Central Asia
US airstrike kills six civilians in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, April 15, 2009
As the top US military commander predicted that the Obama administration’s troop buildup in Afghanistan will lead to a surge in violence, an air strike by US-led occupation forces once again left ci...
Turkish unemployment at record rates
By Sinan Ikinci, March 18, 2009
Unemployment in Turkey has risen to record levels, with many branches of industry in free-fall.
US missiles kill 24 in Pakistan
By Bill Van Auken, March 14, 2009
US missiles killed at least 24 people in Pakistan’s northwest tribal area of Kurram Thursday evening. The American military attack came in the midst of an intense political crisis that is calling in...
Obama lays out Afghanistan war strategy
By James Cogan, March 11, 2009
The desperation at the heart of the Obama administration’s plans for the escalation of the war in Afghanistan was laid bare in the interview that the president gave to the New York Times last Friday...
Turkey: 12 years since the last military intervention, new coup feared
By Sinan Ikinci, March 2, 2009
Twelve years after the Turkish military last presented an ultimatum to the Islamist-dominated coalition government, there are growing discussions in Turkey of the dangers of a military coup.
Obama defends his “Guantánamo” in Afghanistan
By James Cogan, February 27, 2009
While alleged “terrorist suspects” will no longer be detained without trial and abused at Guantánamo, the Obama administration has given the green light for such outrages to continue unchecked at...
US commander warns American troops will be in Afghanistan for years
By Peter Symonds, February 21, 2009
The top US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, warned on Wednesday that the troop buildup announced this week was “not a temporary force uplift” but would have to be sustained for y...
40,000 demonstrate against Turkish government as economic crisis deepens
By our correspondent, February 18, 2009
In a protest organised by the Turkish trade unions, some 40,000 people demonstrated in Istanbul February 15 against the AKP government. The unions themselves have lost membership and credibility.
US-Russia tensions escalate over closure of Afghan supply base
By Bill Van Auken, February 6, 2009
The threatened closure of a key Pentagon supply base in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, with serious implications for the Obama administration’s planned escalation of the war in Afghanista...
US moves to consolidate new supply routes to Afghanistan
By James Cogan, January 26, 2009
The commander of US forces in Central Asia, General David Petraeus, has announced an agreement with the Russian government for the transit of “non-military” supplies through its territory to the U...
As Vice President Biden warns of an “uptick” in casualties
Afghanistan civilians killed in US military raid
By Patrick O’Connor, January 26, 2009
A US military raid in the eastern Afghanistan province of Laghman last Friday night resulted in the deaths of at least 16 civilians, including women and children, according to local residents.
China dispatches warships to Somali waters
By Carol Divjak, January 21, 2009
China has used attacks on Chinese ships by pirates off the coast of Somalia, and the authorisation by the UN Security Council to fight piracy, to launch itself as a blue water naval force on the inter...
