News of the Day for Sunday, November 12, 2012

Today in Afghanistan Roadside bomb in Khost kills a family of 6 who were just returning home from a maternity hospital with their newborn baby.

Explosion in Kandahar province kills a woman and child, injures 3 others, who were on their way to a wedding.

Two Afghan soldiers attack NATO troops in Badghis province, injuring one. The attackers are detained. Khaama has a somewhat different account of what appears to be the same incident. In this version, a single assailant attacks a Spanish Provincial Reconstruction Team, and the attacker is killed.

Afghan witnesses testify by video-link at a hearing to determine whether Staff Sgt. Robert Bales should face court martial for the murder of 16 civilians, including 9 children:

Rafiullah, a boy of 15 who spoke in Pashtun, said he was at home with his grandmother, Na’ikmarga, and his sister, Zardana, when a US soldier came. “He had rifle and a pistol,” Rafiullah said of Bales. “He put a pistol in my sister’s mouth and then my grandmother started to wrestle with him. At that time I ran out of the door … My sister and I were running. As soon as he left the room, my grandmother ran too.”

When asked what happened next, Rafiullah answered: “He shot my grandmother and then my sister, and then me. He shot me on my legs. Zardana was shot on her head.”

U.S. soldier killed by roadside bomb on Saturday. No additional information as of now. (This story also reports civilian casualties described in links above.)

Veterans Day in the US coincides with “Remembrance Sunday” in the UK. I am seeing more stories about this occasion from the UK than I am from this side of the Atlantic. Unlike in the US, in Britain it is acceptable to raise questions on the day, rather than blindly supporting military adventurism. From Rachael Gribble:

Today in Afghanistan