Afghanistan War News Updates -- July 27, 2011

BILATERAL TRAINING - U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Brown and a German soldier are hoisted up into a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter during rescue hoist training on Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, July 16, 2011. Brown is a flight medic assigned to 1st Cavalry Division's Company C, Task Force Lobos, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. The German soldiers are part of an extrication team that is training on Camp Marmal to familiarize themselves with usage of the aircraft hoist. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Joe Armas

Assassination Of Kandahar Mayor Further Clouds U.S. Drawdown -- McClatchy News

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bombing that killed the mayor of Afghanistan's second largest city Wednesday is the latest in a rash of high-level assassinations that have cast doubts over whether security gains in the Taliban's southern heartland will endure the drawdown of U.S. surge troops.

Kandahar Mayor Ghulam Haider Hamidi, who was a U.S. citizen, died in his heavily guarded compound when a man detonated explosives hidden in his turban as Hamidi accepted petitions from tribal elders, officials said. At least one other person, in addition to the bomber, died.

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More News On Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, US military officials say it's now or never -- Christian Science Monitor
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 27 -- Alertnet
Afghan war: Mayor of Kandahar killed in suicide attack -- BBC
Kandahar mayor killed in suicide attack; Taliban claim responsibility -- CNN
Suicide Bombing Kills Mayor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar -- Voice of America
Kandahar mayor killed by suicide bomber with explosives in turban -- The Guardian
Taliban claims responsibility for fatal attack on Kandahar’s mayor -- Washington Post
Turban bomb kills mayor in southern Afghan city -- Xinhuanet
Mayor of Kandahar killed in suicide bombing -- Financial Times
Suicide Bomber Kills Kandahar Mayor -- New York Times
Bombing Kills Kandahar Mayor -- Wall Street Journal

Afghan Nato forces 'kill 35 Pakistan Taliban militants' -- BBC
Afghan-led Force Kills Taliban Insurgents -- US Department of Defense
Taliban forced Afghan boy to step on bomb: Report -- Yahoo News/ANI
NATO apologises for six Afghan civilian deaths -- Khaleej Times/AFP
Rare glimpse into U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan -- CNN
SAS wants front-line choppers -- West Australian News
NATO: Afghan Security Transition Represents Milestone -- US Department of Defense

U.S. trucking contracts funded Taliban, source says -- CNN
U.S. trucking funds end up in Taliban hands -- Reuters
US money 'being funnelled to the Taliban' -- The Telegraph
$31bn down the drain as Taliban, officials cash in -- Sydney Morning Herald

Afghanistan Disputes US Report on Aid Money -- Military.com
Afghanistan hits back over U.S. aid spending report -- Yahoo News/Reuters

'He had a big heart': Hundreds gather for funeral of baby-faced soldier executed by Taliban in Afghanistan -- Daily Mail
Bit By Bit, Afghanistan Rebuilds Buddhist Statues -- NPR
Spending Time With the Karzais in (Parts of) Kandahar -- New York Times
U.S. drawdown, internal crises fuel fears for Afghanistan's future -- Stars and Stripes

US military deaths in Afghanistan at 1,571 -- Yahoo News/AP