News of the Day for Sunday, February 3, 2013

IED kills a family of five, including two young children, as they are driving in Helmand province.

Two police officers are killed by an IED elsewhere in Helmand.

At a Kabul conference on security, the chief of the Transition Coordination Commission, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadza, says the government has neglected the provinces of Logar and Maiden Wardak, resulting in less security and creating a threat to security in Kabul. "The Minister of Education Farooq Wardak, who is a former Wardak resident, agreed with the TCC's claim that the government had neglected the two provinces. "The security condition in Maidan Wardak and Logar was very good in 2006 and 2007. However, it became worse because of the inconsideration of the government."

President Karzai is in London  for a summit with British and Pakistani leaders.

In Pakistan, meanwhile, suicide attack on a military post in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province leaves 13 soldiers and 11 civilians dead . Taliban spokesman says the attack is in retaliation for a drone strike. "The Pakistan army and security forces provide assistance to the US for drone strikes. So, we are taking revenge for their cooperation with the US."

Remember Iraq, which used to be the focus of this blog? As you may have read, John McCain spent considerable time badgering SecDef nominee Chuck Hagel to admit that he was wrong to have opposed the so-called "surge" in Iraq, which McCain insists totally worked. That's because John McCain has been paying no attention to Iraq, which is steadily coming apart at the seams. Attack on police HQ in Kirkuk leaves 33 dead.