US-led Aistrikes Hit Girls' School Amid Rebellion and Resistance

People in Afghanistan staged nationwide protests on Feb. 21, 2012 against the presence of US-led imperialist troops in their country. The imperialists have occupied the country since 2001., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

US-led airstrikes hit girls school, injure 11 in Afghanistan

Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:7AM GMT
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US-led airstrikes have hit a religious girls school in eastern Afghanistan, leaving at least 10 students and the school’s janitor injured, Press TV reports.

Afghan officials told Press TV that US-led NATO helicopters carried out the aerial attacks against the girls religious school in Nangarhar province on Wednesday as the students were studying.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the attack, saying it has launched an investigation into the air raids.

On February 8, US-led airstrikes killed eight Afghan children in the Nejrab district of Kapisa province as the victims were herding sheep in heavy snow.

Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in US-led airstrikes and ground operations in various parts of Afghanistan, with Afghans becoming more and more outraged over the seemingly endless number of deadly assaults.

Afghan authorities have repeatedly warned NATO forces to avoid killing civilians during military operations.


Nine Afghans killed in protest against Qu’ran desecration

Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:15AM GMT
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At least nine anti-US protesters have been shot dead in Afghanistan’s Parwan Province during demonstrations against the desecration of the Holy Qur’an by US-led forces in the country.

On Wednesday, the protesters took to the streets in the capital Kabul, the western city of Herat and the eastern city of Jalalabad for a second day after US-led troops at the Bagram Airbase burned a large number of Islamic religious materials including copies of the Holy Qur’an.

Parwan Province is home to the Airbase where the Qur’an desecration occurred.

The US government and the American commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologized on Tuesday after Afghan laborers collecting trash found charred copies of the Qur’an at the Bagram Airbase.

The US Embassy in Kabul has declared lockdown.

Meanwhile, Afghan lawmakers shouted Death to America in parliament's open session and Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to attend an urgent parliamentary session on Thursday.


Georgia loses three soldiers in south Afghanistan

Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:2PM GMT
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At least three Georgian soldiers have been killed in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan raising the non-NATO country’s death toll to 15.

“Their combat vehicle exploded following an insurgent attack,” Georgia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was in Helmand on Monday to meet his country's troops, said after the deaths that Georgia stood by its commitment to the increasingly unpopular war, dragged into its 11th year.

“The sacrifice of Georgian servicemen is appreciated by the Georgian people... future generations will live in a united, much stronger and more successful country,” Saakashvili said in a statement.

Since 2004, Georgian troops have been in Afghanistan, a commitment that underscores Tbilisi’s ambition to join NATO, despite fierce opposition from neighboring Russia, with which it fought a brief war in 2008.

Georgia has currently over 900 troops supporting the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, including 750 in Helmand. Tbilisi plans to send some 600-700 soldiers to Afghanistan this year making Georgia one of the largest non-NATO contributors in the US-led war there.

The security situation remains fragile in Afghanistan despite the presence of thousands of foreign forces.