Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and at least three were wounded when an explosion occurred at a weapons storage area near Ghazni, Pakistani authorities seized 1600kg of heroin at the border town of Kili Ali Akbar, but made no arrests.
A Canadian soldier, Jamie Brendan Murphy, and one Afghan civilian were killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul. Three others soldiers and nine bystanders were injured.
Afghan higher education minister Mohammed Sharif Fayez announced that more than 6,000 people who passed a matriculation exam January 26 had to retake their exams after it was discovered that questions had been sold around the country.
Responding to rocket attacks on its air base in the region, U.S. planes bombed several areas in the Narang district, Kunar province, Afghan border town of Chaman, Pakistani forces arrested Maulvi Abdul Mannan Khawajazai, who ran the Taliban finances and was once the governor of the western Badghis region.
Iran announced that it would place a dozen jailed al Qaeda suspects on trial.
Afghan National Army General Bismillah Khan arrived in New Delhi, India for a three-day official visit with planned meetings with chief of the Indian army staff general NC Vij, air chief S Krishnaswamy and Admiral Madhvendera Singh, Chairman Chiefs of Staff committee.
In a raid on a compound in Kabul, Canadian soldiers arrested 16 men and seized drugs, cash and weapons.
In Afghanistan, Uruzgan province governor Jan Mohammad Khan and Charcheno district chief Abdur Rahman claimed that four children and seven adults were killed January 18 by a U.S. air strike on the village of Saghatho. The U.S. military refuted the claims (even as late as February 3) and said that the attack killed five armed men who near a Taliban compound.
Ismail Khan, the governor of Afghanistan stated at a session of the Afghan Islamic Unification Council his harsh protest against the Afghan women's songs broadcast by Afghan TV. He and other lecturers stated they wanted the government to stop the broadcasting of such songs by the TV. Khan ordered the collection of music tapes and video tapes in Herat.
In Canada, ten Afghan National Army military officers started 16_weeks of English language training. The program was to develop the officers into English instructors. Sixty_five more officers were slated for training in the program over the next three years.
An estimated seven rockets were fired at the U.S. air base in Khost, Afghanistan, but none hit their target.
Outgoing U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told the United Nations Security Council that elections scheduled for June were unrealistic because factions and extremists continued to threaten the peace process. Brahimi also criticized the Bonn Agreements on the grounds that the Taliban had not been present there. He also criticized western feminists protesting the burqa. He said women would go further in Afghanistan through education, not changes in dress.
About a dozen rockets were fired at the U.S. base near the Afghanistan. There were no casualties.
A ban on women singing or dancing on television in Afghanistan was re-established only days after the ban had been lifted. The Supreme Court of Afghanistan wrote to the Information and Culture Minister, Sayyid Makhdum Rahin, to protest January 12 airing. The court stated that women singing or dancing was in defiance of Islamic law.
In Khost, Afghanistan, U.S. forces uncovered a cache of weapons that included grenades, mortar rounds, mines and rifles.
Afghanistan released 100 Pakistani prisoners to reciprocate a similar gesture by Pakistan only days earlier. The prisoners had been suspected of fighting for the Taliban.
Tribal elders in South Waziriztan, Pakistani handed over to authorities three men wanted for sheltering Al Qaida and Taliban fugitives.
Three videos featuring women were shown on Kabul TV. On of the clips included old footage of Salma singing a ballad; another was a religious song in Urdu to honor the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
In Kandahar, Afghanistan, two Afghan National Army soldiers were wounded (one losing a leg) by a bomb that exploded on the roof of a building less than an eighth of a mile from the Afghanistan, Kandahar police arrested six people in possession of documents that linked them to the Taliban. A confession also linked the men to the bomb planted the day before in the bus station.
Pakistan launched a military operation utilizing helicopter gunships and ground troops against suspected al-Qaeda cells in the area of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.
Protesting against the decision by the refugee claims, seven Afghanasylum-seekers (including three women) on Indonesia's Lombok island began a hunger strike by sewing up their mouths.
In Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, local police removed a bomb from a ditch near a United Nations office.
Speaking to the media via satellite telephone, senior Taliban commander Mullah Sabir Momin apologized for the bomb attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan the previous day that killed fifteen, including many children. Momin said the intended target was the U.S.Provincial Reconstruction Team office in Kandahar.
Fourteen tons of aid from Canadian donors was distributed by Canadian soldiers to widows and orphans in Kabul. The donations included winter clothing, blankets, toys, chewing gum, school supplies and diapers. Care Canada also distributed to each family, through funding from the Afghanistan, a bomb found hidden under straw near a downtown Kandahar bus station was defused.
Gunfire was exchanged on the streets of Kandahar, Afghanistan, prompting U.S. soldiers to move in.
In Kandahar, Afghanistan, at least sixteen people were killed (six of which were children) and 58 people were wounded when a time bomb hidden in an apple cart exploded 100 yards away from an Afghan military base. The crowd had gathered to investigate another bomb that had gone off 15 minutes earlier and injured a small child. A suspect was caught trying to hide in a nearby home. The blasts occurred moments before a motorcade was about to pass.
In Afghanistan, a minibus on its way from Uruzgan to Helmand was ambushed by gunmen, leaving twelve Hazaras passengers dead.
North of Qalat, Zabul province, kidnapped an Afghan aid worker who was part of a caravan for Shelter for Life. Two local people were shot and injured when they tried to stop the militants. Taliban spokesman Mullah Abdul Hakim Latifi claimed responsibility.
Three soldiers of the Afghan National Army died and two were wounded in a clashed with forces under the control of the Zabul province governor. Among the dead was the commander of the army division in Zabul, Shah Alam.
In Teheran, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement to give Indian goods heading for central Asia and Afghanistan similar preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar.
About 60 miles northeast of Kunduz, Afghanistan, several people were detained by U.S. and Afghan troops during a raid of a drug facility, which contained about two tons of drugs and equipment. Once the people were removed a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt II was called in to destroy the laboratory.
Close to half of the loya jirga boycotted a vote on five disputed articles concerning the Proposed Afghan Constitution, promoting Chairman Subghatullah Mujadidi to call for a two-day adjournment to for negotiations. Advisors from the United Nations and the United States were present to help mediate between the two sides. The primary controversy concerned whether to have a strong president or a strong parliament.
In Afghanistan, Uruzgan province governor Jan Mohammad Khan and Charcheno district chief Abdur Rahman claimed that four children and seven adults were killed January 18 by a U.S. air strike on the village of Saghatho.
In Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, a guard and an employee were injured when a bomb exploded in front of the office of the Agency for Technical Coooperation and Development.
In Kandahar, Afghanistan, two Afghan National Army soldiers were wounded (one losing a leg) by a bomb that exploded on the roof of a building less than an eighth of a mile from the January 6 incident that killed over a dozen people.
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