KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament descended into chaos on Sunday when lawmakers brawled over the appointment of a new speaker, an inauspicious start to the assembly which was sitting for the first time since chaotic elections last year.
Results of last October's parliamentary election were only finalized earlier this month after repeated technical and organizational problems and widespread accusations of fraud.
KABUL -- An air strike has mistakenly killed at least nine Afghan police officers, including a commander, during a battle with the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, local officials say.
They said that 14 officers were also wounded in the May 16 strike in the Nahr-e Saraj district , which is located outside the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Trump is not impressed (Photo illustration by Associate Press/Allauddin Khan/Task & Purpose)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked Congress earlier this year for funds to reimburse Afghanistan's Taliban for expenses the insurgent group incurs attending peace talks, according to a spokesman for the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
The money would cover the Taliban's costs for expenses such as transportation, lodging, food and supplies, said Kevin Spicer, spokesman for Indiana Democrat Peter J. Visclosky, in a statement to CQ Roll Call.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speak to the media at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has approved the transfer of $1.5 billion to build more than 80 miles (130 km)of barriers on the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said on Friday, including taking about $600 million from an account meant for Afghan security forces.
Spc. Miguel L. Holmes was promoted to E4 after this picture was taken. He was assigned to the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which falls under the 3rd Infantry Division as part of the Associated Unit Pilot Program. (Army photo).
The U.S. military has lost five service members in less than three weeks — and none of them were killed in combat.
Army Spc. Miguel L. Holmes of the Georgia Army National Guard died on Monday from his injuries stemming from a non-combat related incident in Afghanistan, defense officials have announced.
Holmes, 22, was originally from Hinesville, Georgia, and he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team based in Savannah, defense officials said. His military awards include the Army Service Ribbon and National Defense Service Medal.
The Army's lead investigator in the Maj. Matthew Golsteyn murder case has pleaded guilty to charges related to wearing medals that he had not been awarded, said Fort Bragg spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Burns.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Delacruz was reduced in rank to specialist after pleading guilty at a special court-martial on Monday to making false official statements and wearing unauthorized insignia, decorations, badges, and ribbons, Burns told Task & Purpose.
Delacruz had been charged for falsely submitting a Purple Heart to his official military file and wearing the decoration along with the Pathfinder Badge and Air Assault Badge, none of which he had been officially awarded, Burns said. The former sergeant first class also certified his official military board file for promotion.
