Children play in the newly established Sosmaqala Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in northern Afghanistan. The camp is comprised of recently returned Afghans following many years as refugees in neighbouring Iran.
30/Aug/2009. Sar-e-Pul, Afghanistan. UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein. www.un.org/av/photo/
91,000 Afghans have fled their villages since the beginning of the year. That’s more than twice as many who fled during the same period last year. And Refugees International largely blames military operations against the Taliban. But the organization saves its strongest criticism specifically for the Afghan Local Police and their American and other international backers. The accusation appears in a report the group released on Tuesday. It comes six days after President Obama announced that he’s ordering 10,000 US troops home by year’s end. Lynn Yoshikawa is the lead advocate on Afghanistan for Refugees International.
The story you just read is not locked behind a paywall because listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World. Can we count on you?