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<title>RAWA News</title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/rawanews.php</link>
<description>News Archive of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)</description>
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<link>http://www.rawa.org/</link>
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<title><![CDATA[Warlords gang-rape 12-year-old girl, her family threatens to commit mass suicide if justice is not done]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/22/warlords-gang-rape-12-year-old-girl-her-family-threatens-to-commit-mass-suicide-if-justice-is-not-done.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 22, 2008 - A 12-year old schoolgirl was gang-raped by five gunmen in Sarpul province in Northern Afghanistan. The girl and her family asked Hamid Karzai to prosecute the rapists and take their case seriously. They threatened that if they are not provided justice, the whole family will commit mass suicide to get rid of such life. They say, the local authorities keep silence on such cases and did not act to arrest those responsible.]]></description>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:22:54 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Inside a living hell - Afghanistan]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/20/inside-a-living-hell-afghanistan.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 20, 2008 - The Hindu: Each year since the parliamentary elections of 2005, Afghanistan has seen a spiralling toll of human lives. Initially, the resurgent Taliban burst out once again in the southern provinces, where they had their stronghold, engaging the international forces in conventional warfare. The escalated fighting was explained away by the military forces who said they were going into &#8220;new&#8221; areas, an admission that the initial operations against the Taliban in 2001 had a very limited mandate.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:10:05 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Childhood ends at 11 for some Afghan girls; for others, an education begins]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/18/childhood-ends-at-11-for-some-afghan-girls-for-others-an-education-begins_9374.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 18, 2008 - The Canadian Press: Girls as young as 11 are considered just old enough for a husband. Their parents collect lucrative $10,000 dowries from wealthy grooms-to-be, and these pre-teens are sent off to become housewives and start raising families. Last year 60 Kandahar girls sought to escape their fate through suicide, provincial officials say. Like Sher, many wound up as hospital burn victims after dousing themselves with gasoline and setting themselves ablaze.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:13:59 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA['Dozens of civilians' killed in NATO strike in Western Afghanistan]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/17/dozens-of-civilians-killed-in-nato-strike-in-western-afghanistan.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 17, 2008 - Press TV: Tribal elders in Afghanistan's western Herat province have said dozens of civilians have been killed during aerial attacks by US forces. News of the fighting in Herat province came from tribal elders who reported dozens of casualties in the Zirko Valley in Shindan district.]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:09:19 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Foreign troops confirm civilian killings in Farah]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/17/foreign-troops-confirm-civilian-killings-in-farah.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 17, 2008 - PAN: U.S.-led coalition troops Thursday conceded that eight Afghan civilians have been killed in an air strike in the western province of Farah during a raid against suspected militants.]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:56:10 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[AFGHANISTAN: Food prices fuelling sex work in north]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/16/afghanistan-food-prices-fuelling-sex-work-in-north.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 16, 2008 - IRIN News: High food prices, drought, unemployment and lack of socio-economic opportunities are pushing some women and young girls in northern Afghanistan into commercial sex work, women&#8217;s rights activists and several affected women told IRIN.]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:23:14 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[The Massacre at Aranas on the Waygal River, Nuristan Province]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/16/the-massacre-at-aranas-on-the-waygal-river-nuristan-province.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 16, 2008 - The Afghan Victim Memorial: They were killed or wounded on Friday, July 4, 2008, on a road near Aranas village on the Waygal River in the district of Waigal (Waygal), Nuristan Province. The Province&#8217;s Governor himself, Tamim Nuristani, told various media including the AFP that 16 civilians were killed in an air strike as they were leaving an area after being told by security forces a military operation was about to occur. District governor Zia-ul-Rehman said that 22 civilians had died in the strike.]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:07:28 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Taliban execute two Afghan women]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/14/taliban-execute-two-women_8350.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 14, 2008 - World News Australia: A spokesman for Ghazni's governor, said the women, dressed in blue burqas, were shot and killed on Saturday just outside Ghazni city in central Afghanistan. He called the two "innocent local people." Taliban fighters told AP Television News the two were executed for allegedly running a prostitution ring catering to US soldiers and other foreign contractors at a US base in Ghazni city.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:37:03 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[High birth rate killing mothers, infants in Afghnaistan - UNFPA expert]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/14/high-birth-rate-killing-mothers-infants-in-afghnaistan-unfpa-expert.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 14, 2008 - IRIN: Afghanistan has the highest fertility rate in Asia - 6.7 - which not only means the deaths of thousands of young mothers and infants every year but also poses long-term challenges, an expert of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned. &#8220;If the fertility rates are not reduced, Afghanistan&#8217;s population will more than double by 2050; from 47th most populous country, Afghanistan would become the 31st most populous country in the world,&#8221; Penumaka said.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:15:32 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[30 civilians killed in Nuristan: officials]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/14/30-civilians-killed-in-nuristan-officials.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 14, 2008 - PAN: Officials in Nuristan province on Monday said almost 30 defenseless civilians have been reportedly killed during NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) airstrike in Want-Waigal district of the eastern province.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:58:32 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghan government says 47 civilians killed when US bombed wedding party]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/11/afghan-government-says-47-civilians-killed-when-us-bombed-wedding-party.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 11, 2008 - Times Online: An Afghan government investigation has concluded that 45 women and children and two men were killed when a US aircraft bombed a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan last Sunday. The nine-man investigation team appointed by the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, found that only civilians were hit during the airstrike.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:14:44 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghan Warlords, Formerly Backed By the CIA, Now Turn Their Guns On U.S. Troops]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/11/afghan-warlords-formerly-backed-by-the-cia-now-turn-their-guns-on-u-s-troops_8350.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 11, 2008 - US & News: The war in Afghanistan reached a wrenching milestone this summer: For the second month in a row, U.S. and coalition troop deaths in the country surpassed casualties in Iraq. This is driven in large part, U.S. officials point out, by simple cause and effect. Marines flowed into southern Afghanistan earlier this year to rout firmly entrenched Taliban fighters, prompting a spike in combat in territory where NATO forces previously didn't have the manpower to send troops. "We're doing something we haven't done in seven years, which is go after the Taliban where they're living," says a U.S. official.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:11:53 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Alarm over Afghan civilian deaths]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/09/alarm-over-afghan-civilian-deaths.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 9, 2008 - BBC: At least 250 Afghan civilians have been killed or wounded in insurgent attacks or military action in the past six days, the Red Cross says. It has called on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilian casualties.]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed,  9 Jul 2008 23:21:52 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghans demonstrate in support of journalist under sentence of death as his appeal bogs down]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/09/afghans-demonstrate-in-support-of-journalist-under-sentence-of-death-as-his-appeal-bogs-down_8976.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 9, 2008 - Reporters Without Borders: Hundreds of Afghan journalists and writers took part in demonstrations yesterday in 15 provinces to call for the release of Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist under sentence of death. This exemplary show of solidarity came as Kambakhsh&#8217;s appeal against his conviction has ground to a halt in Kabul and no date has been set for the next hearing.]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed,  9 Jul 2008 20:23:53 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[44 killed, more than 100 injured in suicide blast at Indian embassy in Kabul]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/07/44-killed-more-than-100-injured-in-suicide-blast-at-indian-embassy-in-kabul.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 7, 2008 - DPA: A powerful explosion killed at least 44 people and wounded scores of others in an apparent suicide attack at the Indian embassy in Kabul Monday, officials said. Sources in the Afghan interior ministry said at least 44 people were killed in the deadliest suicide bombing since fall of Taliban regime in 2001.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon,  7 Jul 2008 12:05:25 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Women in Afghanistan: Deprived of basic necessities]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/06/women-in-afghanistan-deprived-of-basic-necessities_8304.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 6, 2008 - MeriNews: Afghanistan has the highest rate of violence against women in the world. According to the ministry of Women&#8217;s Affairs, Afghan women lack their primary necessities and are subject to extreme violence. Girls are usually married before their legal age. During the last six months more than 2000 cases of violence have been registered throughout the country. It is said that most cases of violence against women are not reported due to the traditional and cultural complexities.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sun,  6 Jul 2008 14:32:24 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Bride among 23 people killed in US bombardment of wedding party in Nangarhar]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/06/bride-among-23-people-killed-in-us-bombardment-of-wedding-party-in-nangarhar.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 6, 2008 - PAN: A bride was among 23 people killed as US-led coalition forces bombarded a wedding party in the eastern Nangarhar province Sunday morning, officials and residents alleged. Twenty-two people died on the spot as a result of the latest imprecise air raid that came hours after President Karzai ordered a probe into the alleged killing of more than a dozen residents in a US airstrike on a remote village in the neighbouring Nuristan province.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sun,  6 Jul 2008 14:04:34 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghan official says US-led air raid kills 22 civilians]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/04/afghan-official-says-us-led-air-raid-kills-22-civilians.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 4, 2008 - Reuters: Twenty-two civilians, including women and children, were killed in an air strike by U.S.-led forces on Friday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nuristan, an official said. The attack happened on a road in Want district while the noncombatants were travelling in two vehicles, the district chief, Zia-Ul Rahman, told reporters.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri,  4 Jul 2008 23:24:13 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Bush's Independence Day speech interrupted by protesters]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/04/bush-s-independence-day-speech-interrupted-by-protesters_9375.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 4, 2008 - Xinhua:  Anti-war protesters repeatedly interrupted U.S. President George W. Bush's Independence Day speech Friday in Charlottesville, Virginia, ABC News reported. By the time Bush finished his 10-minute remarks, at least nine protesters had been taken away from the event by police.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri,  4 Jul 2008 21:36:51 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghan children 'forgotten victims' of war: UN]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/03/afghan-children-forgotten-victims-of-war-un_9843.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 3, 2008 - ABC News: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says children in Afghanistan suffer more than in any other country in the world from violence, war and poverty. It says Afghan children are not only caught up in fighting between Taliban rebels and international forces, but there is also evidence of an increasing number ending up on the frontlines.]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu,  3 Jul 2008 14:20:34 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA['Half of Kabul's inmates are infected with TB']]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/01/half-of-kabul-s-inmates-are-infected-with-tb.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 1, 2008 - Quqnoos: More than half of the prisoners in Kabul's Pul-e-Charkhi jail are infected with tuberculosis, according to a study supported by the government. The study, authored by Dr Islam Saeed, found that about 55% of prisoners locked in the jail are infected with the deadly disease.]]></description>
<pubDate>Tue,  1 Jul 2008 20:08:07 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[IARCSC head quits - thanks to graft culture]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/01/iarcsc-head-quits-thanks-to-graft-culture_9374.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 1, 2008 - PAN: Rampant corruption and consistent violations of rules by top government functionaries have forced the first-ever female head of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service (IARCSC) Commission for the eastern zone to quit her job - but not before exposing brazen malfeasance in the upper echelons.]]></description>
<pubDate>Tue,  1 Jul 2008 12:01:10 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghan MPs Purposely Damaged Five Electronic Attendance Machines]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/07/01/five-present-machines-of-the-national-assembly-damaged-purposely_9845.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[July 1, 2008 - PAN: Five of the 24 electronic attendance system machines purchased by the SEAL project for the Afghan parliament were destroyed on purpose. A number of the employees of Lower House of Parliament stated the damage was done for personal spites and purposes and the wrongdoers are the ones who do not want incorruptibility in the state.]]></description>
<pubDate>Tue,  1 Jul 2008 00:41:17 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Turning Afghan Heroin Into Kalashnikovs]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/30/turning-afghan-heroin-into-kalashnikovs_9384.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 30, 2008 - IWPR: Remote Afghan province is home to major trading post for heroin destined for Europe and arms for Taliban and other militants. In the middle of the river, local mafiosi cut deals that will arm Taleban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, as well as al-Qaeda and other militant groups in the wider region. In return for Russian-made weapons, they trade Afghan heroin that will eventually be sold on the streets of European cities. The major profits go to those with the clout to call on adequate protection. &#8220;The big smugglers are backed by governments in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These smugglers can pay huge amounts of money. But we don&#8217;t do badly.&#8221;]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:23:26 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Taliban-linked rebels execute 2 Afghans as crowd watches]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/28/taliban-linked-rebels-execute-2-afghans-as-crowd-watches.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 28, 2008 - Los Angeles Times: In a gruesome public spectacle, Taliban-linked militants on Friday executed two Afghan men accused of spying for the United States, slitting their throats and parading their severed heads before a cheering crowd.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:42:24 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Afghanistan ranks 172 in corruption index]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/27/afghanistan-ranks-172-in-corruption-index.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 27, 2008 - PAN: Confirming that corruption is now a deep rooted malice in the country, a global corruption index has placed Afghanistan on 172nd spot in a list of 180 countries. The Global Corruption Report 2008 gives Afghanistan just 1.8 points out of a total score of 10.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:01:52 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA['US troops cut water supply to Bagramis']]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/27/us-troops-cut-water-supply-to-bagramis_0938.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 27, 2008 - Quqnoos: Residents claim US soldiers in Bagram airbase have turfed them off their land. More than 1,500 families have been forced to leave their homes near Bagram airbase because American officials on the base have cut off their water supply, residents say.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:05 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Bad and Getting Worse: Chaos in Afghanistan]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/27/bad-and-getting-worse-chaos-in-afghanistan.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 27, 2008 - CounterPunch:  Can anyone state exactly why foreign troops are fighting in Afghanistan?  What is the collective aim, the specific mission, the ultimate objective, of the 60,000 soldiers there?  I ask this because as I write the total of US deaths in Afghanistan &#8220;and region&#8221; is over 450, and news has come in of the killing of more British and American soldiers.  And I wonder what all of them have died for.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:36:40 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[U.N. Finds Afghan Opium Trade Rising]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/27/u-n-finds-afghan-opium-trade-rising_9374.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 27, 2008 - The Washington Post: Afghan opium poppy cultivation grew 17 percent last year, continuing a six-year expansion of the country's drug trade and increasing its share of global opium production to more than 92 percent, according to the 2008 World Drug Report, released Thursday by the United Nations. Afghanistan's emergence as the world's largest supplier of opium and heroin represents a serious setback to U.S. policy in the region. The opium trade has soared since the U.S.-led 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, which had eradicated almost all of the country's opium poppies.]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:47:38 -0500</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Man Publicly Prosecuted in Kabul for Stealing a Sack of Flour]]></title>
<link>http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2008/06/25/man-publicly-prosecuted-in-kabul-for-stealing-a-sack-of-flour_9374.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 25, 2008 - RAWA News: A man named Farid, resident of Kabul was prosecuted publicly for stealing a sack of flour. Farid said that he had to earn for a family of thirteen and has done this act out of poverty. He said, &#8220;I had no work for 15 to 30 days. After about another 15 days I stole this to feed my children. I was desperate and forced to do so because of my family.&#8221;]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:29:05 -0500</pubDate>
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