Saturday, November 07, 2009 KABUL: Seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed in a NATO air strike that also injured international forces in remote western Afghanistan, the Afghan defence ministry said on Saturday.The Afghan statement comes as NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was investigating an incident in Badghis province Friday in which more than 25 international and Afghan forces were wounded.Five of the 25 wounded were US soldiers injured in what a Western military official, speaking anonymously, said was friendly fire.However, ISAF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician, of the US Air Force, told a foreign news agency: "We have nothing to confirm friendly fire.""No ISAF members were killed," he said, confirming only that five ISAF soldiers injured in the Badghis incident were Americans.Investigations into the incident were ongoing and no further details were available, Vician said.Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said that the seven Afghan soldiers were killed in the same incident, in Badghis's Bala Murghab district, in which the Americans were injured."It was erroneous air strike which caused casualties to friendly forces," he said."We can confirm that four Afghan army soldiers and three police were martyred," he said.An earlier statement from the ministry said: "The commando brigade informs us that foreign forces also sustained some casualties."The incident is believed to have taken place during a clash involving ISAF and Afghan soldiers searching for two paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who went missing Wednesday during a routine supply mission.Local police said a party looking for the two missing soldiers clashed with Taliban and that alliance aircraft were called in to provide support.The defence ministry made no reference to a clash between the joint forces and Taliban militants.Police said the casualties occurred when the air strike mistakenly targeted international troops.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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