Afghan President Karzai becomes father again at 56

Karzai paid a brief visit to the Fortis Hospital to see his wife. 

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has become a father again at the age of 56 after his wife gave birth to their third child in India, according to an embassy statement sent to AFP Friday.

A baby girl was delivered at a private hospital in the New Delhi satellite town of Gurgaon earlier this week, the statement said.

Karzai paid a brief visit to the Fortis Hospital on Wednesday to see his wife, 44, and new child as he flew on to Sri Lanka where he is on a two-day trip.

The leader, who has close ties with New Delhi, is set to retire from office after elections set for April 5 having led his war-wracked country since 2001.

Both of his other children -- a son and a daughter -- were born in Afghanistan, but due to an unspecified "medical complication" Karzai s wife Zinat was advised to travel to seek specialised care in India.

The child was born on Tuesday at around 9:30 am (0400 GMT), the Afghan embassy in New Delhi said in the statement.

In an interview last year to the BBC, Zinat explained that her husband of 15 years doted on his young family but often found it difficult to find time for them due to demands on his time.

"Sometimes, perhaps on Fridays, he might be free for an hour or so, so he will go for a walk with me and the children. We all go out together - once in a while," she said.

She also stressed that for them, despite deep-rooted cultural preferences for boys in Afghanistan, they were equally happy to have a daughter.

"For us... there is no difference between a boy and a girl," she said. "A daughter is the best gift from God."

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13,700 Afghan security personnel killed in 10 years

KABUL: At least 13,700 members of the Afghan security forces have died in fighting over the last 10 years – nearly four every day – according to new figures on government compensation paid to victims’ families.
The grim death toll in the fight against Taliban-led insurgents was revealed by the Office of Administrative Affairs (OAA), the secretarial department that collates information for President Hamid Karzai and the cabinet.
The OAA said that 13,729 families of security force personnel had been awarded financial support after suffering a fatality, while another 16,511 families were compensated after a relative was wounded.
“Every family that has received assistance represents a martyr,” Sayed Jawad Jawed, director of public affairs at the OAA, told AFP on Monday.
“We can’t say that this is the total number of casualties as we don’t have those figures,” he added.
“These figures represent the number of families of the martyrs assisted by the government, and the same with those wounded.”
The death toll among Afghan security forces has rapidly increased in recent years as they take over responsibility for fighting insurgents from US-led NATO troops, but exact casualty rates have been hotly disputed.
US officials said that at the height of last year’s “fighting season” more than 400 army and police were being killed in action every month.
The Afghan government does not normally release figures to avoid damaging public morale.
The OAA said that 12,336 families had also received compensation for losing a civilian relative in the war over the last 10 years, but the total number of civilian casualties is likely to be much higher.
According to a UN report released last month, the conflict has claimed the lives of 14,064 civilians in the last five years alone.
The UN attributes the vast majority of civilian deaths and injuries to “anti-government elements” led by the Taliban.
All 55,000 US-led combat troops still in Afghanistan will leave by December, but a small force may be deployed from 2015 on a training and counter-terrorism operation.
In the latest major attack on Afghan forces, 21 soldiers died in an assault in the eastern province of Kunar one week ago.
“Afghanistan supports the families of the martyrs and wounded, military and civilians, as a religious, national and official duty of the government,” the OAA said in a statement.
Posted By :: Muhammd Usman
Source:: Express tribune

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Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills 13

 



KABUL: Officials say a car packed with explosives blew up and killed 13 people including nine insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.
Dind Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the governor of Logar Province, said it was probably a case of militants killed by their own weapon.
He said it appeared the car was being prepared for a terror attack but that investigations are ongoing.
He said Sunday that those killed in the blast included nine insurgents, plus two women and two children who were nearby.
Darwesh had no further details. The area is a Taliban stronghold, and dangerous for journalists to independently verify claims.

Posted By ::: Muhammad Usman

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Pakistan beats Afghanistan by 72 runs in Asia Cup match

FATULLAH: Pakistan defeated Afghanistan by 72 runs in its second Asia Cup match being played in Fatullah, Bangladesh.

Chasing the target of target 249 runs, Afghanistan were all out on 176 runs in 47.2 overs.

Noor Ali Zadran and Asghar Stanikzai were the highest scorer from Afghanistan, they made 44 and 40 runs respectively.

Mohammad Hafeez was the pick of the bowler from Pakistan, he took three wickets for 29 runs in his 9.2 overs. While Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul took two wickets each.

Earlier, Pakistan cricket fans were once again in for a rude shock during their team’s second Asia Cup match being played in Fatullah, Bangladesh.

Newcomers Afghanistan ran through an insipid Pakistan top-order before Umar Akmal revived the innings with a hard fought century — the second of his career.

Afghanistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. After a 55 run opening stand, the middle-order perished limply and the defending champions had crashed at 117 for six in the 30^th over of the innings before Akmal(102) and Anwar Ali(21) revived the innings with a 60 run stand for the seventh wicket.

Akmal pushed the accelerator in the closing stages of the innings. He reached his second ODI hundred in the last over of the innings where he pummelled 18 runs, and Pakistan reached 248 for 8 in the allotted overs, setting up a decent target for the minnows on a flat wicket.

The last three wickets more than doubled the runs accumulated by the main batsmen, who had all fallen at a series of tame scores. Ahmed Shehzad was the other main run-getter, scoring 50 off 74 balls.

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