Afghanistan War News Updates -- July 26, 2011

HOME SECURITY - U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Lovett secures a home during a meeting with village elders and members of Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul in Arghandab, Afghanistan, July 20, 2011. Lovett is a team leader assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul's security force and is deployed from the Massachusetts National Guard. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Grovert Fuentes-Contreras

U.S. Drawdown, Internal Crises Fuel Fears For Afghanistan -- McClatchy News

KABUL, Afghanistan — The start of the U.S. troop drawdown and a raft of overlapping security, political and economic crises are fueling fears that Afghanistan could sink into wholesale turmoil and even civil war as the U.S.-led international combat mission winds up at the end of 2014.

Such an upheaval could spread insecurity across Afghanistan's borders and see it revert to an al Qaida sanctuary — the very outcome that President Barack Obama's war strategy seeks to avert.

Read more ....

More News On Afghanistan

FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 26 -- Alertnet
Escalating violence in Afghanistan kills 35 -- Yahoo News/AP
Clashes in volatile Afghan province kill 24 -- Yahoo News/AP
Jalalabad airport attacked by militants -- CNN
Civilians killed by NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan -- RIA Novosti
Five Afghan children shot by British forces in helicopter raid -- Daily Mail
U.S. helo downed by RPG in Pech; none killed -- Stars and Stripes

New US envoy speaks to Afghan fears -- Boston.com/AP
'Lawrence of Arabia' calls for Afghans to take control as troops withdraw -- The Australian/AFP
No permanent U.S. bases in Afghanistan: U.S. ambassador -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Ryan Crocker: Afghanistan’s Lawrence of Arabia -- Express Tribune

Long-term deal with U.S. must be on Afghan terms: Karzai -- Reuters
Afghan Leader: Security Forces Must Meet Challenge -- ABC News/AP
Afghan transition town expects more Taliban attacks -- MSNBC
Lawyer: Army Guardsman shot Afghan in self-defense -- Stars and Stripes/AP
Afghan women opposed by former allies -- Washington Post
Birth a deadly challenge in Afghanistan -- ABC |News (Australia)
Tribes Watch and Wait After Karzai Brother’s Killing -- New York Times
Eikenberry leaves Afghanistan amid concerns for its future -- Washington Post
Investigation finds US funds ended up in Taliban hands -- ABC News
Afghanistan faces uphill battle not to slide back into Taliban rule -- Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun
The truth about the Taliban. The history of an organization shrouded in infamy -- Joe Mantecon, Vanguard