Afghanistan, United Nations | featured news

Civilian deaths in the war in Afghanistan dropped in 2012 for the first time in six years, a sign of lessening hostilities, but insurgents dramatically expanded their campaign of assassinating government supporters, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday....

President Hamid Karzai accused the West of trying to ruin Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections this year, in a showdown over a U.N.-backed fraud watchdog.

The U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime says nearly 60% of Afghans regard corruption as their biggest worry, outpacing concerns about the insurgency or joblessness.

Endemic corruption in Afghanistan amounts to a virtual tax on poverty-stricken Afghans, robbing them of the equivalent of a quarter of the war-wracked nation's annual gross domestic product, a new U.N.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan accused the United Nations on Saturday of intervening in the formation of President Hamid Karzai's next cabinet, less than a week into his new term.

A U.N.-backed fraud watchdog said Friday it was close to a verdict in its probe of Afghanistan's presidential election, which could force incumbent Hamid Karzai into a run-off against his main rival.

The embattled head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan on Sunday defended himself against allegations from his former American deputy that he chose to ignore evidence of fraud in last month's disputed elections and acted in a biased manner towards President Hamid Karzai.

Peter Galbraith, the top American U.N. official in Afghanistan, was being recalled after a dispute over the handling of fraud allegations in the election.