Afghanistan isn't improving.

...It still isn’t entirely clear (click here) whether the man arrested for fatally shooting the four French fighters and injuring 16 other people in eastern Afghanistan Friday was an Afghan army soldier, or instead a Taliban infiltrator. In some ways, however, that may be academic. The killing of Western forces by assailants in Afghan army uniform has become an increasingly frequent occurrence–one that earlier claimed the lives of two French Legionnaires less than a month ago. Yet something has clearly changed between those two attacks. While Sarkozy’s response to the French deaths blamed on Afghan soldiers in December was low key, his reaction Friday was both swift and dramatic. He announced an immediate suspension of French involvement in the training and joint patrols with Afghan army forces, and dispatched Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé and Defense Minister Gérard Longuet to Afghanistan to review the situation—a deployment of cabinet heavyweights designed to highlight the gravity of Paris’ diplomatic state of mind....

By NBC News and news services

Updated at 3:33 a.m. ET: A helicopter crash (click title to entry - thank you) in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan killed six U.S. Marines, the NATO military command in Kabul told NBC News early Friday.

Officials said there were no signs of enemy activity in the area at time of the crash.

The Marines have a substantial presence in Helmand province....

Posted Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Bombings in southern Afghanistan leave 20 dead (click here)

 

BY ALI SAFI

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

KABUL, Afghanistan -- At least 20 people have been killed in suicide attacks in southern Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday, including seven civilians who died when a bomber blew himself up near an airport used by the U.S.-led coalition.

The attack near the entrance to the airfield in Kandahar - Afghanistan's second-largest city and the traditional heartland of the Taliban insurgency - occurred Thursday afternoon when a suicide bomber detonated a white Toyota Corolla, said Zalmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Two children were among the dead, authorities said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its website. The insurgents said the target was a convoy of foreign nationals who were leaving the airfield, which is one of the largest bases used by the NATO coalition. Many civilians use the busy entrance as well, however....