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Reports: Australia to withdraw troops from Afghanistan earlier than expected

Australia will pull out its more than 1,500 troops from Afghanistan ahead of schedule, according to reports citing upcoming remarks from the nation’s prime minister.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to detail Australia’s expedited troop withdrawal strategy, as well as the nation’s plans to continue to assist in Afghanistan, during a speech set to begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday (11 p.m. ET Monday).

Obama signals an end to the war in Afghanistan

While another story is the top topic of political conversation — Romney’s “I’m not concerned about the very poor” — there’s a more impactful story that’s in the news today: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that the U.S. will end its combat operations in Afghanistan by the middle of next year. The Washington Post: “The United States hopes to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, more than a year earlier than scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday.

His remarks reflected a growing sentiment within the Obama administration that its approach to Iraq, where the official end of U.S. combat operations came 16 months before the final U.S. troop withdrawal in December, may provide a useful model for winding down operations in Afghanistan.” This is a big deal on a number of fronts. But politically, consider this: It gives President Obama the ability to say — by his convention speech in early September — that the two wars he inherited are over or on the road to being mostly over.

(Source: msnbc.com)

Dozens of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan copter crash

More than two dozen American troops are believed to have died in a deadly Chinook helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan overnight, a U.S. military official told CNN on Saturday.

Among those killed were a mix of special forces from different services, the official said. If the numbers are confirmed, the incident would be the most deadly for coalition forces in the Afghan war, according to a CNN count of international troop deaths.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement saying as many as 31 U.S. special forces and seven Afghans were killed and offered “deep regret” to U.S. President Barack Obama.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the Americans who were lost earlier today in Afghanistan,” Obama said in a statement. “We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country.”

The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. Mohammad Hazrat Janan, head of the provincial council said Tangi village elders reported that insurgents shot at the craft when it was flying back from an operation.

Afghan women rally, turning men red-faced with anger

In any other country, the sight of a group of women holding colorful placards, marching and protesting is commonplace.

But not in Afghanistan.

In fact, a women’s protest on the streets of Kabul on Thursday was the first of its kind.

On a hot, muggy day, about 30 women of all ages mustered up the courage to speak up against the age-old indignity of sexual harassment by men.

With banners that read “This street also belongs to me” and “We won’t stand insults anymore,” they marched with a confident stride from Kabul University to the Afghan Human Rights Institute.

Women in Afghanistan face intimidation and sexual assault on a daily basis. In the most extreme cases, schoolgirls have been terrorized by men throwing acid at them as they walked to school.

The United Nations Population Fund in Afghanistan (UNFPA) says that about 31 percent of Afghan women suffer physical violence and another 30 percent suffer from psychological trauma.

Canada hands over Kandahar battle to U.S.

Canada’s desert war came to an end Tuesday when soldiers of the Royal 22nd Regiment stood down and formally handed over their Kandahar battlefield to American units.

The country’s legal command responsibility for the western district of Panjwaii will continue for several days.

But Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner’s headquarters will be directing U.S. combat units.

Almost all Canadian troops are out of the killing fields of Kandahar, save for a handful of soldiers who will serve for a short while longer attached to American platoons.

Parliament ordered an end to the Canadian combat mission in southern Afghanistan back in 2008 and set July 2011 as the deadline.

currenteye:

Hotel in Kabul attacked by gunmen and suicide bombers (CNN video)

Ten were reportedly killed when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, a luxury hotel popular to westerners. The Taliban is claiming responsibility. Erin Cunningham of CNN in Kabul was saying there are rumors that two car bombs are in the city waiting to pull into the hotel.

More: BBC News