasm filled the air as voters lined up to have their say

Question: who vowed to disrupt the elections

Question: What was the vote hailed as?

Question: Who has vowed to disrupt the voting?

Question: What did the Taliban vow?

Question: How many people were killed in election day violence?

Question: When were 26 people killed?

Question: what is the number of people killed

Question: what was hailed as a success

Answer: Taliban

Answer: success.

Answer: Taliban.

Answer: to disrupt the voting

Answer: 26

Answer: Thursday's

Answer: 26

Answer: Thursday's vote

Summary:
26 people killed in election day violence, Afghan officials say .
Vote hailed a success by officials as the count begins .
The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the voting .
More than 3,000 candidates vie for 420 provincial seats; 40 standing for president .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan's opium production dropped dramatically this year partly because of new aggressive drug-fighting tactics in the country, a United Nations study found. Afghan police officers use tractors to destroy poppy crops in Helmand province earlier this year. According to the report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, production dipped by 10 percent this year, while cultivation fell by 22 percent. "At a time of pessimism about the situation in Afghanistan, these results are a welcome piece of good news and demonstrate that progress is possible," said Antonio Maria Costa, the office's executive director. The United Nations notes that drugs originating in Afghanistan have "catastrophic consequences." "They fund the activities of criminals, insurgents and terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Collusion with corrupt government officials is undermining public trust, security and the rule of law. "Widespread money-laundering is harming the reputation of banks in the Gulf and farther afield," it said. Watch U.N. official discuss concerns about opium stockpiles » The report, released this week, attributed the decrease to better government leadership, aggressive counter-narcotics tactics, a push for farmers to grow legal crops and pressure from NATO-led soldiers. This was the second year that the production of the opium, used to produce heroin, had dropped in Afghanistan. The study found 20 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan were now free of opium farming. The most significant drop this year was in Helmand province, the volatile southern region where NATO-led forces are battling with militants. In that opium hotbed, cultivation dipped from 103,590 to 69,833 hectares (255,976 to 172,561 acres). But even with this seemingly good news, some fear that drug traffickers in Afghanistan are preparing to fight back. According to the report, researchers found evidence strong drug cartels, similar to ones seen in Colombia, were being formed by participants in Afghanistan's drug trade. "A marriage of convenience between insurgents and criminal groups is spawning narco-cartels linked to the Taliban," Costa said. Incentive programs giving local farmers seeds and training in growing legal crops represent a key tactic in the fight against drugs. Local farmers in Helmand are being trained at a facility ran by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Farmers like Abdul Qadir said programs like this one are key to bringing peace to war-torn Afghanistan. "These countries that are here, why are they with guns and bombs? If you can just help the people of Afghanistan in this way, the fighting will go away, these Taliban and other enemies of the country will also disappear," Qadir said. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

Question: Local farmers also encouraged to grow what?

Question: how many provinces don't have opium farming?

Question: what kind of consequences?

Question: where do the drugs come from

Question: What has "catastrophic consequences"?

Question: How many provinces in Afghanistan are now free of opium farming?

Question: what are local farmers being encouraged to do

Question: how many provinces are free of opium farming

Answer: legal crops

Answer: 20 of the 34

Answer: "catastrophic

Answer: Afghanistan's

Answer: drugs originating in Afghanistan

Answer: 20

Answer: grow legal crops and pressure from NATO-led soldiers.

Answer: 20

Summary:
U.N.: Drugs originating in Afghanistan have "catastrophic consequences"
Success attributed to aggressive drug-fighting tactics in the country .
Report: 20 of  34 provinces in Afghanistan now free of opium farming .
Local farmers also encouraged to grow legal crops .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- As a journalist, as a human being, the stories of the people around you stick with you. Whether it is in passing memory or in daily wonderment, they are in your mind and many in your heart, engrained forever. CNN's Atia Abawi, center, with Banafsha (denim jacket) and her siblings and mother. The first story I worked on for CNN in Afghanistan back in November, just as we were opening our new bureau in Kabul, was on a girl who attended a school for street kids called Aschiana. Aschiana, which means "nest" in Dari, was a place for the nearly 60,000 street kids in the capital city to escape from their terrible reality and get an education. There, we met Banafsha, an 11-year-old girl who along with her two younger sisters would beg on the streets for bread, feeding their family of eight. Her mother would stay home and take care of her baby brothers and their father, she told us, was a heroin addict. Banafsha was young in age but her eyes told of experiences that have taken her far beyond childhood. In our conversations, she spoke with candor and honesty, not allowing emotions to creep in. Until when, she told me that she prayed everyday for a change in her life.  Watch Abawi's first story on Banafsha » "I say, 'God take me out of this poverty and have my father go work so I can go to school,'" she said, wiping away one lonely tear. The story received a tremendous response from viewers and readers after it was posted on CNN.com. An organization from the U.S. began to sponsor Banafsha, promising to provide for her. This was great to hear, but it didn't stop me from worrying. Did I bring her more trouble or was she going to be okay? Every time we would drive around the neighborhood, I would look for her to see if she was among the other street beggars. Were they suffering in the winter cold? Did they have enough food? About a week ago, I went to the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force with our cameraman Charlie Miller. As we were leaving, we met three little street kids, a sweet girl among them with a beautiful smile -- which made me think of Banafsha and her sisters. The sight of kids begging always breaks my heart because I know that their childhoods are forever stolen by poverty. I am also always scared to give them money because I remembered a story Banafsha told me about her little sister. She was given two dollars by an American, and when the American walked away, an older boy came and punched her 7-year-old little sister in the face, knocking her out. When she woke up, her money was gone. As we were driving away from those children and the smile on the girl's face, I shared the story with our driver and told him that I wished I knew how Banafsha was doing now. On our way home we decided to stop at a DVD shop, part of our limited entertainment living in Kabul. After making my selection, I walked out and I heard a beggar girl with a familiar smile on her face exclaim, "You came over to our house!" There was a girl next to her in a yellow dress also beaming with the same indistinguishable smile, lugging a bag of leftover pieces of bread over her tiny back.  Watch Abawi reunite with Banafsha and her family » It was Banafsha's little sisters: 10-year-old Samira and 7-year-old Tamina. I was so excited to see them and even happier that they recognized me. But I was at the same time dejected that they were still on the streets. They told me that they go to school but they still beg on the streets. However, Banafsha is at home and no longer begging. We went home with them because I wanted to see Banafsha and her mother. On the way to their house in the

Question: Where did Abawi meet Banafsha?

Question: Who met Banafsha?

Question: Where does Banafsha recieve some help from?

Question: who recieves help?

Question: who are beg on the streets?

Answer: Kabul,

Answer: CNN's Atia Abawi,

Answer: organization

Answer: 60,000 street kids

Answer: Banafsha, an 11-year-old girl

Summary:
Abawi meets Banafsha while doing a story about a school for street kids .
Banafsha and her sisters beg on the streets for food .
Abawi runs into Banafsha's sisters six months later .
Banafsha receives some help from a charity, but the family is still struggling .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Australia's new prime minister assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday that his country's troops intend to be in Afghanistan "for the long haul." French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Kevin Rudd and French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew into the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday to meet with Karzai and visit their respective country's troops participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. In a morning meeting, Sarkozy "assured President Karzai of his government's long term political and military support with the people of Afghanistan," according to a statement from the Afghan president's office. Rudd, who was elected in a landslide victory Nov. 24, appeared with Karzai at a news conference, where he repeatedly said that the Australian commitment to Afghanistan is strong. "We will be, as I said before, in this country, Afghanistan, for the long haul. It's important for us to be here in partnership with NATO countries," Rudd said. "On the question of the broader security policy challenges faced within Afghanistan, of course they are significant, they are real. But we are confident that in partnership with our friends in the Afghan government and with our other allies, particularly in NATO, that we can continue to achieve real progress in the long-term security of this country," he added. Australia's new defense minister, however, warned U.S. and NATO allies recently that they risk losing the war in Afghanistan without a sharp shift in military and reconstruction efforts there. Joel Fitzgibbon, who took office with Rudd allies during a conference in Scotland earlier this month, said that more work needs to be done to win the "hearts and minds" of the people of Afghanistan in the 6-year-old war against the country's former Taliban rulers and their al Qaeda allies. Karzai wished those at the news conference a merry Christmas, then thanked Australia, France and other countries for their help and support. More than 1,900 French troops are in Afghanistan, serving both the ISAF and the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the war in Afghanistan, with nearly 1,000 troops stationed mostly in the southern province of Oruzgan. Sarkozy, elected to lead France last May, told the U.S. Congress during a visit last month that France would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States on the war in Afghanistan. "Let me tell you solemnly today: France will remain engaged in Afghanistan as long as it takes, because what's at stake in that country is the future of our values and that of the Atlantic Alliance," he said. Rudd made a surprise visit Friday to Iraq, where he promised continued Australian aid, despite a decision to withdraw all 550 Australian troops in Iraq by mid-2008 -- an effort his predecessor, John Howard, staunchly opposed. Rudd had said he would start a phased withdrawal of Australian forces from Iraq if his Labor Party won the vote. E-mail to a friend Journalist Farhad Peikar in Kabul contributed to this report.

Question: With whom are both leaders expected to meet?

Question: What president did the leaders expect to meet?

Question: Who will they visit with?

Question: Where did the French and Australian leaders arrive at?

Question: for what reason are they in afghanistan?

Question: In which countr do French and Australian leaders arrive?

Answer: Karzai

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Answer: their respective country's troops

Answer: Kabul.

Answer: meet with Karzai and visit

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
French and Australian leaders arrive in Afghanistan .
Both leaders expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai .
Both will visit with their respective country's troops .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Civilian deaths in Afghanistan have risen sharply in the past year, largely due to more Taliban attacks and roadside bombings, U.N. officials said Sunday.

NATO soldiers sit in their vehicle in an Afghan province freed from Taliban forces.

Afghan civilian deaths jumped from 430 in the first six months of 2007 to 698 so far this year, an increase of 60 percent, said John Holmes, the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

"It is clear that the international military forces are making every effort to minimize civilian casualties," Holmes said.

"Nevertheless, these problems are still there, and we need to deal with them and make sure that the safety of civilians comes first and international humanitarian law is respected," he said.

Taliban insurgents forces have shifted from direct attacks on international troops toward the use of "civilian-blind" measures such as roadside bombings and suicide attacks, said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

At the same time, he said, civilian deaths blamed on government forces and U.S. and NATO troops has declined in the first six months of 2008, largely due to pressure from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

About 60 percent of civilian deaths in 2008 are blamed on anti-government forces, up from less than half in 2007.

Increased Taliban attacks on aid projects also have left 78 of Afghanistan's 398 districts off-limits to relief workers, Siddique said.

"Increasingly, we're seeing targets of schools, of radio stations, of health clinics -- all in an effort to halt progress and keep people in fear," he said.

A total of 565 aid convoys came under attack in 2007, with hundreds of tons of food hijacked. As recently as Sunday, a convoy of 100 tons of food aid came under attack outside Kandahar, with several trucks burned and looted, he said.

"Thankfully, we're not getting any report of death or injuries," he said.

Afghanistan is the original front in the "war on terrorism," which was launched after al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

A U.S.-led invasion after the attacks pushed out the Taliban, which had allowed al Qaeda to operate from its territory, but the Islamic fundamentalist militia has regrouped along and across the mountainous border with Pakistan.

Coinciding with the rise in civilian deaths in 2008 is an increase in attacks on American and allied forces, which are up 40 percent since last year

The death toll of U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan in June also climbed to more than 40, making it the deadliest month since the war began.

An explosion in southern Afghanistan killed a British soldier serving with NATO on Saturday, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The soldier died when he was struck by a mine in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province, the ministry said. He and his unit were investigating a report of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a civilian aircraft at a nearby airfield, it said.

"When investigating this, they dismounted their vehicles and what is believed to have been a legacy anti-Personnel mine detonated, killing the soldier instantly," the ministry statement said.

Most of the soldiers serving in Helmand are British. Helmand province is Afghanistan's top poppy-producing region and a major front in the war against the Taliban. Provincial authorities there have blamed militants for a spate of recent deadly attacks.

NATO and Afghan force operations kept the insurgency down in 2007 by killing or capturing key leaders and clearing out Taliban safe havens, but a Pentagon report issued last week predicted the Taliban would be back in 2008.

Question: How much have Afghan civilian deaths increased since last year?

Question: Number of Afghan civilian deaths?

Question: What is the increase attributed to?

Question: Which month is the deadliest?

Question: What months was marked as deadliest since war began?

Question: What has been the deadliest month since the war began?

Question: What is attributed to Taliban attacks?

Question: What is up by 60 percent?

Question: What war is being referenced, specifically?

Question: British NATO soldier died from what??

Question: What happened to a British NATO soldier?

Answer: 60 percent,

Answer: 698

Answer: Taliban attacks and roadside bombings,

Answer: June

Answer: June

Answer: June

Answer: Civilian deaths in Afghanistan

Answer: Afghan civilian deaths

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: struck by a mine

Answer: died when he was struck by a mine

Summary:
NEW: Afghan civilian deaths up 60 percent from last year, U.N. says .
NEW: Increase attributed to intensifying Taliban attacks, roadside bombs .
Troop deaths also up from 2007 as June marks deadliest month since war began .
British NATO soldier dies in mine explosion in Helmand province .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Fighting raged in Afghanistan over the weekend, with a suicide bombing slaying six people, a NATO-led soldier and an Afghan police officer dying in an "altercation," and troops killing several insurgents in battles, authorities said. Fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces continues to rage in Afghanistan. The suicide bombing on Sunday killed six people in a bazaar in Spin Boldak, located in Kandahar province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Monday. Along with the deaths, at least 17 people were wounded, and ISAF condemned the assault. Four of those killed were Afghan border police officers, ISAF said. The location is in southern Afghanistan. The ISAF soldier and an Afghan police officer were killed after seven people were apprehended in connection with a roadside bombing in Paktia province on Sunday that targeted an Afghan National Police and ISAF patrol. The location is in eastern Afghanistan. "The detained civilians were then transferred to the ANP station at the Jaji District Center. While at the district center, there was an altercation during which an ANP officer and one ISAF soldier were killed," ISAF said in a Monday news release. The U.S.-led coalition on Monday reported fighting between U.S. and Afghan troops and insurgents over the last two days -- Sunday in Kandahar province and Saturday in Helmand province. "Several insurgents" were reported killed in both incidents. Two insurgents died in fighting on Friday in another southern region -- Zabul province, the coalition said on Monday.

Question: Who killed a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan?

Question: Who was responsible for killing a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan?

Question: Who killed the people?

Question: Who is the soldier?

Question: Where was the soldier killed?

Question: Where did this happen?

Answer: suicide bombing

Answer: Taliban

Answer: suicide bombing

Answer: ISAF

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
Militants kill eight people and injure at least 17 in latest attacks .
Insurgents killed a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan .
Soldier's name and nationality held until family members could be notified .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Five people connected to an Afghan presidential candidate have been released after being kidnapped the day before, an official with the candidate said. Five of Dr Abdullah Abdullah's campaign workers were kidnapped and later released. The group of five, who worked for Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, were in a two-car caravan in northwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday when they were abducted, said Sayed Ahmad Samey, the security chief of Badghis province. Elders negotiated for their release, Samey said. The workers have now been freed and are in a good condition, according to Sami Panah of Abdullah's campaign office. Abdullah is a former Foreign Minister who is seeking to unseat incumbent President Hamid Karzai in the August 20 election. This is not the first time that Abdullah's supporters have been targeted. One of the presidential hopeful's campaign workers was wounded by an unknown gunman in late July. A month earlier, gunmen in the province of Kapisa killed another of Abdullah's campaign managers in a midnight attack. Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have headed to southern Afghanistan to secure polling stations and protect citizens during the elections. It will be the nation's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Question:
How many people were kidnapped?
How many were in the group?
what happend to afghan election workers
Who is the current President?
who were the group of five working for
who is abdullah seeking to unseat

Answer: Five

Answer: five,

Answer: kidnapped and later released.

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Dr. Abdullah Abdullah,

Answer: incumbent President Hamid Karzai

Summary:
Afghan election campaign workers released after 24 hour kidnap .
The group of five were working for presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah .
Abdullah seeking to unseat incumbent President Hamid Karzai on August 20 .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Four U.S. service members were killed in fighting Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. An Interior Ministry official said the victims of a suicide bomb blast at Kabul airport were all civilians. The deaths took place in Kunar province in what a spokeswoman called an "ongoing event." Troop deaths have mounted in Afghanistan this year as American and other international forces have stepped up their fight against the Taliban. August was the deadliest month for the U.S. military in the nearly eight-year-old war, with 52 fatalities. The four deaths on Tuesday bring the number of U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan to 13 in September. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed two people and wounded six others Tuesday morning in the Kabul airport's military section, Afghan officials said. U.S. and Belgian nationals were among the wounded, a Western diplomatic official told CNN. The victims were all civilians, the Interior Ministry official said. The blast occurred near a gate at Kabul International Airport, said Zamari Bashari, a representative of Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior. NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan and other government organizations use the military side of the airport. In Pakistan, eight tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces over the border in Afghanistan were attacked near Quetta, according to Quetta police. People on motorcycles fired shots at the tankers when they were parked at a rest area, but they did not catch fire, police said. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

Question: how many members died?

Question: What happened at Kabul International Airport?

Question: Where did the suicide bomber strike?

Question: how many people died in kabul?

Question: Where did the suicide bomber set off his bomb?

Question: where was the suicide bomber?

Question: Where were the U.S. service members killed?

Question: Where were the U.S. service members fighting?

Answer: Four

Answer: suicide bomb blast

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: two

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: eastern Afghanistan,

Answer: eastern Afghanistan,

Summary:
Four U.S. service members killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan .
Two people killed in explosion at Kabul International Airport, six wounded .
Official: Suicide bomber struck near gate of military section of airport .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of excited music fans wait in line, on the lookout for their favorite singers on a hit television show. Elaha Sorur was the lone female finalist on this season's "Afghan Star." Just a few years ago, television and some music was banned in Afghanistan. Instead of spending the time outside a New York venue or Hollywood soundstage, though, these fans braved barbed wire and gun-toting guards in Kabul to attend Afghanistan's premier pop music event: the finals of "Afghan Star," the embattled country's answer to "American Idol." In line, bright mod outfits have replaced Kabul's normally conservative dress code. Onstage, men sport the latest styles. And on TV screens, a country's new battle between traditional and pop culture plays out. "For the young generation," says one fan in line, "it's very important to be cool, with a cool mind." Inside the concert hall, Jahid Mohseni, a 38-year-old Afghan-Australian media mogul, tries to manage the chaos he's created. Singers, child acrobats and TV technicians all compete to get his attention before the start of Afghanistan's biggest night of television. Mohseni, who started the country's top television network, Tolo TV, says he's just trying to revive Afghan culture after the fallow Taliban era, when music and television were banned.  Watch performances on "Afghan Star" » "Yes, we are promoting social change, but we cannot push Afghan society where it doesn't want to go. This is a commercial enterprise, and it's reflecting what people want," Mohseni said. In Afghanistan, more than 60 percent of the population is younger than 25, and judging by the popularity of "Afghan Star," "they're like people everywhere. They're not from Mars," Mohseni said. At the fourth-season finals this year, the audience included those who sat quietly as well as those who loudly cheered for contestants including Naweed Forugh (who would be named the "Afghan Star" winner), Naweed Sabirpur, Mehran Gulzar and Elaha Sorur, the lone female finalist. "Art is in the blood of Afghans and has been for centuries, and it is still," Sorur said. "During the years of fighting, the people haven't been able to use their artistry, but with time, it will get better and better. Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan are ready for a change." But not everyone is happy with Mohseni's programming choices. Afghanistan's guardians of Islamic values, the Ulema Council, protested that "Afghan Star" and Tolo TV's popular Indian soap operas were not part of Afghan culture. Afghanistan's minister for information and culture even tried to stop the soap operas in court, claiming that it was a question of national security. Mohseni pointed out that Afghanistan is sandwiched between two powerful neighbors: India, with a population of 1.1 billion, and Iran, with almost 70 million people (compared with Afghanistan's estimated 34 million). "You just have to sit down with your critics and explain that if we don't have Afghan music and entertainment, Bollywood will take over," he said. "We're just trying to hold our own in the middle of what is effectively a cultural war." That culture war can be seen on Tolo TV. After meeting with the Ulema Council, Mohseni dreamed up another reality show called "Tartil," or "Koran Star." The three finalists were quizzed by religious authorities and judged on how well they've memorized passages from the Quran, Islam's holy book. There were no wild ovations when the winner was announced, but the finale still produced a bombshell: The winner was a shy 16-year-old schoolgirl named Uzra Mohamedi, who accepted the oversized $3,500 check without cracking a smile and while dressed in a traditional black veil. Other TV programming in Afghanistan includes state-run news and lifestyle shows, a popular local-produced drama

Question: What season was completed?

Question: What is Afghanistan's version of American Idol called?

Question: What is Afghanistan's version of "American Idol"?

Question: What does "Koran Star" test?

Question: What is What is Afghanistan's version of American Idol?

Question: How many seasons have they had?

Answer: "Afghan Star."

Answer: "Afghan Star."

Answer: "Afghan Star,"

Answer: how well they've memorized passages from the Quran,

Answer: "Afghan Star,"

Answer: fourth-season

Summary:
"Afghan Star" is Afghanistan's version of "American Idol"
The show, one of Afghanistan's most popular, has completed its fourth season .
"Koran Star" judges contestants' knowledge of Islam's holy book .
Many see TV programming as a culture war inside the country .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- International troops in Afghanistan endured another deadly attack Tuesday, a day after 10 NATO-led troops were killed in that country. The body of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan arrives in the United States on Monday. A U.S. coalition service member "died as a result of injuries" on Tuesday afternoon in a roadside bombing attack on a convoy in western Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. This follows 10 NATO-led deaths on Monday, the highest single-day total in Afghanistan in nearly a year, according to NATO and U.S.-led coalition numbers. Seven Americans, two Canadians and one Briton died in four separate incidents Monday. On August 18, 2008, 10 French soldiers were killed when about 100 insurgents attacked a patrol in Kabul Province, and a British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan when insurgents attacked a patrol with a roadside bomb. A month before that, 10 American troops were killed in two separate incidents on July 13, 2008. The latest deaths came as U.S. troops cranked up their fight against the Taliban, a push that includes a major Marine-led offensive against the militants in the southern province of Helmand. Roadside bombs Monday killed four Americans in the northern province of Kunduz and two in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. A seventh American died in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF confirmed. Two Canadian air crew members and a British soldier were killed when a helicopter crashed during takeoff in Zabul province, the Canadian and British defense ministries said.

Question: What nationality was the soldier?

Question: Who was killed?

Question: Where was soldier killed?

Question: How many soldiers died?

Question: Where was the bombing?

Question: What was the number of americans that died?

Question: How many people died?

Question: Who are U.S. forces fighting?

Question: Where did the roadside bombing happen?

Question: which is the number of canadians killed

Question: who killed in roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan?

Question: What nationality was the soldier killed in a roadside bombing?

Question: where Latest deaths come as U.S. forces ratchet up fight?

Question: Who are U.S. forces ratcheting up the fight against?

Question: that nationality was the soldier who died on the edge roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan

Answer: U.S.

Answer: 10 NATO-led troops

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: 10

Answer: attack on a convoy in western Afghanistan,

Answer: Seven

Answer: 10 NATO-led troops

Answer: Taliban,

Answer: western Afghanistan,

Answer: two

Answer: U.S. soldier

Answer: U.S.

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: the Taliban,

Answer: U.S.

Summary:
U.S. soldier killed in roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan .
Follows deaths of 7 Americans, 2 Canadians, 1 Briton in separate incidents .
Latest deaths come as U.S. forces ratchet up fight against Taliban .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- NATO-led troops killed 12 insurgents in a firefight Friday in Afghanistan, and a civilian caught in the crossfire was apparently killed by militants, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

U.S. Marines fire 120mm mortars on Taliban positions on April 3 in Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

The incident occurred south of Kabul in the eastern Afghan province of Logar, when Afghan security forces and ISAF troops were conducting an operation.

It comes as NATO members meet in Europe to discuss the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as human rights groups this week urged NATO and the U.S. military to avoid civilian casualties and develop a well-coordinated condolence payment system for civilians victimized in the war.

Troops saw a large group of insurgents placing a roadside bomb. The militants retreated to a compound and attacked ISAF troops with small arms.

Troops surrounded the compound and urged them to surrender peacefully after it was cordoned off. It also asked the people in the compound to release women and children but no civilians left.

Troops assaulted the compound and 12 male insurgents were killed in gunfire. Troops found one woman who was killed in the crossfire by insurgent small arms fire, ISAF said.

An investigation is being conducted by Afghan National Security Forces at the site. Initial indications show that the woman was killed by insurgent small arms fire.

Eight AK47 rifles, two rocket propelled grenade launchers, several rocket canisters, 82mm mortars, and two heavy machine guns were found in the compound.

"ANSF and ISAF are making significant progress against insurgent groups in Logar province who are involved in murdering civilians with IEDs," said Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, ISAF spokesman.

"Today's firefight illustrates the difference between ISAF troops who risk their lives to protect civilians, and insurgents who deliberately and tragically place civilians at risk."

Also, ISAF reported the death of a soldier from the NATO-led force Friday in eastern Afghanistan.

The soldier died of wounds and another was injured after what was described as a "hostile incident."

"On behalf of the men and women of the International Security Assistance Force, I offer our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the brave soldier killed, and our support to the soldier wounded in this incident," Blanchette said.

"As we recognize their sacrifice in our battle against a vicious insurgency, we will continue supporting the Afghan National Security Forces so that the Afghan people reap the tangible benefits of peace in their day-to-day lives."

Overnight in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, troops killed four militants in an operation targeting a mid-level Taliban commander responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and coalition forces.

The commander directed attacks in December in Musa Qala, including one that killed 12 Afghan civilians.

Question: What killed the woman?

Question: Where did NATO say 12 militants died?

Question: by whom was woman killed according to nato?

Question: Who was investigating the woman's death?

Question: Where was the battle?

Answer: crossfire by insurgent small arms fire,

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: militants,

Answer: Afghan National Security Forces

Answer: Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Summary:
Afghan forces investigating death of woman caught in crossfire of gunbattle .
NATO says 12 militants also died in the battle in Logar province .
NATO said initial indications are the woman was killed by militants .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- One of five members of the Electoral Complaints Commission in Afghanistan has resigned amid the group's probe of allegations of voting fraud during the presidential election.

An Afghan woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Kabul on August 20.

Mustafa Barakzai, a Supreme Court judge, was one of two Afghan members of the commission. His departure on Monday comes as the commission nears completion in the investigation of allegations of fraud in the August 20 elections.

Local news reports have quoted Barakzai as saying that the commission is unduly influenced by foreigners and that it has not included him in the decision-making process.

The head of the commission, Grant Kippen, disputed both assertions.

"He was involved in our major decisions," Kippen told CNN. "We are only a five-member team. Every member is integral to our work."

Kippen is one of three non-Afghans on the Electoral Complaints Commission appointed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Kippen said the "vast majority of our decisions were consensus decisions."

The commission said in a statement that it is "disappointed at the resignation of an important member" at a crucial time in the process.

"The (commission) remains dedicated to the elections process and will continue to work openly and honestly in the implementation of its mandate under the Afghan Electoral Law," the statement said. "This will not distract the (commission) from continuing to focus on the task at hand."

Complaints of irregularities have dogged the presidential elections. The top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, admitted Sunday that the vote was marred by "widespread fraud."

Eide's recently fired deputy Peter Galbraith told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Monday that Eide earlier refused to share details of voting irregularities with Afghan election officials. Galbraith also said his former boss could have prevented some fraud by closing unsecured polling stations.

Eide on Sunday denied the allegations of withholding information and defended his decisions to open as many polling stations as possible, despite security concerns.

With findings of the fraud complaints investigation upcoming, Galbraith said he anticipates the commission will determine that Afghan President Hamid Karzai will not have enough votes to avoid a runoff.

"I think there's a very strong likelihood that the election complaints commission will find that he's below 50 percent, and then the question is whether Karzai will accept that decision and whether the Independent Election Commission, which is not independent but a pro-Karzai body, will accept that decision," Galbraith said.  Watch Galbraith's reaction to Eide's acknowledgement of election fraud »

"If they don't, then the political crisis in Afghanistan, which has already done such damage to the overall effort there, will get much worse."

The Independent Election Commission is expected to soon finish an audit and recount of suspicious ballots; the results could be announced this week. The independent commission is a "constitutional body" that conducts "free and fair elections" in an "impartial way" according to its Web site.

Galbraith has also accused Barakzai of favoring incumbent Karzai, even though the Electoral Complaints Commission says that it is also an independent body.

Election tallies have yet to be certified because of the allegations. Last month, final uncertified results showed Karzai with 54 percent of the vote.

CNN's Tom Evans contributed to this report.

Question: who did barakzai say commision was unduly influenced by?

Question: What did commission do according to barakzai?

Question: What did a top un official say in afghanistan on sunday?

Question: What does the commission head say Barakzai was involved in?

Question: who was involved in major decisions?

Question: what did the commision say about resignation?

Answer: foreigners

Answer: it has not included him in the decision-making process.

Answer: the vote was marred by "widespread fraud."

Answer: voting fraud during the presidential election.

Answer: Mustafa Barakzai,

Answer: "disappointed

Summary:
Commission says it is "disappointed at the resignation of an important member"
Commission head says Barakzai "was involved in our major decisions"
Barakzai reported as saying commission is unduly influenced by foreigners .
Top U.N. official in Afghanistan admits on Sunday vote was marred by fraud .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Security remains a top concern, as Afghanistan holds its second-ever presidential election Thursday, prompting the government to ask for a ban on media coverage of violence. An Afghan police officer walks near a bank in Kabul where an armed robbery ended in a gunbattle. Afghanistan's government has ordered the media to refrain from covering possible attacks on election day in an effort to "ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people." "If anybody broadcasts or gives news about any movements or activities of terrorists, domestic media offices will be closed, and foreigners will be kicked out of the country," according to a statement from Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Zahir Faqiri. He said the order is in line with Afghanistan's constitution, which allows for such mandates "in exceptional situations" to protect "national interest and national security." Escalating violence in the capital, Kabul, this week has made some Afghans think twice about whether to venture out to vote. "If we are not at peace, why should we vote, who should we vote for?" asked Ferishta, 21, who last weekend lay in a blood-soaked shirt and was connected to an intravenous drip after a suicide bombing. But at least one independent news agency refused to heed a blackout on reports of violence. Restricting media freedoms has no basis in the Afghan constitution, said the Kabul-based Pajhwok News Agency. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul insisted that press freedoms are necessary to ensure credible elections. "While we recognize the sovereign rights of the Afghan government and note their intention to encourage Afghans to turn out and vote, we believe that free media reporting is directly linked to the credibility of the elections and continue to support the freedom of the press and responsible reporting," spokeswoman Fleur Cowan said in an e-mail. On the eve of the election, roadside bombs killed three Afghan election workers in the southern province of Kandahar, and four others were killed Tuesday in the northern province of Badakshan, Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said. Amid the violence, the candidates wrapped up last-minute campaigning with the hope that the elections can showcase their country's fledgling democracy. "We're at a moment of truth," said Mark Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group, an independent advisory and analysis organization. An incumbent president and about 40 challengers, including two women, are on the ballot, vying for the votes of what the election commission says are an estimated 17 million registered Afghans against a backdrop of war, graft, poverty and illiteracy. More than 3,000 donkeys, 3,000 cars and three helicopters will traverse harsh terrain to carry voting materials to remote polling stations, the election commission says. And 30 observer groups, domestic and international, will be on hand to help guard against fraud, it says. At the heart of every vote will be the two biggest impediments to progress in one of the poorest nations in the world: stifling corruption and an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency. International donors are helping pay for the $223 million electoral undertaking, and hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into strife-torn southern Afghanistan to protect voters against possible Taliban attacks. The top U.S. envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, expressed optimism that Thursday's vote would be Afghanistan's moment to shine. It's tough to organize elections during a war, he said, but the reality is that violence during elections is commonplace in many parts of the world. "Afghanistan has never had a contested election," Holbrooke said. "So this is a remarkable experiment in democracy and something that Afghanistan needs to give legitimacy to the new government." That legitimacy has become a key issue in the campaign. Frontrunner President Hamid Karzai's chief challengers -- former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah -- have both lashed out at the incumbent for failing to rein in corruption. In its annual global corruption perception index in 2008, Transparency International ranked Afghanistan 176 out of 180 countries and said graft is "a

Question: Which country was the media blackout in?

Question: What number of election workers died in roadside bombs?

Question: How many election workers were killed?

Question: Who is facing challenges from former ministers?

Question: Where is the fresh violence in Afghanistan centred?

Question: What are the voters top issues?

Question: What killed the election workers?

Question: Where is the the media blackout?

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: three

Answer: three Afghan

Answer: President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: Kabul,

Answer: Security

Answer: roadside bombs

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
Afghan media blackout called amid fresh violence in Kabul .
Seven Afghan election workers killed by roadside bombs .
Corruption, insurgency expected to be voters' top issues .
President faces major challenges from two of his former ministers .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, met with American forces and, according to a U.S. official, is expected to meet Sunday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Sen. Barack Obama attends a meeting in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was visiting the Central Asian nation before he embarks on a tour of the Middle East and Europe, a trip aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials.

The trip, which comes four months ahead of the presidential election, marks Obama's first visit to Afghanistan.

The trip has been shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, a standard precaution for most U.S. officials in conflict zones.

On Saturday, the senator from Illinois traveled to eastern Afghanistan to visit Americans forces under NATO's Regional Command East. Obama is accompanied by Sen. Charles Hagel, R-Nebraska, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island.

The senators met service members at Jalalabad airfield in Nangarhar province.

The governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Shirzai -- formerly the governor of Kandahar province -- also met the senators at the air base. Shirzai and Obama embraced briefly at the end of the meeting.  Watch Obama's visit to Jalalabad »

Upon arrival at Bagram Air Base, the senators were briefed by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commanding general of the Regional Command East.

Ahead of the trip to Afghanistan, the senators stopped in Kuwait to visit U.S. troops, Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs said. They left Washington on Thursday.

In Kuwait, the senators visited Camp Arifjan for about two hours to meet with U.S. Army Central leadership, take a brief tour of the base and talk with soldiers, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Nutter said.

They met in a gymnasium with about 1,000 military members, who cheered jubliantly at their arrival.

"America is unified in being so proud of the extraordinary, brilliant, dedicated professional service that is provided by all members of our armed services," he told the military personnel there.

Later, Obama shot baskets with some soldiers, drawing cheers with each basket he made.  Watch Obama meet troops and play some hoops »

Soldiers were able to meet the senator on the basketball court later.

After, Obama said, "I am just very proud of the extraordinary work that the troops are doing here in Kuwait; you're providing all the logistical support that's needed for folks in the battlefield and without you this effort would not be successful."

Hagel agreed, saying, "We're here first to thank the troops."

After the events at the the gymnasium, they met with Lt. Gen. Jim Lovelace, the U.S. Army Central Commander, and senior leadership who gave them an overview of the command, Nutter said.

Obama spoke briefly to a pool reporter about his trip just before leaving Washington.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what the situation on the ground is," Obama said. "I want to, obviously, talk to the commanders and get a sense, both in Afghanistan and in Baghdad of, you know, what the most, their biggest concerns are. And I want to thank our troops for the heroic work that they've been doing."

Asked whether he would have tough talk for the leaders of Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama said he was "more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking."

"I think it is very important to recognize that I'm going over there as a U.S. senator. We have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages," Obama said.  Watch Obama's foreign policy adviser discuss overseas trip »

The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the political radar. Three times as many coalition soldiers and other military personnel have died this month in Afghanistan, compared with Iraq. July's death toll for coalition troops in Afghanistan reached 22 Saturday, after the Friday death of a Canadian soldier was announced.

The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the

Question: Where was Obama's first stop of a global tour?

Question: Where else is Obama expected to visit?

Question: Who is expected to visit several countires in middle east and Europe?

Question: The first stop on global tour is where?

Question: What is the first stop of Sen. Barack Obama global tour?

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: Barack Obama

Answer: Jalalabad, Afghanistan,

Answer: Jalalabad, Afghanistan,

Summary:
Sen. Barack Obama arrives in Afghanistan for first stop of global tour .
Obama's visit comes as U.S. officials want to send more troops to region .
Obama also expected to visit several countries in Middle East, Europe .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Ten French soldiers were killed Tuesday in fighting near the Afghan capital of Kabul after 100 insurgents attacked a patrol, authorities said. French soldiers patrol in Afghanistan in May 2008. French and NATO authorities confirmed the deaths and said 21 other soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the Sarobi area in Kabul province, about 30 miles northeast of the capital. The clashes began late Monday afternoon and continued into Tuesday, when the casualties occurred, French officials said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his "determination is intact" to continue "this battle against terrorism for democracy and liberty." "The cause is just. It is an honor for France and its armies to defend them," said Sarkozy, who will travel Tuesday night to Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said. Last month, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan. U.S., British, Canadian and Dutch troops have been engaged in much of the combat in Afghanistan. The United States has been urging other countries in the NATO-led alliance to help ease the burdens of those troops on the front lines. About 1,670 French troops serve in Afghanistan under NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to ISAF's Web site. Before this incident, a total of 12 French troops had died in several incidents during the Afghan war, mostly in combat. As for the latest fighting, NATO said the initial patrol -- which included Afghan forces -- had been "reinforced with quick reaction forces, close air support and mobile medical teams." It said "a large number of insurgents were killed." Gen. Zahir Azimi, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday that Afghan army forces rushed to the battle scene soon after the attack took place. He said 27 militants were killed and 14 were wounded in the fighting, and 13 of the bodies were recovered by the Afghan army. He said one of the dead militants was identified as a Pakistani national. The Taliban posted a Web statement saying its forces attacked an "American" convoy, killing 20 soldiers and destroying five military tanks. It also said foreign forces later Tuesday bombarded the region and killed five Taliban militants and several civilians. The fighting came after authorities tightened security on Monday in anticipation of militant attacks on the country's Independence Day. Several suicide bombers struck an American base about 12 miles from the border with Pakistan in Khost province on Tuesday, but U.S. and Afghan forces repelled the onslaught. Seven insurgents were killed in the attack on Forward Operating Base Salerno, including three suicide bombers who blew themselves up after forces from the base encountered them more than 3,000 feet from the base, ISAF said in a statement. U.S. and Afghan troops noticed the approaching militants by their "special behavior," the spokesman said. Helicopters flew in to attack them, the force said. ISAF said it suffered no casualties. Gov. Arsallah Jamal of Khost province said four commandos -- presumably Afghans -- were wounded when the militants struck late Monday. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said 15 suicide bombers with small arms and machine guns entered the base and inflicted heavy casualties -- claims that the NATO-led force and Khost governor dismissed. That attack came after a suicide car bombing outside the same base killed 10 Afghan civilians and wounded 13 others Monday, the U.S. military said. Two other would-be bombers were killed before they could carry out attacks, Jamal said. Afghan forces stopped a second would-be car bomb near the base, performed a controlled detonation and detained a suspect, the NATO-led force said. This comes as a source from the Afghan Defense Ministry, who declined to be named, confirmed that Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani arrived in Kabul on Tuesday morning to meet with Afghan and NATO military officials. In southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber struck a Canadian foot patrol on Tuesday in the Kandahar province district of Panjwayee, local police said. The bomber and an Afghan interpreter for NATO forces were killed and a NATO soldier and a child were wounded, police said. The attack

Question: Where is Sarkozy to travel to Tuesday night?

Question: When will Sarkozy head to Afghanistan?

Question: What did Sarkozy say?

Question: Where will Sarkozy travel?

Question: Who is the president of France?

Question: How many suicide bombers did the Taliban claim there were?

Question: Who dismissed the Taliban claim?

Question: How many French soldiers were killed?

Question: Where will Sarkozy travel to?

Question: Who says the cause is just?

Question: What Taliban claim was dismissed by officials?

Question: How many French soldiers were killed?

Question: Who is the president of France?

Question: Who is heading to AfghanistanTuesday?

Question: What Taliban claim did officials refute?

Question: What were 10 French soldiers killed by?

Question: Where did Sarkozy travel on Tuesday?

Question: Who says the cause is just?

Question: When is Sarkozy traveling to Afghanistan?

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: Tuesday night

Answer: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his "determination is intact" to continue "this battle against terrorism for democracy and liberty."

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: Nicolas Sarkozy

Answer: 15

Answer: NATO-led force and Khost governor

Answer: Ten

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: Sarkozy,

Answer: 15 suicide bombers with small arms and machine guns entered the base and inflicted heavy casualties

Answer: Ten

Answer: Nicolas Sarkozy

Answer: Sarkozy,

Answer: 15 suicide bombers with small arms and machine guns entered the base and inflicted heavy casualties -- claims that the NATO-led force and Khost governor dismissed.

Answer: 100 insurgents attacked a patrol,

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: Sarkozy,

Answer: Tuesday night

Summary:
NEW: 'This cause is just,' French President Sarkozy says .
NEW: Sarkozy to travel to Afghanistan Tuesday night .
NEW: Officials dismiss Taliban claim of 15 suicide bombers entering base .
10 French soldiers killed as fighting flares around holiday .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Afghan government will change a law that critics say legalizes rape within marriage for Shia Muslims, President Hamid Karzai told CNN Thursday. Critics had feared that Afghanistan's new Shiite law would set the nation backward. Karzai told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he and others were unaware of the provision in the legislation, which he said "has so many articles." Karzai signed the measure into law last month. "Now I have instructed, in consultation with clergy of the country, that the law be revised and any article that is not in keeping with the Afghan constitution and Islamic Sharia must be removed from this law," Karzai said. The president's comments came one day after several hundred demonstrators faced off over the law, which critics say prevents women from declining their husband's request for sexual intercourse and essentially legalizes marital rape. The measure applies to the 20 percent of Afghans who are Shia Muslims. It was part of a nearly 270-page piece of legislation that was written to solidify the identity of the Shia minority in Afghanistan. The bill languished in the country's parliament for a year-and-a-half before it was recently pushed through in what one legislator called a "chaotic" vote. Women from various parts of Afghanistan marched in the capital Wednesday to protest the law, which has also been criticized by human-rights groups and Western leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama.  Watch Karzai react to controversial law ahead of Thursday's comments » When the demonstrators reached a mosque housing a school run by a conservative Shia cleric who helped implement the law, students came out yelling and cursing and pelted the women with gravel, said Fawzia Koofi, a female member of the Afghan parliament. Koofi said police did little to protect the women, but a spokesman for the country's interior minister disputed that. "Police played a completely neutral role," said spokesman Zamarai Bashiri. "The police were able to control the demonstrations very well." About 300 to 500 women protested the law while 600 to 700 demonstrators marched in support of it, he said. The marchers who opposed the law included several female members of Afghanistan's parliament. "Both sides were able to express their thoughts and expressions," Bashiri said. The law has drawn much criticism.  Watch a report on the law » "I think this law is abhorrent," Obama said recently. "We think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture, but we also think that there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold, and respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity is an important principle." French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also weighed in. "We very much hope that the draft piece of legislation is to be withdrawn," Merkel has said.

Question: What does Karzai tell CNN?

Question: When did comments come?

Question: What does Karzai say about it?

Question: Who is criticizing the planned law?

Question: What does Afghan law appear to let a man do?

Question: What does Afghan law appear to allow?

Question: what did karzai tell Cnn?

Answer: that he and others were unaware of the provision in the legislation, which he said "has so many articles."

Answer: one day after several hundred demonstrators faced off over the law,

Answer: "Now I have instructed, in consultation with clergy of the country, that the law be revised and any article that is not in keeping with the Afghan constitution and Islamic Sharia must be removed from this law,"

Answer: Obama

Answer: legalizes rape

Answer: legalizes marital rape.

Answer: The Afghan government will change a law that critics say legalizes rape

Summary:
Afghan law appears to let a man to have sex with his wife even when she says "no"
Karzai tells CNN he, others unaware of the provision due to the amount of legislation .
Comments came one day after several hundred demonstrators faced off in Kabul .
Many Western leaders, including U.S. president, have criticized the planned law .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The British journalist recently freed in a NATO military operation described his Taliban hostage-takers as "hopelessly inept," and praised his Afghan colleague who died in the rescue. Journalists carry flowers to the grave of Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi in Kabul on Thursday. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell described his four days in captivity in a blog on the newspaper's Web site, posted late Wednesday just hours after he was freed. Taliban militants kidnapped Farrell and Afghan journalist, Sultan Munadi, on Saturday. During a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force plucked Farrell to safety, but did not retrieve the body of Munadi, who died during a fierce firefight between troops and Taliban militants. A British commando was also killed, as were a woman and child. There has been criticism about the rescue operation as well as the initial decision to go into the region which Farrell points out in his blog, "was becoming more troubled by insurgents." International troops, including British forces, have expressed their unhappiness about having to extract a Western journalist from the area, a Western military source in Kabul told CNN. Meanwhile, NATO has come under fire from a coalition of Afghan journalists working for foreign news outlets who called the pre-dawn raid "reckless and double-standard behavior." The Media Club of Afghanistan issued a statement Thursday saying it "holds the international forces responsible for the death of Mr. Munadi because they resorted in military action before exhausting other nonviolent means." "There is no justification for the international forces to rescue their own national, and retrieve the dead body of their own soldier killed in action, but leave behind the dead body of Sultan Munadi in the area. The MCA deems this action as inhumane." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown intends to send a "private" letter of condolences to Munadi's family, a spokeswoman for his office told CNN. In his first-hand account of the kidnapping, Farrell praised Munadi for "trying to protect me up to the last minute." The two had gone from Kabul to the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Friday to investigate reports of a NATO airstrike in a Taliban-controlled area. Farrell said he and his colleagues believed the attack, which destroyed two tankers, would be "a major controversy involving allegations of civilian deaths against NATO claims that the dead were Taliban." He said they took precautions, including waiting until the next day to drive along the main highway in daylight. While they were interviewing locals about what happened along the riverbank, Farrell said "a crowd began to gather, time passed, and we grew nervous." "I do not know how long we were there, but it was uncomfortably long," he said. "I am comfortable with the decision to go to the riverbank, but fear we spent too long there." All of a sudden, some of the villagers shouted, "Taliban" and their driver fled with the keys, he said. Farrell and Munadi tried to escape too, but they were captured. Munadi was struck with a Kalashnikov rifle, but Farrell said apart from that incident, the two were not "subjected to any beatings, torture or ill-treatment over the next four days." Their Taliban captors operated freely in the area southwest of Kunduz, and appeared to be the only armed presence, Farrell wrote. "It became a tour of a Taliban-controlled district of Afghanistan, and that control appeared total," he said. "At no point did we see a single NATO soldier, Afghan policeman, soldier or any check to the Taliban's ability to move at will." Farrell said he and Munadi were "paraded" around by their captors. "We were paraded to the children in the street: the infidel and his translator, to be laughed at and mocked," he wrote. The captors operated with relative impunity and, at times, "their operational security was hopelessly inept" -- using Farrell's name over their mobile phones "heedless

Question: What did the journalist say?

Question: Who does he work for?

Question: Who was killed?

Question: What did the freed British journalist say about the Taliban hostage-takers?

Question: Who was killed with British comando?

Question: What does the freed journalist say?

Question: Who is Stephen Farrell?

Question: What is the name of the New York Times reporter that was freed by NATO>

Answer: Farrell said he and his colleagues believed the attack, which destroyed two tankers, would be "a major controversy involving allegations of civilian deaths against NATO claims that the dead were Taliban."

Answer: New York Times

Answer: Sultan Munadi

Answer: as "hopelessly inept,"

Answer: Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi

Answer: his Taliban hostage-takers as "hopelessly inept," and praised his Afghan colleague who died in the rescue.

Answer: New York Times reporter

Answer: Stephen Farrell

Summary:
Freed British journalist: Taliban hostage-takers were "hopelessly inept"
New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed by NATO forces in Afghanistan .
Afghan journalist killed with British commando; woman, child die in crossfire .
Media Club of Afghanistan: Action "reckless and double-standard behavior"


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution extending the mandate of NATO-led military forces in Afghanistan for a year, hours after a deadly bombing near the Indian Embassy in Kabul. The bomb exploded in the center of Kabul on the corner of Passport Lane and the Indian Embassy. The suicide car bomb attack on Thursday left at least 17 people dead, most of them civilians, and 63 wounded. "I think this is another reminder of the dangers that the Taliban pose to the Afghan population and to the international community in Afghanistan, and the importance of the continued international efforts there," said John Sawers, Britain's ambassador to the world body, after the resolution was passed. The council provides international legal approval for the deployment of NATO troops to assist in the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The resolution, however, did not address troop numbers, an issue that has generated controversy since the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, requested an additional 40,000 troops. The Security Council also condemned the attack, calling for the "perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism" to be brought to justice. In addition to extending the mandate, the resolution stressed the need to bolster Afghan security forces to help them become self-sufficient in protecting their country. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's new leader, recently announced that NATO forces would begin training Afghan police and increase training of the Afghan National Army. Some 90,000 international forces are deployed in Afghanistan, with 35,000 serving with NATO and 65,000 with the United States. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Thursday bombing, saying an Afghan national in a sport utility vehicle carried out the attack. The bomber had intended to strike the embassy, Indian officials said.  Watch what a local shopkeeper says about the area » "The suicide attack(er) ... attempted (to go) through one of the embassy gates," Vishnu Prakash, spokesman for India's external affairs ministry, told CNN on Thursday. "The embassy was the target." The bomb went off about 8:30 a.m., just as offices and shops were opening for the day. The force of the blast shattered some of the embassy's windows, according to Prakash. The bombing came a year after a similar deadly attack outside the Indian Embassy. The Thursday attack killed 17 -- most of them civilians -- and 63 were wounded, Interior Ministry spokesman Ezmary Bashary said. The Taliban said the attack killed 35 people, including high-ranking Indian Embassy officials, as well as international and Afghan police officers. The blast damaged a security checkpoint outside the the embassy, said staffer J.P. Singh, but "there were no casualties on the Indian side." The embassy is in the center of Kabul, in a shop-lined street across from the Interior Ministry and several other government buildings. The explosion shattered car windows and toppled restaurant walls. Paramedics dug through twisted metal and debris, looking for survivors. A statement from President Hamid Karzai's office called the blast an obvious assault on civilians and said "the perpetrators of this attack and those who planned it were vicious terrorists who killed innocent people for their malicious goals." About a year ago, another suicide car bomb detonated outside the embassy. Among the 58 people killed in the July 7, 2008, attack were two Indian diplomats and 14 students at a nearby school. More than 100 were wounded in that blast. Afghan and Indian officials accused Pakistan's spy agency of involvement in that attack. Pakistan denied the accusation. India is the sixth largest donor to Afghanistan, providing millions of dollars to help with reconstruction efforts there. CNN's Atia Abawi and Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.

Question: How  many people were killed in bombing?

Question: who condemns the attack?

Question: how many were killed?

Question: U.N. Security Council condemns  what attack?

Question: Kabul attack is condenmed by who?

Question: Who is NATO's new leader?

Question: what is the name of the new leader announced to train the afghan police?

Answer: at least 17

Answer: The Security Council

Answer: 17

Answer: deadly bombing near the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

Answer: The Security Council

Answer: Anders Fogh Rasmussen,

Answer: Anders Fogh Rasmussen,

Summary:
NEW: U.N. Security Council condemns Kabul attack, calls for justice .
NEW: Resolution does not address troop numbers; comes hours after Kabul attack .
Bombing near Indian Embassy in Kabul killed at least 17 people .
NATO's new leader Rasmussen recently announced training of Afghan police .