News of the Day for Sunday, January 4, 20015

A female doctor and her husband are murdered in a home invasion in Ghazni city. No claim of responsibility so far, and the exact motive is unknown. However, this report does attribute the act to "militants."

According to a spokesman for Ghazni's provincial governor, a battle to secure the Kabul-Kandahar highway has resulted in the death of 15 militants and 1 "security personnel." (Not clear if this is ANA, Afghan National Police, or local police.) As usual, there is no independent corroboration of the casualty total.

Insurgents kill 9 police. Five are killed in an ambush in Logar early today. Four are found dead in Pul-i-Alam, Wardak after having been abducted on Saturday.

Despite billions in aid money, Afghanistan's orphanages are deplorable. Much of the funding intended to benefit orphans is lost to corruption.

Ministry of Defense says 5 Afghan soldiers killed in an explosion, 35 militants killed in various operations. Again, no corroboration for the body count, and no details given. The Ministry of the Interior, in a separate statement, claims Afghan National Police killed 34 insurgents, with zero government or civilian casualties reported. As usual, I do not link to this because it is not credible.

A poll finds that 38% of Americans say the Afghan war was worth fighting; 56% say it was not. Oddly, that makes the war more popular now than it was last July, although it's hard to see how results are looking any better.

Taliban orders fighters to take precautions to avoid civilian casualties and property damage.