KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN)  -- Welcome to democracy, Afghan-style. An Afghan woman in a burqa veil holds up a photograph of President Hamid Karzai. An incumbent president and 38 challengers, including two women, are vying for the votes of 17 million registered Afghans against a backdrop of war, graft, poverty and illiteracy. More than 3,000 donkeys, 3,000 cars and three helicopters will traverse harsh terrain to carry voting materials to remote polling stations. And 30 observer groups, domestic and international, will be on hand to help guard against fraud. This Thursday, Afghanistan holds its second-ever popular election, the results of which will put into office a new president and 420 provincial council winners. Preliminary results are scheduled September 3, with final results expected two weeks later. At the heart of every vote will be the two biggest impediments to progress for one of the poorest nations in the world: stifling corruption and an increasingly bloody Taliban resurgence. The number of Afghan civilians killed increased 24 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the United Nations. NATO and U.S. forces have suffered record losses this summer, with 75 troops killed in the month of July alone. Amid the violence, the candidates continued their last-minute campaigning, with the hope that the elections can showcase Afghanistan's fledgling democracy. "We hope that this election will go ahead in accordance with the constitution of this country and the rightful freedoms of our people, in the best manner possible, so that the Afghan nation can determine its future," said historian Omar Khan Massoudi, director of the National Museum in Kabul.  Watch young Afghans talk about their hopes » International donors are helping pay for the $223 million undertaking, and hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into southern Afghanistan to protect voters against possible Taliban attacks. The top U.S. envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, expressed optimism that Thursday's vote would be Afghanistan's moment to shine. It's tough to organize elections during a war, he said, but the reality is that violence during elections is common place in many parts of the world. "Afghanistan has never had a contested election," Holbrooke said. "So this is a remarkable experiment in democracy and something that Afghanistan needs to give legitimacy to the new government." That legitimacy has become a key issue in the campaign. Frontrunner President Hamid Karzai's chief challengers -- former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah -- have both lashed out at the incumbent for failing to rein in corruption. In its annual global corruption perception index in 2008, Transparency International ranked Afghanistan 176 out of 180 countries and said graft was "a major factor impeding the country's stability and future growth." Ghani told CNN the most significant challenge Afghanistan's next president faces is earning back the trust of the people. "This government has lost it," he said in a recent interview. "There is no sense of trust, not only in the current leadership, but in the political class as such. And in the capacity of the state or the international community to improve the lot of our people." Ghani characterized Karzai as a "very poor manager" who failed to deal with pressing issues and create any sense of momentum for the nation moving forward. As a guest on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS earlier this month, Ghani said Afghanistan's corruption had become a cancer that was "eating through the society." Babrak Babarkhale, a former journalist and Mujahadeen fighter in the war to end Soviet occupation in the 1980s, said he planned to vote for Abdullah because he was fed up with corruption. "We want to support Dr. Abdullah Abdullah to be our future president, to take all Afghans out of this corruption, away from this weak government," he said. Abdullah argued that people's dissatisfaction with the Karzai government has helped strengthen the insurgency. "There is no doubt there is a hardcore element in it," he told CNN. "But there are thousands

how many Afghans are registered to vote?

what is  scheduled amid increasing violence?

Answer: 17 million

Answer: Afghanistan holds its second-ever popular election,

Answer: stifling corruption

Answer: legitimacy

Answer: 17 million

Summary:
More than 17 million Afghans are registered to vote .
Elections are scheduled amid increasing violence .
A key issue for voters is government corruption .
Some observers concerned elections will be neither fair nor free .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- "In Afghanistan, the sacrifice in the political game is women and children," female Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi said. Critics say they fear that Afghanistan's new Shiite law will set the nation backward. Koofi says that is exactly what happened when the Afghan parliament recently passed a bill intended to give the minority Shia community their own identity. But critics say the latest draft strips Shia women of rights as simple as leaving the house without permission from a male relative and as extreme as allowing a man to have sexual intercourse with his wife even when she says, "No." These critics wonder how what amounts to rape in marriage could be passed by parliament and signed into law by President Hamid Karzai. Amid blistering criticism from the West, Karzai addressed the law over the weekend, saying that key elements of the bill were misinterpreted by Western news organizations.  Watch Karzai react to controversial law » "We understand the concerns of our allies and the international community. Those concerns may be due to an inappropriate, not-so-good translation of the law, or misinterpretation," Karzai told reporters in Kabul. He added that the Minister of Justice will study the "Shia state law," line by line, to make sure it follows the nation's constitution, which requires equal rights to both sexes. "If there is anything that is of concern to us, then we will definitely take action in consultation with our [religious clerics] and send it back to the parliament. You be assured of that. This is something that we're also serious about and should not allow," he said. However, Karzai did not address the most controversial part of the bill, dealing with rape of a wife.  Watch a report on the law » The Shia state law was debated by 249 members of the lower house, including 68 women, some of whom voted for the bill. It was then sent to the upper house. Even some lawmakers are baffled at the manner in which it passed. "Most members of the parliament did not know what they were going to vote for," Koofi said. "Even some of my friends, MPs sitting with me, voted in favor without knowing what happened." U.S. President Obama called the law "abhorrent" and said his administration has made it clear to the Karzai government that it objects to the law. Human rights groups and the international community have condemned the law and say it could undermine efforts to support basic human rights in the war-torn nation. "We very much hope that the draft piece of legislation is to be withdrawn," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a NATO summit on Afghanistan over the weekend. "It is unacceptable if such a law were to be passed in Afghanistan and become a part of Afghan legislation." According to lawmakers who opposed the bill, conservative legislators are pushing back any progress made for women's rights in Afghanistan after the brutal oppression under the Taliban regime. From 1996 to 2001, under the Sunni fundamentalist government of the Taliban, women were not allowed to leave their homes without being escorted by a male relative, and girls were not allowed to go to school. When women did leave their homes, they were required to wear a blue burqa, which covered their bodies from head to toe. The only opening was a small net that provided an eyehole for the women to see through. Women remember those days with despair. One female teacher, who asked not to be named, said that during the Taliban regime, she was stopped at the market by the Taliban and beaten with a whip. Her crime: She wore a shawl covering her body instead of a burqa. She says she was too poor to purchase a real burqa. After that beating, she was stuck in her home for months until someone was able to give her a used burqa. But even then, she didn't know how to function wearing the suffocating fabric. "I remember stepping out of a taxi with my son, and

What does Afghan law allow a man to do even if his wife says no?

Answer: women and children,"

Answer: have sexual intercourse

Answer: women and children,"

Summary:
Afghan law appears to let a man to have sex with his wife even when she says "no"
President Hamid Karzai says the law will be reviewed line-by-line .
Rights group: "President Karzai needs to start standing up for human rights"
Afghan lawmaker says women and children are "victims of political games"


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A 14-year-old who was trained to kill by radicals in the tribal regions of Pakistan now sits in a crowded classroom at a detention facility in Kabul. His only wish is to see his parents again. Shakirullah, 14, is convicted of planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. "I miss my parents, my mom and dad," Shakirullah says in soft tones. Like others in tribal regions, he goes by one name. Shakirullah  is already a convicted terrorist for planning to carry out a suicide bombing. He says Muslim radicals lied and tricked him into becoming a would-be bomber. "I have been detained for trying to commit a suicide attack," he says. He says his recruiters told him it was his mission as a Muslim to kill British and American soldiers because they were killing Muslims.  Watch teen say recruiters "cheated me" » They told him that once he blew himself up he wouldn't die because God would save him for being a true Muslim. Asked what he now thinks of Americans and Westerners, Shakirullah is calm, but quick in his response. "I don't know. God knows what type of people they are, whether they are good or bad. I don't know them," he says. Shakirullah now passes his hours in a cell block at a juvenile detention facility in Kabul. He is serving at least five years in detention. He is to be transferred to an adult prison in a couple of years, authorities say. He hasn't heard from his family in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. He tried to send them a letter through the International Committee of the Red Cross but is not sure it reached them. "I don't know what they are thinking. They have no news of me," he says. On this day, Shakirullah attends a rehabilitation class, easily lost in the crowd of boys with shaved heads. All of the children are convicted for various crimes, including theft, fighting and even murder. Three boys like Shakirullah are here, all guilty of planning to kill themselves and others after being recruited by terrorist groups. With the increased violence in Afghanistan, international observers say they have seen more and more children being recruited by armed groups and national forces. The Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan with its strict Islamic rule from 1996 to 2001, has regrouped and launched a fierce insurgency. "As you see in many places in the world, children are being used in armed conflict. They've been recruited as child soldiers; they've been recruited as armed groups. And the phenomena is now impacting, again, Afghanistan," says Catherine Mbengue, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan.  Watch one boy's struggle begging for food on streets » Inside the detention center, Shakirullah walks up to his cell, his sandals sliding across the tile floor. The cell block is empty and has metal bunk beds lined across the wall and a television set, ready for the times they have electricity. Shakirullah shares this space with 10 other boys. He sits in the center of the room with a blanket draped around him. He barely makes eye contact and looks away as soon as he does. He is shy, but forthright in his words. "I didn't want to do it but he forced me to go," he says of his recruiter. Rubbing his face with his hand, he says he now spends his time dreaming of his life back home in rural Pakistan. His eyes begin to water and his voice becomes softer when he talks about missing his mother. Asked what he misses most about her, he says simply, "A mother is a mother." His was a life of farming and tranquility in Pakistan, he says. It was also a life that took a drastic turn when his father decided to send Shakirullah for studies at a madrassa. He says his dad wanted him to learn more about Islam and the Quran, something he could not do himself.

who duped him to become a would-be bomber

Answer: my parents, my mom and dad,"

Answer: Muslim radicals

Answer: parents,

Answer: at least five years in detention.

Summary:
Teen is serving at least 5 years for plot to carry out suicide bombing .
He says Muslim radicals at school duped him into becoming a would-be bomber .
The thing he misses most about home is his mom and dad: "I miss my parents"
Detention facility is teaching jailed children a moderate interpretation of Islam .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A British soldier was killed on New Year's Day by an explosion in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Friday. A British unit on patrol in Helmand province's Garmsir district, where another soldier has died. The soldier, who served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles, had been taking part in a routine patrol in the Garmsir district of Helmand province when he was killed, the ministry said. "It is deeply saddening to confirm the loss of a British soldier who died while helping to provide security in southern Helmand," said Commander Paula Rowe, a spokeswoman for Task Force Helmand. "His family, friends and all those who knew and worked with him will mourn his loss -- our heartfelt sympathies go to them all at this terrible time." Britain suffered its worst year of losses in Afghanistan in 2008, with 51 British troops killed. It was more than in any other year since the mission began in October 2001, the defense ministry said.

What holiday coincided with the soldier's death?

Who served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles in Helmand province?

What was the soldier doing when he was killed?

Where were the British soldiers killed at?

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: 6th

Answer: Garmsir

Answer: 6th Battalion The Rifles,

Answer: A British unit

Answer: on New Year's Day

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: an explosion

Answer: New Year's Day

Answer: Helmand province's Garmsir district,

Answer: the 6th

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: explosion

Answer: New Year's Day

Answer: A British soldier

Answer: had been taking part in a routine patrol in the Garmsir district of Helmand province

Answer: New Year's

Answer: southern

Answer: an explosion

Answer: Helmand province

Answer: Afghanistan,

Summary:
British soldier killed on New Year's Day by blast in Afghanistan .
Soldier served with the 6th Battalion The Rifles in Helmand province .
He was on patrol in Garmsir district when he was killed .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Marine was killed in action and several others wounded Thursday in a major U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, the Marines said. U.S. Marines prepare for Operation Khanjar at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, Afghanistan, on Thursday. The push, called Operation Khanjar, is targeting militants in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and poppy-growing region. The forces are attempting to gain and hold ground in the perilous region ahead of national elections in August. Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British troops, worked to clear Taliban militants from population centers in the Helmand River valley. They have been operating in the districts of Nawa and Garmsir in central Helmand province and "as far south as the vicinity of Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district in the region of the Helmand River valley known as 'The Fishhook.' " The Marines stressed the mission "is to provide security for population centers" and "connect local citizens with their legitimate government while establishing stable and secure conditions for national elections." Helmand's governor, Gulab Mangal, said he believes the operation will work and has assured the populace that it will provide security for them. His spokesman also confirmed that resistance had been minimal. The Marines said about 80 percent of the American troops are in direct combat, with the rest working in support. Taliban resistance has been light and sporadic, consisting of intermittent small arms fire, the Marines said on Thursday. The troops have encountered only relatively small groups of militants. "Indications are the militants break away shortly after they make contact," Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Abe Sipe said, referring to what is regarded as the Taliban's habit of running and hiding after troops confront them. A Taliban spokesman said the group's fighters had killed 33 soldiers and destroyed several vehicles. CNN could not independently verify the Taliban claims because of safety and access issues. There has been an outcry in Afghanistan over civilian deaths in the Afghan war's crossfire, with much ire directed toward coalition air operations. But the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan emphasized in a news release that the Marines have not "received any confirmed reports of civilian casualties or damage to property." They said they have not utilized "artillery or other indirect fire weapons, and no bombs have been dropped from aircraft." The brigade operates under NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The assault has prompted Pakistani authorities to redeploy troops along the Afghan border to stop Taliban from escaping the push in Helmand. More than 30 U.S., British and Danish troops have been killed there since January, with the latest being the Marine on Thursday and a pair of British soldiers slain in Helmand on Wednesday. The push is the largest since the Pentagon began moving additional troops into the conflict this year, and it comes after a British-led operation launched last week in the same region, the Marines said. When President Obama announced his strategy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said American soldiers and Marines "will take the fight to the Taliban in the south and the east, and give us a greater capacity to partner with Afghan security forces and to go after insurgents along the border." He also said the bolstered deployment "will also help provide security" ahead of August presidential elections in Afghanistan. The Obama administration has moved about 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, the original front in the war launched after the September 11 attacks. It is also the first big move since U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal took over as the allied commander in Afghanistan in mid-June. In Washington, a senior defense official said the size and scope of the new operation are "very significant." "It's not common for forces to operate at the brigade level," the official said. "In fact, they often only conduct missions at the platoon level. And they're going into the most troubled area of Afghanistan." The defense official said the operation is a "tangible indication" of the new approach that McChrystal -- a former chief of the Pentagon's special

According to the Taliban, how many soldiers where killed?

How many soldiers took part in the Operation Khanjar?

how many soldiers were killed by taliban

What number of American troops are involved?

how many american troops were involved in operation khanjar

Answer: 33

Answer: Helmand province,

Answer: Forward Operating Base Dwyer, Afghanistan,

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Answer: 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British troops,

Answer: was

Answer: Helmand province,

Answer: 33 soldiers

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: 33

Answer: 33

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors,

Answer: Almost 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Answer: 4,000 Marines and sailors, along with several hundred Afghan security forces and British

Summary:
One Marine killed, others wounded; Taliban says 33 soldiers killed .
4,000 American troops, hundreds of Afghans involved in Operation Khanjar .
It focuses on Helmand River valley, hotbed of Taliban violence .
Operation's size and scope are "very significant," official says .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A New York Times reporter who was kidnapped last week was freed Wednesday in a pre-dawn military raid in Afghanistan that left a British commando, an Afghan journalist and several others dead. New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was abducted Saturday while covering a NATO airstrike in Afghanistan. Stephen Farrell was rescued by NATO's International Security Assistance Force, known as the ISAF, the British Foreign Office said. A British commando died in the operation, the country's Ministry of Defense said without offering further details. Sultan Munad, an Afghan journalist accompanying Farrell, also was killed in the raid, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. Crossfire during the raid also killed a woman and a child, said Abdel Wahid Omar Khil, governor of Kunduz district, in Kunduz province, where the rescue took place. Armed gunmen kidnapped the journalists Saturday while they were covering a NATO airstrike on Taliban forces the day before that killed at least 90 people in the northern Kunduz province. Neither CNN nor the Times had reported Farrell's kidnapping for security reasons. "We feared that media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives," the paper quoted Executive Editor Bill Keller as saying Wednesday. Farrell called the newspaper's foreign editor before dawn and said he was "extracted" in a commando raid after a fierce firefight, according to a report on the Times Web site. "There were bullets all around us. I could hear British and Afghan voices," Farrell, a 46-year-old dual Irish-British citizen, told the paper. Farrell and Munadi ran outside during the firefight. At the end of a wall, Munadi went forward, shouting: "Journalist! Journalist!" but dropped in a hail of bullets, Farrell said. He didn't know whether the shots came from allied or militant fire. "I saw him go down in front of me. He did not move. He's dead," Farrell told the paper. "He was so close, he was just 2 feet in front of me when he dropped." Farrell's citizenship played a role in the British decision to stage the rescue, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.  Watch a former British commander on the difficulty in rescuing hostages » "The obvious link for us is that Farrell is a British national. We want to safeguard the life of one of our citizens," the spokesman said, declining to discuss operational details of the rescue mission. "We don't comment about the actions of British Special Ops forces." Local Afghans provided information and helped the commandos locate where Farrell was being held, said another British official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. He said the judgment to proceed with such an operation "is always a difficult one, but we think it represented the best chance to save his life." Brown offered condolences to the families of Munadi and the British commando. Of the commando, Brown said, "His bravery will not be forgotten." The operation to rescue the hostages happened after extensive planning and consideration, Brown said. "Those involved knew the high risks they were running. That they undertook it in such circumstances showed breathtaking heroism," Brown said. "Hostage-taking is never justified, and the U.K. does not make substantive concessions, including paying ransoms. But whenever British nationals are kidnapped, we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them." Ten weeks earlier, another Times reporter escaped after months in Taliban captivity. David Rohde, a local reporter and a driver were kidnapped November 10 outside Kabul. The two reporters escaped on June 19 by climbing over a wall in the compound where they were held for seven months in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. The driver did not escape, the newspaper said. The death toll in the Kunduz airstrike, which Farrell was covering when he was kidnapped, has varied, depending on the source, but local Afghan officials have said at least half of those killed were

What was the causation of the die of the child?

Who helped the British locate the abducted journalist?

Answer: Stephen Farrell

Answer: Crossfire during the raid also killed a woman and a

Answer: Local Afghans

Answer: British

Answer: the ISAF,

Answer: A British commando

Summary:
NEW: Local Afghans helped British locate abducted journalist, official says .
New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell freed in commando raid .
Afghan journalist killed in raid, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says .
British commando also killed during raid; woman, child die in crossfire .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban leader has instructed fighters in Afghanistan to target U.S. and other coalition troops in response to the United States sending more troops into the war. U.S. Army soldiers, right, watch two Afghan soldiers at ISAF's Camp Bostick in the eastern Kunar province. A two-page statement sent to CNN instructs fighters to start new attacks against coalition troops and Afghan parliament members, and urges suicide bombers to strike. The statement was written by Mula Birather, a Taliban chief of at least 12 military groups in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed to CNN that the statement came from Birather. The statement also warned Afghans to not get "near U.S. troops anywhere because we will target them any where they are and if anybody is killed in a attack on them we will not be responsible for their death." The statement comes as U.S. troops begin increased deployments in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama approved sending 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March and pledged to send 17,000 more. Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, responded to the statement. "The Taliban extremists are promising to bring more death and destruction to Afghanistan and limit the freedom of movement of all Afghans," Julian said. "They offer no hope for the future, and only seek to kill... We will continue working side-by-side with our Afghan partners to improve security and demonstrate to these ruthless murders and criminals that they will not stop progress in Afghanistan." Meanwhile across the border in Pakistan, the country's military intensified its drive against the Taliban in the country's restive tribal regions, reclaiming a key town in the northwest district of Buner. CNN's Nic Robertson and Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

What did Taliban leader instruct fighters to target?

Who is beginning increased deployments in Afghanistan?

Answer: deployments

Answer: U.S. and

Answer: at least 12 military groups in Afghanistan.

Answer: U.S. and

Answer: Taliban chief

Answer: United States

Summary:
Taliban leader instructs fighters in Afghanistan to target U.S., coalition troops .
Statement written by Mula Birather, chief of at least 12 Afghan military groups .
U.S. troops are beginning increased deployments in Afghanistan .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban suicide bomb squad disguised as regular Afghan army troops stormed a strategic city close to the border with Pakistan Tuesday, prompting a fierce six-hour battle with U.S. troops, local officials and the U.S. military said. A U.S. soldier on patrol in Khost province in February 2009. The insurgents attacked a municipal building in the center of the city of Khost, a U.S. military spokesman said. At least 10 suicide bombers were killed in the attacks, which also left five troops and four civilians dead, Afghan police said. Local police chief Abdul Qayum Baqee Zoi told CNN the attacks, which ended at 4:30 p.m. involved 10 Taliban suicide bombers in Afghan National Army uniforms and explosive vests. Seven detonated and three were shot dead. A U.S. military spokesman said the city -- a hotbed of Taliban activity --remained volatile as reports of running battles, kidnappings and fatalities surfaced. The developments came shortly after the United States announced it was changing its military leadership in Afghanistan, replacing Gen. David McKiernan with Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special operations chief. Tuesday's fighting began when U.S. forces responded to a suicide bomber at a government compound in the city and came under heavy attack, the U.S. military spokesman said. Officials in Khost told CNN that insurgents attacked the municipal building, and the police chief there said attackers killed two police officers, two security guards and two civilians in that incident. A Taliban spokesman in Afghanistan earlier told CNN 30 Taliban fighters were involved in the attack, and confirmed they were suicide bombers wearing explosive vests. The U.S. military spokesman said U.S. troops killed several militants but had to fall back. A U.S. quick reaction force from a nearby base was called in, entering the city with U.S. ground forces, he said. The spokesman said additional Taliban suicide bombers then entered government buildings, killing additional Afghans. CNN's Barbara Starr and Tomas Etzler contributed to this report

Where was the minicipal building located?

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: center of the city of Khost,

Answer: U.S. forces

Answer: The insurgents

Answer: municipal

Summary:
Taliban militants attacked a municipal building in the city of Khost .
Insurgents said to be fighting battles with U.S. forces and taking hostages .
Khost is notorious hotbed of Taliban activity near Pakistan border .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A fighter jet crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday, in the fourth wreck in three days, authorities said. A French Air Force Mirage 2000 sits under a shelter on the tarmac at an airbase in Kandahar on January 1, 2009. Authorities were looking into why the plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield Monday morning, but the role of insurgents had been ruled out, said Lt. Col. Paul Kolken, the spokesman at the airfield. The crew ejected safely, and was being treated, Kolken said. Five hours after the crash, the wreckage of the plane was still on fire. Military officials did not identify the type of jet that crashed, nor did they release the nationality of the crew. Weather conditions were fair at the time of the incident, Kolken said. On Saturday, a U.S. fighter jet crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing its crew of two. In addition, a civilian helicopter went down on takeoff from Kandahar airfield on Sunday, killing 16 people, NATO said.  Watch details of the helicopter crash » And a military helicopter made a hard landing elsewhere on Sunday, apparently injuring at least some of those on board, NATO said. None of the aircraft were shot down, said the International Security Assistance Force -- NATO's mission in Afghanistan. It did not announce the cause of any of the crashes. There were at least two earlier crashes this month. Watch report on UK deaths in Afghanistan » At least five people were killed when a helicopter went down in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Tuesday, a local government official said. And on July 6, two Canadian air crew members and a British soldier were killed when a helicopter crashed during takeoff in Zabul province, the Canadian and British defense ministries said. CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

Who could not identify type of jet that crashed?

Crash is fourth aircraft wreck in how many days?

who did not identify type of jet that crashed?

Answer: why the plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield Monday morning,

Answer: Military officials

Answer: fourth

Answer: three

Answer: Military officials

Answer: the role of insurgents

Answer: the role of insurgents

Answer: southern Afghanistan

Summary:
Authorities looking into why plane went down during takeoff from Kandahar airfield .
Crew ejected safely; Role of insurgents has been ruled out of cause of crash .
Military officials did not identify type of jet that crashed, nor the nationality of the crew .
Crash is the fourth aircraft wreck in three days .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A helicopter crashed during takeoff from Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 16 people, NATO said. U.S. Marines participate in operation Saturday to push Taliban out of Herati, Afghanistan. The aircraft was a "civilian contracted" helicopter, not a military one, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. The helicopter was not shot down, ISAF said, adding that the exact cause of the crash was not known. All the dead were civilians, ISAF said. There were an additional five casualties whose condition was not known, according to the military statement.   Watch report on the crash » The chopper was a Mil Mi-8 helicopter, owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T, the Russian news agency Interfax said, citing Russia's Federal Air Transportation Agency, Rosaviatsia. The aircraft "was on a mission to support the peacekeeping forces," an unnamed Rosaviatsia spokesman said, according to Interfax. Separately, a U.S. military helicopter made a hard landing in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF said. ISAF denied the helicopter was shot down in Kunar province, but suggested the people on board were injured. "Personnel on the aircraft were initially treated on site and evacuated to the nearest medical facility for further treatment," the ISAF statement said. The two helicopter incidents come a day after a plane crash that killed two airmen on a U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle in eastern Afghanistan early Saturday, the U.S. military said. The two-man fighter went down while it was conducting military operations, Lt. Col. Reid Christopherson, said earlier. He said he was "confident" it had not been shot down. July has been a difficult month for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 51 international military fatalities, the highest so far, a CNN tally of official statistics shows. The United Kingdom lost eight troops in 24 hours, and has now had more killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq.  Watch report on UK deaths in Afghanistan » The United States has lost 26 troops this month, putting it on pace to be the deadliest ever for U.S. forces in the country. CNN's Ivan Watson contributed to this report.

Where did the helicopter crash take place?

what is the condition of the five casualties

Answer: Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: the Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan

Answer: by the Russian air company Vertikal-T,

Answer: civilians,

Answer: Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan

Answer: U.S. military helicopter

Answer: was not known,

Summary:
Civilian contracted helicopter crashes during takeoff in Kandahar, NATO says .
All of the dead were civilians, NATO says; conditions of 5 other casualties unknown .
Chopper owned by Russian air company, according to Russian news agency Interfax .
U.S. military helicopter also makes hard landing; personnel get medical treatment .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A meeting between the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan was canceled Friday when bad weather prevented Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari from traveling to the Afghan capital, Kabul. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (pictured) has met Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai before. An official in Pakistan's Foreign Office said the meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top government officials will be rescheduled for the near future. The visit was to have taken place amid ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border and was to have focused on the nations cooperating in the fight against terror. Some of the Taliban militants conducting attacks in Afghanistan have been based in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and nearby tribal regions. The group's resurgence has prompted U.S. commanders and the incoming Barack Obama administration to put more of a focus on confronting militants along the volatile border. In the past, Afghan and Pakistani leaders have blamed the other for the security problems in the region. Zardari was to have been accompanied on the trip by the governor of North West Frontier Province, as well as his foreign minister and adviser on internal affairs. The two presidents also planned to discuss the expansion of bilateral relations and trade. Both men have met before, when Karzai visited Pakistan in September to attend Zardari's swearing-in ceremony.

Both countries have blamed each other for what?

Who is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai?

Who is attacking from Pakistan's North West Province?

Who is attacking Afghanistan from Pakistan's North West Province?

Who has been blamed for the security problems?

What have both sides blamed each other for?

Answer: security problems in the region.

Answer: security problems in the region.

Answer: President Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Asif Ali Zardari

Answer: ongoing warfare and tension along the Afghan-Pakistan border

Answer: Taliban militants

Answer: Taliban

Answer: Afghan and Pakistani leaders

Answer: security problems in the region.

Summary:
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai .
Visit to have taken place amid ongoing tension along Afghan-Pakistan border .
Taliban militants attacking Afghanistan from Pakistan's North West Province .
Both countries have previously blamed each other for the security problems .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide car bomb blast near a voter registration site killed 16 people, 14 of them children, and wounded 58 in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday morning, according to a senior police official and the U.S. military. The U.S. military released this photo of the blast near a voter registration site. A Taliban spokesman said one of his group's fighters carried out the attack. When security guards stopped the car at the entrance to the Mandozai district headquarters, the driver detonated the explosives inside the car, Khost provincial security chief Mohammad Yaqoub said. A security guard and an Afghan National Army soldier were among the dead. There were no military casualties, said U.S. Col. Gregory Julian. Coalition and Afghan forces worked together to evacuate the wounded to military and civilian hospitals, he said. The military released photos of the incident, saying they "provide further proof the Afghan militants are not interested in the welfare nor benefit of the Afghan people." Dozens of tribal elders were meeting nearby in the district administrative office at the time of the bombing, the police official said. The Mandozai district is in the Khost province. Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, said the suicide bombing was carried out by Qari Hameedullah, a Taliban fighter. Elsewhere, a rocket attack in Kabul killed three teenage sisters and injured four other people Saturday night, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said in a statement. The girls died when one of two rockets fired on Kabul crashed into a house in the southern part of the city. In the statement, Karzai called those who fired the rockets "enemies of Afghanistan" who "can't achieve anything by firing rockets but the killing of innocent civilians." The president called the suicide bombing an "un-Islamic act" and said those behind it "are not aware of the Islamic teachings which outlaw the killing of innocent people. Those who ordered and executed this attack cannot escape the revenge of Afghans and God's punishment." Journalist Farhad Peikar contributed to this report.

Were there any children among those killed by the car bomb?

All together, how many has been killed in southern Afghanistan?

Answer: killed three teenage sisters and injured four other people

Answer: a rocket attack in Kabul

Answer: Zabiullah Mujahid,

Answer: 14 of them

Answer: 16

Summary:
Suicide car bomb in southeastern Afghanistan kills 16, including 14 children .
Taliban says it carried out attack near voter registration site .
Rocket attack in Kabul also killed three teenage sisters .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A top Taliban commander has issued a new threat to foreign aid workers, saying that under the insurgent group's new "constitution" they will execute them as spies or hold them in exchange for the release of Taliban fighters. Taliban militants pose with their weapons as they drive their car in Wardak province. (File photo) In an exclusive telephone interview Friday night with CNN, Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said the Taliban intelligence wing was actively gathering information on foreign aid workers. "If we get someone, that is how we will deal with it under our new constitution," he said. He added that he was telling "Afghan brothers not to work with NGOs." In the 15-minute interview, arranged by an intermediary for CNN, Hanafi repeated the Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools. "Our law is still the same old law which was in place during our rule in Afghanistan," he said. "Mullah Mohammad Omar was our leader and he is still our head and leader and so we will follow the same law as before." "In my opinion," he added, "Taliban aren't allowing girls to go to schools because Taliban want women to preserve their respect by staying in their homes, not to work as laborers for others." Dozens of crimes across the country, especially acid attacks, have marred the opening of the new school year in Afghanistan. Afghan girls have been burned and scared randomly with acid as punishment for going to school. More than 600 schools did not open this year because of security issues, according to the Afghanistan Education Ministry.  Watch what females face in Afghanistan » The schools that did open, however, remain defiant. Young women admitted to CNN being fearful but also said they are determined to get an education and better their lives. It is a sentiment echoed by their principal, a 35-year veteran of Afghanistan's girls schools. "I am asking those who close schools and throw acid on girls to let the children of this country go to school because it's crime to close the schools, a crime against the children of this country," said Safia Hayat, principal of the Zarghona Girls School in Kabul. Hanafi, meanwhile, went on to discuss possible reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. "I don't think there can be any discussion of peace until the the foreigners leave Afghanistan," he said referring to the presence of coalition troops. While he seemed to confirm that some reconciliation talks were ongoing, Hanafi also said he wondered what kind of peace was possible as long as Afghans are still dying in NATO bombardments. Hanafi described himself as a commander in the southern province of Helmand, but announced a new Taliban offensive in the north was about to begin and that he would be playing a key role there.

What group were the Taliban trying to keep out of school?

Who did the commander give an interview to?

Answer: to keep girls out of public schools.

Answer: girls

Answer: foreign aid workers,

Answer: CNN,

Answer: Taliban intelligence wing

Answer: actively gathering information on foreign aid workers.

Answer: Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi

Summary:
Top Taliban commander issues threat to execute foreign aid workers .
Mohammed Ibrahim Hanafi said intelligence wing was gathering information .
Hanafi repeated Taliban's pledge to keep girls out of public schools .
Commander gave exclusive telephone interview Friday night to CNN .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai bowed to Western pressure Tuesday, agreeing to take part in a presidential runoff vote in two weeks. Hamid Karzai failed to score a first round win in August's election. Karzai, who will face his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah in the November 7 second round, said he was putting his country's interests over his own. "It was not important who the winner is, and we need to leave this to the people of Afghanistan to judge who the winner was," Karzai said at a news conference through an interpreter. "Whether I am the winner or not, it's probably in my interest, but I prefer the national interest of Afghanistan over my personal interests." Western powers, particularly the United States, had been pushing Karzai to accept the final election results in order to ensure Afghanistan has a legitimate government, particularly as Washington considers beefing up its military presence there. Karzai spoke shortly after Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission certified the election results, which gave him less than the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission had invalidated nearly a third of Karzai's votes from the August 20 presidential election because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." Last month, final uncertified results showed Karzai with 54 percent. "We welcome the decision made by the Independent Election Commission, we believe the session is legitimate, legal and according to the constitution of Afghanistan," Karzai said Tuesday. "It's going to be a historic period that we all are waiting to go through." The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said that it would "support the Afghan National Security Forces' preparations to ensure a safe runoff election." Spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said that ISAF had been preparing for a possible runoff election "for some time." "As in the election's first round, ISAF will only provide third-layer of security, reinforcing the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army in line with the security plan signed by the chairman of the Afghan Independent Election Commission along with representatives from the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Defense, and ISAF in 2008," Shanks said. Karzai's decision was immediately hailed by U.S. Sen. John Kerry, one of several Western representatives who appeared alongside the Afghan president at Tuesday's delayed news conference. Kerry, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Karzai's decision to participate in the runoff "will allow the national leadership to govern with legitimacy." "We believe with this decision by the president today that a time of enormous uncertainty has been transformed into a great opportunity," Kerry said.  Watch President Karzai and Sen. John Kerry discuss runoff elections » Minutes after the news conference concluded, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement praising Karzai for accepting the election results and agreeing to a second round of voting. "While this election could have remained unresolved to the detriment of the country, President Karzai's constructive actions established an important precedent for Afghanistan's new democracy," Obama said. Obama is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, and Kerry has said the results of the country's election should be settled before the United States makes any decision on troop levels.  Watch Nic Robertson discuss pressure President Karzai is under » Abdullah told CNN on Monday he was prepared to participate in a runoff, but said "the door is open" to other alternatives. "There are some practical questions ahead," Abdullah told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, citing winter, the security situation "and other realities on the ground." If the election were not held by early November, winter weather would make voting impossible in some areas and force a delay until spring of 2010, according to Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad. Such a delay, he warned, would be a "recipe for disaster" that would create confusion in Afghanistan and heighten tension between the United States and Karzai's government.

On what date will the runoff election be held?

In what way were the thousands of votes considered invalid?

When is the the runoff election scheduled?

Answer: November 7

Answer: November 7

Answer: "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."

Answer: Western pressure

Answer: in two weeks.

Summary:
Afghan runoff election scheduled for November 7, officials say .
Runoff follows probe into election fraud that invalidated thousands of votes .
Runoff with pit Karzai against his former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his country would join the strategic review of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, right, meets with Richard Holbrooke in Kabul on February 15, 2009.

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Karzai said he is "very, very thankful" that President Barack Obama accepted his proposal to join the review.

Holbrooke is visiting Afghanistan after a trip to neighboring Pakistan. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tapped Holbrooke as special representative for the two countries, a signal of how the new administration considers Afghanistan and Pakistan intertwined in any solution to the war in Afghanistan and the terrorist threat along their shared border.

At the news conference in Kabul, Holbrooke said Sunday that he conveyed the administration's support of the upcoming elections on August 20, a date recently set by Afghanistan's electoral commission.

"President Obama and Secretary Clinton and the United States government were very gratified to hear President Karzai reaffirm his support of the August 20 decision," Holbrooke said.

Holbrooke's visit comes as Obama plans to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight what he's called the "central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism."

In an interview on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," which aired Sunday, Karzai said that, with a resurgent Taliban, a still-flourishing drug trade and a border with Pakistan believed to be home base for al Qaeda, his country can't afford for U.S. troops to leave any time soon.

"U.S. forces will not be able to leave soon in Afghanistan because the task is not over," Karzai said. "We have to defeat terrorism. We'll have to enable Afghanistan to stand on its own feet. We'll have to enable Afghanistan to be able to defend itself and protect for its security ...

"Then, the United States can leave and, at that time, the Afghan people will give them plenty of flowers and gratitude and send them safely back home."

At the same time, Karzai said the actions of troops currently in Afghanistan have turned some of the public against them.

"It's the question of civilian causalities. It's a question of risk of Afghans. It's the question of home searches," he said. "These activities are seriously undermining the confidence of the Afghan people in the joint struggle we have against terrorism and undermining their hopeful future.

"We'll continue to be a friend. We'll continue to be an ally. But Afghanistan deserves respect and a better treatment."

While he said he welcomes additional U.S. troops, Karzai suggested they need to work along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in the poppy fields that fuel a drug trade that threatens to turn the nation into a narco-state -- not in the villages where most Afghans live.

"We have traveled many years on. What should have happened early on didn't unfortunately happen," Karzai said. "Now, the country is not in the same mood as it was in 2002. And so any addition of troops must have a purposeful objective that the Afghan people would agree with."

The Obama administration is conducting several reviews of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, including a review by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in the region. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the original mission in Afghanistan was "too broad" and needs to be more "realistic and focused" for the United States to succeed.

"If we set ourselves the objective of creating some sort of central Asian Valhalla over there, we will lose, because nobody in the world has that kind of time, patience and money," Gates said during a recent Senate hearing.

He called for concrete goals that can be reached in three to five years.

Speaking via satellite from Kabul, Karzai called former President George Bush "a great person," but said he can work with Obama -- despite the president's comments as a candidate that Karzai had "not gotten out of the bunker" to improve security and infrastructure in

What did Karzai say forces should focus on?

Who will help to review war on terrorism?

Answer: poppy fields

Answer: Karzai

Answer: they need to work along the Afghan-Pakistan border and in the poppy fields

Answer: actions of troops currently in Afghanistan

Answer: terrorism.

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Afghan President

Summary:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his country will help review of war on terrorism .
He says U.S. forces shouldn't leave Afghanistan soon since task is not over .
Karzai says civilian causalities, home searches have soured public support .
Karzai suggested forces should focus on poppy fields that fuel a drug trade .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan lawmakers have directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of involvement in a string of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, blasting their neighbor as "the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism." The recent attack by a suicide bomber on the Indian embassy in Kabul killed more than 40 people. A Pakistani official Tuesday bristled at the accusation, saying that Afghan lawmakers were making allegations without proof. "We are not an irresponsible nation and we don't blame our failures on others," said a senior official with Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "If they want to engage in this kind of game, let them be." The Afghan Cabinet made the scathing indictment in a resolution Monday, saying Afghanistan would boycott a series of meetings with Pakistan unless "bilateral trust" is restored. In recent weeks a wave of attacks carried out by Islamic militants have killed scores of people in Afghanistan, including an assault on a military outpost Sunday that killed nine U.S. soldiers, as well as a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy a week ago that killed 58 people. The two incidents, along with an assassination attempt against Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a military ceremony on April 27, are "indicative of the attempts by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) to once again occupy Afghanistan and to perish the true right of the people of Afghanistan for national sovereignty," the resolution said. Afghanistan regularly accuses Pakistan's intelligence service -- which once had strong ties with the Taliban -- of orchestrating attacks inside its borders. Pakistan has repeatedly denied involvement, including in the incidents that the resolution cited. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also said there is no indication that "foreign agents" were responsible for the embassy attack. The senior ISI official said Tuesday that if Afghanistan has proof that Pakistani intelligence agents were involved in the attacks, that proof should be presented and the ISI will act on it. The official said that the Pakistani government could also blame incidents in Pakistan, like recent attacks in Karachi and Hangu, on others. But without proof, he said, it would be irresponsible. Pakistan and Afghanistan have a tumultuous history that dates back several years. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, religious schools in Pakistan helped train fighters who battled the Soviets. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996 and imposed fundamentalist rule, Pakistan was one of the few countries that recognized the regime diplomatically. It dropped its support after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Washington and New York. But Afghanistan claims that Pakistan continues to informally support the militants, who operate from havens in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions near the porous 1,500-mile border the two countries share. Adding fresh ammunition to the suspicions, the Rand Corp. -- a U.S. think tank -- released a report last month that said some members of Pakistan's intelligence service and its paramilitary corps were helping insurgents in Afghanistan. The study, funded by the U.S. Defense Department, alleged that members of the two agencies often tipped off militants to the location and movement of coalition forces trying to rout them. It also said personnel within the agencies trained fighters at camps in Pakistan, financed them and helped them cross the border into Afghanistan. The Pakistani military denied and denounced the report, calling it a "smear campaign" designed to "create doubts and suspicion in the minds of (the) target audience." Relations between the two countries are strained to such a point that Karzai has threatened to send troops across the border to take on the militants. "The people of Afghanistan and the international community have come to the reality that Pakistan intelligence institutions and its army have become the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism and extremism to the world and particularly to Afghanistan," Monday's resolution said.

Where is the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism?

What country is "largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism"?

Is Pakistan the leading terrorist country?

What has killed scores of people in Afghanistan?

Answer: Pakistan's

Answer: Afghan lawmakers

Answer: Pakistan's

Answer: Islamic

Answer: "the largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism."

Answer: suicide bomber

Answer: Pakistan's intelligence service

Answer: Afghanistan,

Summary:
Afghanistan: Pakistan is "largest center for breeding and exporting terrorism"
Attacks carried out by Islamic militants have killed scores of people in Afghanistan .
Pakistan intelligence service often accused of orchestrating attacks .
Pakistan: Afghan lawmakers making allegations without proof .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan is postponing its presidential elections until August 20 due to security and logistical concerns, the country's election commission said Thursday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's five-year term is coming to an end this year. The balloting was originally scheduled for late May, but the independent election commission laid out several reasons for the delay. Security is a factor, the commission said. It also cited a lack of trained staff, incomplete voter registration and the weather. It is difficult to campaign or distribute ballots during the rough winter months in the rugged landscape. The elections are a critical moment for Afghanistan as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends. He was elected in December 2004 in largely peaceful polling. But since then, the Taliban militant movement has regrouped, international troop deaths have increased and there has been an increase in terror attacks, mostly in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan has already registered 3 million voters and is holding voter drives to register more. The United States will deploy additional troops in coming months to provide much-needed security in the run-up to the election. The country expects to hold parliamentary elections in 2010. Meanwhile on Wednesday coalition forces fighting in southern Afghanistan killed four militants, the U.S. military said. Coalition soldiers were targeting a Taliban leader in the Zabul province when militants fired on them, according to a military statement. Soldiers returned fire, killing the four militants. Soldiers then searched their compound and confiscated several assault rifles. This operation comes as the U.S. military is contemplating adding three brigades to the war effort in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that the troop build up could happen by this summer. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report

What is the number of registered voters in Afghanistan?

What country will assist with providing security for the elections?

How many registered voters are in Afghanistan?

How long was Hamid Karzai president for?

Answer: 3 million

Answer: 3 million

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: The United States

Answer: The United States

Answer: 3 million

Answer: provide much-needed security in the run-up to the election.

Answer: five-year term

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
Afghan presidential elections come as President Hamid Karzai's five-year term ends .
Afghanistan has registered 3 million voters, holding voter drives to register more .
U.S. troops will deploy extra troops to provide security in run-up to the election .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan officials said 26 people across the country were killed in election day violence, although they hailed Thursday's vote as a success. A woman dips her finger in ink to show she voted in Bamiyan, one of Afghanistan's more peaceful provinces. Nearly 95 percent of the more than 6,000 polling stations across Afghanistan opened on Thursday, according to government and electoral officials. Counting is under way but initial results are not expected for another 36 to 48 hours, while final results will not be certified until mid-September. Officials extended voting until everyone waiting in line had a chance to cast their ballots. "At some [polling stations] there is a very large line," said Azizullah Ludin of Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission. "We have to complete all these people that are coming here." It is the nation's second presidential election since the 2001 fall of the Taliban. Ludin said the decision to add more time to vote was because of a large turnout at some stations and technical issues that delayed voting for others. There were no official details on voter turnout and it has been difficult to get an accurate count of how many Afghans voted in defiance of threats of violence from the Taliban. CNN's Atia Abawi said election officials at one polling station in Kabul had already begun counting ballots after a low turnout when the order to extend voting reached them. Afghan voter turnout low as presidential election nears end » When asked how many ballots had been counted, an election official said 1,000 -- which seemed high to the CNN crew that had been at the polling station all day. "We were there all day and we did not see 1,000 people," CNN's Kevin Flower said. Election workers in central Bamiyan province immediately began reopening the polls after the order to extend voting. "Election workers had put up security tape barriers and even tied down the flaps to their voting tents shortly after 4 p.m. local time," CNN's Ivan Watson reported from the province. "The security tape has been removed and voters are straggling in again." Election observers from 30 groups -- both domestic and international -- said voting in Kabul province was fairly smooth, though a few reports surfaced of irregularities at various polling stations. Afghans were electing a president from 40 hopefuls and 420 members of the provincial council in what was seen in the international community as a high-stakes test for the fledgling South Asian democracy. The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the voting and the risk factor in some areas may have been too high for some Afghans to venture out to vote.  Watch an election monitor in Kabul discuss what's being examined » The government ordered a ban on media coverage of incidents of violence in an effort to "ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people" as 300,000 NATO and Afghan soldiers were out in force to safeguard voters. The independent Pajhwok Afghan News, which had announced it would not heed the media ban, posted online reports of deadly attacks across Afghanistan. CNN has not confirmed those incidents. Afghan security officials said voting day violence claimed the lives of 17 Afghan policemen and soldiers, and another nine civilians. An American service member was killed in a mortar strike in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. It did not say where the attack took place. Major fighting continued for a second day in the city of Baghlan, north of Kabul, security sources said. Rockets were fired at the town throughout the day, a day after heavy fighting that claimed the life of the city's police chief, the sources said. Afghans in Baghlan are afraid to leave their homes to cast their ballots, Afghan security officials said. In the eastern city of Gardez, four rockets pounded the outskirts of the city, while a roadside bomb struck in another area, the local security chief said. There were no casualties from either incident. But other parts of Afghanistan have been largely spared the daily drumbeat of car bombs, assassinations and whizzing rockets. Enthusiasm filled the air as voters lined up to have their say

How many people were killed in election day violence?

Answer: Taliban

Answer: success.

Answer: Taliban.

Answer: to disrupt the voting

Answer: 26

Answer: Thursday's

Answer: 26

Answer: Thursday's vote

Summary:
26 people killed in election day violence, Afghan officials say .
Vote hailed a success by officials as the count begins .
The Taliban had vowed to disrupt the voting .
More than 3,000 candidates vie for 420 provincial seats; 40 standing for president .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan's opium production dropped dramatically this year partly because of new aggressive drug-fighting tactics in the country, a United Nations study found. Afghan police officers use tractors to destroy poppy crops in Helmand province earlier this year. According to the report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, production dipped by 10 percent this year, while cultivation fell by 22 percent. "At a time of pessimism about the situation in Afghanistan, these results are a welcome piece of good news and demonstrate that progress is possible," said Antonio Maria Costa, the office's executive director. The United Nations notes that drugs originating in Afghanistan have "catastrophic consequences." "They fund the activities of criminals, insurgents and terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Collusion with corrupt government officials is undermining public trust, security and the rule of law. "Widespread money-laundering is harming the reputation of banks in the Gulf and farther afield," it said. Watch U.N. official discuss concerns about opium stockpiles » The report, released this week, attributed the decrease to better government leadership, aggressive counter-narcotics tactics, a push for farmers to grow legal crops and pressure from NATO-led soldiers. This was the second year that the production of the opium, used to produce heroin, had dropped in Afghanistan. The study found 20 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan were now free of opium farming. The most significant drop this year was in Helmand province, the volatile southern region where NATO-led forces are battling with militants. In that opium hotbed, cultivation dipped from 103,590 to 69,833 hectares (255,976 to 172,561 acres). But even with this seemingly good news, some fear that drug traffickers in Afghanistan are preparing to fight back. According to the report, researchers found evidence strong drug cartels, similar to ones seen in Colombia, were being formed by participants in Afghanistan's drug trade. "A marriage of convenience between insurgents and criminal groups is spawning narco-cartels linked to the Taliban," Costa said. Incentive programs giving local farmers seeds and training in growing legal crops represent a key tactic in the fight against drugs. Local farmers in Helmand are being trained at a facility ran by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Farmers like Abdul Qadir said programs like this one are key to bringing peace to war-torn Afghanistan. "These countries that are here, why are they with guns and bombs? If you can just help the people of Afghanistan in this way, the fighting will go away, these Taliban and other enemies of the country will also disappear," Qadir said. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

Local farmers also encouraged to grow what?

how many provinces don't have opium farming?

How many provinces in Afghanistan are now free of opium farming?

what are local farmers being encouraged to do

how many provinces are free of opium farming

Answer: legal crops

Answer: 20 of the 34

Answer: "catastrophic

Answer: Afghanistan's

Answer: drugs originating in Afghanistan

Answer: 20

Answer: grow legal crops and pressure from NATO-led soldiers.

Answer: 20

Summary:
U.N.: Drugs originating in Afghanistan have "catastrophic consequences"
Success attributed to aggressive drug-fighting tactics in the country .
Report: 20 of  34 provinces in Afghanistan now free of opium farming .
Local farmers also encouraged to grow legal crops .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- As a journalist, as a human being, the stories of the people around you stick with you. Whether it is in passing memory or in daily wonderment, they are in your mind and many in your heart, engrained forever. CNN's Atia Abawi, center, with Banafsha (denim jacket) and her siblings and mother. The first story I worked on for CNN in Afghanistan back in November, just as we were opening our new bureau in Kabul, was on a girl who attended a school for street kids called Aschiana. Aschiana, which means "nest" in Dari, was a place for the nearly 60,000 street kids in the capital city to escape from their terrible reality and get an education. There, we met Banafsha, an 11-year-old girl who along with her two younger sisters would beg on the streets for bread, feeding their family of eight. Her mother would stay home and take care of her baby brothers and their father, she told us, was a heroin addict. Banafsha was young in age but her eyes told of experiences that have taken her far beyond childhood. In our conversations, she spoke with candor and honesty, not allowing emotions to creep in. Until when, she told me that she prayed everyday for a change in her life.  Watch Abawi's first story on Banafsha » "I say, 'God take me out of this poverty and have my father go work so I can go to school,'" she said, wiping away one lonely tear. The story received a tremendous response from viewers and readers after it was posted on CNN.com. An organization from the U.S. began to sponsor Banafsha, promising to provide for her. This was great to hear, but it didn't stop me from worrying. Did I bring her more trouble or was she going to be okay? Every time we would drive around the neighborhood, I would look for her to see if she was among the other street beggars. Were they suffering in the winter cold? Did they have enough food? About a week ago, I went to the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force with our cameraman Charlie Miller. As we were leaving, we met three little street kids, a sweet girl among them with a beautiful smile -- which made me think of Banafsha and her sisters. The sight of kids begging always breaks my heart because I know that their childhoods are forever stolen by poverty. I am also always scared to give them money because I remembered a story Banafsha told me about her little sister. She was given two dollars by an American, and when the American walked away, an older boy came and punched her 7-year-old little sister in the face, knocking her out. When she woke up, her money was gone. As we were driving away from those children and the smile on the girl's face, I shared the story with our driver and told him that I wished I knew how Banafsha was doing now. On our way home we decided to stop at a DVD shop, part of our limited entertainment living in Kabul. After making my selection, I walked out and I heard a beggar girl with a familiar smile on her face exclaim, "You came over to our house!" There was a girl next to her in a yellow dress also beaming with the same indistinguishable smile, lugging a bag of leftover pieces of bread over her tiny back.  Watch Abawi reunite with Banafsha and her family » It was Banafsha's little sisters: 10-year-old Samira and 7-year-old Tamina. I was so excited to see them and even happier that they recognized me. But I was at the same time dejected that they were still on the streets. They told me that they go to school but they still beg on the streets. However, Banafsha is at home and no longer begging. We went home with them because I wanted to see Banafsha and her mother. On the way to their house in the

Where does Banafsha recieve some help from?

Answer: Kabul,

Answer: CNN's Atia Abawi,

Answer: organization

Answer: 60,000 street kids

Answer: Banafsha, an 11-year-old girl

Summary:
Abawi meets Banafsha while doing a story about a school for street kids .
Banafsha and her sisters beg on the streets for food .
Abawi runs into Banafsha's sisters six months later .
Banafsha receives some help from a charity, but the family is still struggling .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Australia's new prime minister assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday that his country's troops intend to be in Afghanistan "for the long haul." French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Kevin Rudd and French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew into the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday to meet with Karzai and visit their respective country's troops participating in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. In a morning meeting, Sarkozy "assured President Karzai of his government's long term political and military support with the people of Afghanistan," according to a statement from the Afghan president's office. Rudd, who was elected in a landslide victory Nov. 24, appeared with Karzai at a news conference, where he repeatedly said that the Australian commitment to Afghanistan is strong. "We will be, as I said before, in this country, Afghanistan, for the long haul. It's important for us to be here in partnership with NATO countries," Rudd said. "On the question of the broader security policy challenges faced within Afghanistan, of course they are significant, they are real. But we are confident that in partnership with our friends in the Afghan government and with our other allies, particularly in NATO, that we can continue to achieve real progress in the long-term security of this country," he added. Australia's new defense minister, however, warned U.S. and NATO allies recently that they risk losing the war in Afghanistan without a sharp shift in military and reconstruction efforts there. Joel Fitzgibbon, who took office with Rudd allies during a conference in Scotland earlier this month, said that more work needs to be done to win the "hearts and minds" of the people of Afghanistan in the 6-year-old war against the country's former Taliban rulers and their al Qaeda allies. Karzai wished those at the news conference a merry Christmas, then thanked Australia, France and other countries for their help and support. More than 1,900 French troops are in Afghanistan, serving both the ISAF and the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom. Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the war in Afghanistan, with nearly 1,000 troops stationed mostly in the southern province of Oruzgan. Sarkozy, elected to lead France last May, told the U.S. Congress during a visit last month that France would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the United States on the war in Afghanistan. "Let me tell you solemnly today: France will remain engaged in Afghanistan as long as it takes, because what's at stake in that country is the future of our values and that of the Atlantic Alliance," he said. Rudd made a surprise visit Friday to Iraq, where he promised continued Australian aid, despite a decision to withdraw all 550 Australian troops in Iraq by mid-2008 -- an effort his predecessor, John Howard, staunchly opposed. Rudd had said he would start a phased withdrawal of Australian forces from Iraq if his Labor Party won the vote. E-mail to a friend Journalist Farhad Peikar in Kabul contributed to this report.

With whom are both leaders expected to meet?

What president did the leaders expect to meet?

Where did the French and Australian leaders arrive at?

for what reason are they in afghanistan?

In which countr do French and Australian leaders arrive?

Answer: Karzai

Answer: Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Answer: their respective country's troops

Answer: Kabul.

Answer: meet with Karzai and visit

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
French and Australian leaders arrive in Afghanistan .
Both leaders expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai .
Both will visit with their respective country's troops .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Civilian deaths in Afghanistan have risen sharply in the past year, largely due to more Taliban attacks and roadside bombings, U.N. officials said Sunday.

NATO soldiers sit in their vehicle in an Afghan province freed from Taliban forces.

Afghan civilian deaths jumped from 430 in the first six months of 2007 to 698 so far this year, an increase of 60 percent, said John Holmes, the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

"It is clear that the international military forces are making every effort to minimize civilian casualties," Holmes said.

"Nevertheless, these problems are still there, and we need to deal with them and make sure that the safety of civilians comes first and international humanitarian law is respected," he said.

Taliban insurgents forces have shifted from direct attacks on international troops toward the use of "civilian-blind" measures such as roadside bombings and suicide attacks, said Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

At the same time, he said, civilian deaths blamed on government forces and U.S. and NATO troops has declined in the first six months of 2008, largely due to pressure from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

About 60 percent of civilian deaths in 2008 are blamed on anti-government forces, up from less than half in 2007.

Increased Taliban attacks on aid projects also have left 78 of Afghanistan's 398 districts off-limits to relief workers, Siddique said.

"Increasingly, we're seeing targets of schools, of radio stations, of health clinics -- all in an effort to halt progress and keep people in fear," he said.

A total of 565 aid convoys came under attack in 2007, with hundreds of tons of food hijacked. As recently as Sunday, a convoy of 100 tons of food aid came under attack outside Kandahar, with several trucks burned and looted, he said.

"Thankfully, we're not getting any report of death or injuries," he said.

Afghanistan is the original front in the "war on terrorism," which was launched after al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

A U.S.-led invasion after the attacks pushed out the Taliban, which had allowed al Qaeda to operate from its territory, but the Islamic fundamentalist militia has regrouped along and across the mountainous border with Pakistan.

Coinciding with the rise in civilian deaths in 2008 is an increase in attacks on American and allied forces, which are up 40 percent since last year

The death toll of U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan in June also climbed to more than 40, making it the deadliest month since the war began.

An explosion in southern Afghanistan killed a British soldier serving with NATO on Saturday, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday.

The soldier died when he was struck by a mine in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province, the ministry said. He and his unit were investigating a report of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a civilian aircraft at a nearby airfield, it said.

"When investigating this, they dismounted their vehicles and what is believed to have been a legacy anti-Personnel mine detonated, killing the soldier instantly," the ministry statement said.

Most of the soldiers serving in Helmand are British. Helmand province is Afghanistan's top poppy-producing region and a major front in the war against the Taliban. Provincial authorities there have blamed militants for a spate of recent deadly attacks.

NATO and Afghan force operations kept the insurgency down in 2007 by killing or capturing key leaders and clearing out Taliban safe havens, but a Pentagon report issued last week predicted the Taliban would be back in 2008.

How much have Afghan civilian deaths increased since last year?

What months was marked as deadliest since war began?

What has been the deadliest month since the war began?

What war is being referenced, specifically?

What happened to a British NATO soldier?

Answer: 60 percent,

Answer: 698

Answer: Taliban attacks and roadside bombings,

Answer: June

Answer: June

Answer: June

Answer: Civilian deaths in Afghanistan

Answer: Afghan civilian deaths

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: struck by a mine

Answer: died when he was struck by a mine

Summary:
NEW: Afghan civilian deaths up 60 percent from last year, U.N. says .
NEW: Increase attributed to intensifying Taliban attacks, roadside bombs .
Troop deaths also up from 2007 as June marks deadliest month since war began .
British NATO soldier dies in mine explosion in Helmand province .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Fighting raged in Afghanistan over the weekend, with a suicide bombing slaying six people, a NATO-led soldier and an Afghan police officer dying in an "altercation," and troops killing several insurgents in battles, authorities said. Fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces continues to rage in Afghanistan. The suicide bombing on Sunday killed six people in a bazaar in Spin Boldak, located in Kandahar province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Monday. Along with the deaths, at least 17 people were wounded, and ISAF condemned the assault. Four of those killed were Afghan border police officers, ISAF said. The location is in southern Afghanistan. The ISAF soldier and an Afghan police officer were killed after seven people were apprehended in connection with a roadside bombing in Paktia province on Sunday that targeted an Afghan National Police and ISAF patrol. The location is in eastern Afghanistan. "The detained civilians were then transferred to the ANP station at the Jaji District Center. While at the district center, there was an altercation during which an ANP officer and one ISAF soldier were killed," ISAF said in a Monday news release. The U.S.-led coalition on Monday reported fighting between U.S. and Afghan troops and insurgents over the last two days -- Sunday in Kandahar province and Saturday in Helmand province. "Several insurgents" were reported killed in both incidents. Two insurgents died in fighting on Friday in another southern region -- Zabul province, the coalition said on Monday.

Who killed a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan?

Who was responsible for killing a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan?

Answer: suicide bombing

Answer: Taliban

Answer: suicide bombing

Answer: ISAF

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: Afghanistan

Summary:
Militants kill eight people and injure at least 17 in latest attacks .
Insurgents killed a coalition soldier in eastern Afghanistan .
Soldier's name and nationality held until family members could be notified .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Five people connected to an Afghan presidential candidate have been released after being kidnapped the day before, an official with the candidate said. Five of Dr Abdullah Abdullah's campaign workers were kidnapped and later released. The group of five, who worked for Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, were in a two-car caravan in northwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday when they were abducted, said Sayed Ahmad Samey, the security chief of Badghis province. Elders negotiated for their release, Samey said. The workers have now been freed and are in a good condition, according to Sami Panah of Abdullah's campaign office. Abdullah is a former Foreign Minister who is seeking to unseat incumbent President Hamid Karzai in the August 20 election. This is not the first time that Abdullah's supporters have been targeted. One of the presidential hopeful's campaign workers was wounded by an unknown gunman in late July. A month earlier, gunmen in the province of Kapisa killed another of Abdullah's campaign managers in a midnight attack. Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have headed to southern Afghanistan to secure polling stations and protect citizens during the elections. It will be the nation's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

How many people were kidnapped?
How many were in the group?
what happend to afghan election workers
Who is the current President?
who were the group of five working for
who is abdullah seeking to unseat

Answer: Five

Answer: five,

Answer: kidnapped and later released.

Answer: Hamid Karzai

Answer: Dr. Abdullah Abdullah,

Answer: incumbent President Hamid Karzai

Summary:
Afghan election campaign workers released after 24 hour kidnap .
The group of five were working for presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah .
Abdullah seeking to unseat incumbent President Hamid Karzai on August 20 .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Four U.S. service members were killed in fighting Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. An Interior Ministry official said the victims of a suicide bomb blast at Kabul airport were all civilians. The deaths took place in Kunar province in what a spokeswoman called an "ongoing event." Troop deaths have mounted in Afghanistan this year as American and other international forces have stepped up their fight against the Taliban. August was the deadliest month for the U.S. military in the nearly eight-year-old war, with 52 fatalities. The four deaths on Tuesday bring the number of U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan to 13 in September. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed two people and wounded six others Tuesday morning in the Kabul airport's military section, Afghan officials said. U.S. and Belgian nationals were among the wounded, a Western diplomatic official told CNN. The victims were all civilians, the Interior Ministry official said. The blast occurred near a gate at Kabul International Airport, said Zamari Bashari, a representative of Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior. NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan and other government organizations use the military side of the airport. In Pakistan, eight tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces over the border in Afghanistan were attacked near Quetta, according to Quetta police. People on motorcycles fired shots at the tankers when they were parked at a rest area, but they did not catch fire, police said. CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report.

What happened at Kabul International Airport?

Where did the suicide bomber set off his bomb?

Where were the U.S. service members killed?

Where were the U.S. service members fighting?

Answer: Four

Answer: suicide bomb blast

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: two

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: Kabul airport

Answer: eastern Afghanistan,

Answer: eastern Afghanistan,

Summary:
Four U.S. service members killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan .
Two people killed in explosion at Kabul International Airport, six wounded .
Official: Suicide bomber struck near gate of military section of airport .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Hundreds of excited music fans wait in line, on the lookout for their favorite singers on a hit television show. Elaha Sorur was the lone female finalist on this season's "Afghan Star." Just a few years ago, television and some music was banned in Afghanistan. Instead of spending the time outside a New York venue or Hollywood soundstage, though, these fans braved barbed wire and gun-toting guards in Kabul to attend Afghanistan's premier pop music event: the finals of "Afghan Star," the embattled country's answer to "American Idol." In line, bright mod outfits have replaced Kabul's normally conservative dress code. Onstage, men sport the latest styles. And on TV screens, a country's new battle between traditional and pop culture plays out. "For the young generation," says one fan in line, "it's very important to be cool, with a cool mind." Inside the concert hall, Jahid Mohseni, a 38-year-old Afghan-Australian media mogul, tries to manage the chaos he's created. Singers, child acrobats and TV technicians all compete to get his attention before the start of Afghanistan's biggest night of television. Mohseni, who started the country's top television network, Tolo TV, says he's just trying to revive Afghan culture after the fallow Taliban era, when music and television were banned.  Watch performances on "Afghan Star" » "Yes, we are promoting social change, but we cannot push Afghan society where it doesn't want to go. This is a commercial enterprise, and it's reflecting what people want," Mohseni said. In Afghanistan, more than 60 percent of the population is younger than 25, and judging by the popularity of "Afghan Star," "they're like people everywhere. They're not from Mars," Mohseni said. At the fourth-season finals this year, the audience included those who sat quietly as well as those who loudly cheered for contestants including Naweed Forugh (who would be named the "Afghan Star" winner), Naweed Sabirpur, Mehran Gulzar and Elaha Sorur, the lone female finalist. "Art is in the blood of Afghans and has been for centuries, and it is still," Sorur said. "During the years of fighting, the people haven't been able to use their artistry, but with time, it will get better and better. Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan are ready for a change." But not everyone is happy with Mohseni's programming choices. Afghanistan's guardians of Islamic values, the Ulema Council, protested that "Afghan Star" and Tolo TV's popular Indian soap operas were not part of Afghan culture. Afghanistan's minister for information and culture even tried to stop the soap operas in court, claiming that it was a question of national security. Mohseni pointed out that Afghanistan is sandwiched between two powerful neighbors: India, with a population of 1.1 billion, and Iran, with almost 70 million people (compared with Afghanistan's estimated 34 million). "You just have to sit down with your critics and explain that if we don't have Afghan music and entertainment, Bollywood will take over," he said. "We're just trying to hold our own in the middle of what is effectively a cultural war." That culture war can be seen on Tolo TV. After meeting with the Ulema Council, Mohseni dreamed up another reality show called "Tartil," or "Koran Star." The three finalists were quizzed by religious authorities and judged on how well they've memorized passages from the Quran, Islam's holy book. There were no wild ovations when the winner was announced, but the finale still produced a bombshell: The winner was a shy 16-year-old schoolgirl named Uzra Mohamedi, who accepted the oversized $3,500 check without cracking a smile and while dressed in a traditional black veil. Other TV programming in Afghanistan includes state-run news and lifestyle shows, a popular local-produced drama

What is Afghanistan's version of American Idol called?

What is Afghanistan's version of "American Idol"?

What is What is Afghanistan's version of American Idol?

Answer: "Afghan Star."

Answer: "Afghan Star."

Answer: "Afghan Star,"

Answer: how well they've memorized passages from the Quran,

Answer: "Afghan Star,"

Answer: fourth-season

Summary:
"Afghan Star" is Afghanistan's version of "American Idol"
The show, one of Afghanistan's most popular, has completed its fourth season .
"Koran Star" judges contestants' knowledge of Islam's holy book .
Many see TV programming as a culture war inside the country .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- International troops in Afghanistan endured another deadly attack Tuesday, a day after 10 NATO-led troops were killed in that country. The body of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan arrives in the United States on Monday. A U.S. coalition service member "died as a result of injuries" on Tuesday afternoon in a roadside bombing attack on a convoy in western Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. This follows 10 NATO-led deaths on Monday, the highest single-day total in Afghanistan in nearly a year, according to NATO and U.S.-led coalition numbers. Seven Americans, two Canadians and one Briton died in four separate incidents Monday. On August 18, 2008, 10 French soldiers were killed when about 100 insurgents attacked a patrol in Kabul Province, and a British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan when insurgents attacked a patrol with a roadside bomb. A month before that, 10 American troops were killed in two separate incidents on July 13, 2008. The latest deaths came as U.S. troops cranked up their fight against the Taliban, a push that includes a major Marine-led offensive against the militants in the southern province of Helmand. Roadside bombs Monday killed four Americans in the northern province of Kunduz and two in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. A seventh American died in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF confirmed. Two Canadian air crew members and a British soldier were killed when a helicopter crashed during takeoff in Zabul province, the Canadian and British defense ministries said.

What was the number of americans that died?

who killed in roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan?

What nationality was the soldier killed in a roadside bombing?

where Latest deaths come as U.S. forces ratchet up fight?

Who are U.S. forces ratcheting up the fight against?

that nationality was the soldier who died on the edge roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan

Answer: U.S.

Answer: 10 NATO-led troops

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: 10

Answer: attack on a convoy in western Afghanistan,

Answer: Seven

Answer: 10 NATO-led troops

Answer: Taliban,

Answer: western Afghanistan,

Answer: two

Answer: U.S. soldier

Answer: U.S.

Answer: Afghanistan

Answer: the Taliban,

Answer: U.S.

Summary:
U.S. soldier killed in roadside bombing on a convoy in western Afghanistan .
Follows deaths of 7 Americans, 2 Canadians, 1 Briton in separate incidents .
Latest deaths come as U.S. forces ratchet up fight against Taliban .


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- NATO-led troops killed 12 insurgents in a firefight Friday in Afghanistan, and a civilian caught in the crossfire was apparently killed by militants, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

U.S. Marines fire 120mm mortars on Taliban positions on April 3 in Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

The incident occurred south of Kabul in the eastern Afghan province of Logar, when Afghan security forces and ISAF troops were conducting an operation.

It comes as NATO members meet in Europe to discuss the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as human rights groups this week urged NATO and the U.S. military to avoid civilian casualties and develop a well-coordinated condolence payment system for civilians victimized in the war.

Troops saw a large group of insurgents placing a roadside bomb. The militants retreated to a compound and attacked ISAF troops with small arms.

Troops surrounded the compound and urged them to surrender peacefully after it was cordoned off. It also asked the people in the compound to release women and children but no civilians left.

Troops assaulted the compound and 12 male insurgents were killed in gunfire. Troops found one woman who was killed in the crossfire by insurgent small arms fire, ISAF said.

An investigation is being conducted by Afghan National Security Forces at the site. Initial indications show that the woman was killed by insurgent small arms fire.

Eight AK47 rifles, two rocket propelled grenade launchers, several rocket canisters, 82mm mortars, and two heavy machine guns were found in the compound.

"ANSF and ISAF are making significant progress against insurgent groups in Logar province who are involved in murdering civilians with IEDs," said Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, ISAF spokesman.

"Today's firefight illustrates the difference between ISAF troops who risk their lives to protect civilians, and insurgents who deliberately and tragically place civilians at risk."

Also, ISAF reported the death of a soldier from the NATO-led force Friday in eastern Afghanistan.

The soldier died of wounds and another was injured after what was described as a "hostile incident."

"On behalf of the men and women of the International Security Assistance Force, I offer our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the brave soldier killed, and our support to the soldier wounded in this incident," Blanchette said.

"As we recognize their sacrifice in our battle against a vicious insurgency, we will continue supporting the Afghan National Security Forces so that the Afghan people reap the tangible benefits of peace in their day-to-day lives."

Overnight in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, troops killed four militants in an operation targeting a mid-level Taliban commander responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and coalition forces.

The commander directed attacks in December in Musa Qala, including one that killed 12 Afghan civilians.

by whom was woman killed according to nato?

Who was investigating the woman's death?

Answer: crossfire by insurgent small arms fire,

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: militants,

Answer: Afghan National Security Forces

Answer: Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Summary:
Afghan forces investigating death of woman caught in crossfire of gunbattle .
NATO says 12 militants also died in the battle in Logar province .
NATO said initial indications are the woman was killed by militants .