US-funded project supported illegal mining, Afghan watchdog alleges

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A project in Afghanistan funded by the US Defense Department provided equipment and money to a local police commander for the illegal extraction of chromite, an Afghan anti-corruption watchdog alleged Sunday.

The commander of the Afghan Local Police, a village protection force, in the eastern province of Kunar, extracted the chromite for more than a year, said Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) in a report.

More than 100 killed in new ‘massacre’ in Syria –Watchdog

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More than 100 civilians have been killed in a new “massacre” in Syria, a watchdog said Thursday, as Russia slammed the United States for blaming deadly blasts at a university campus on the Damascus regime. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came when the army on Tuesday swept through farmlands north of Homs, where it said around 1,000 people had sought refuge from fighting ravaging the city in central Syria.  “The Syrian regime carried out a new massacre on Tuesday claiming 106 victims, including women and children,” said the Britain-based watchdog, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground.