Afghan Defense Ministry: 70 insurgents killed in ‘Operation Khanjar’; Adm. Mullen: US main focus is now Afghanistan and Pakistan; 24 people, including 16 children, killed in truck bomb explosion in Logar Province
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    • Afghan Defense Ministry spokesperson stated on July 12 that 70 rebels have been killed since the beginning of ‘Operation Khanjar’ in Helmand province on July 2. He added that operations are still going on in Khanshin, Garmsir and Nahri Saraj districts of the province1.

    The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, addressing a luncheon meeting in Washington on July 7 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated that the focus of the US had now shifted completely from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan2.

    At least 24 people, including 16 children, were killed in Logar province when a huge truck carrying explosives exploded on July 8. The children were watching police officers investigate the overturned truck when it exploded3.

    Public meetings were organized in support of presidential candidates in different provinces of Afghanistan on July 6 in which hundreds of people participated. Meetings in support of President Karzai were held in Jozjan, Faryab, Smangan, Kunduz, Uruzgan, Nangarhar and in Nimroz provinces, while a meeting was held in Samangan province in support of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah4. Meanwhile, a member of Afghanistan's Independent Elections Commission (AIEC), Dr. Muhammad Azam and his security guard were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the northern Balkh province on July 65.

    In other developments, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance and the World Bank on July 7 signed two grant agreements worth $68.5 million to support the ongoing Emergency Irrigation Rehabilitation and to provide development policy support for the government's increasing fiscal demands. Afghan Finance Minister Dr. Omar Zakhailwal stated that that over the past seven years, the World Bank had been a great supporter of Afghanistan’s national programs6.

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