A Taliban ambush has claimed the lives of at least 20 Afghan policemen in the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan this week. The ambush took place after official conclusion of an operation that supposedly cleared the area of the Taliban and killed more than 50 Taliban fighters.
The head of the provincial council for Badakhshan and the Wardoj district governor, where both the operation and the ambush happened, claimed that 23 Afghan policemen were killed, 21 were wounded, and another 24 are missing and thought to be held by the Taliban.
The Taliban claimed to have killed "as many as 60 Arbakis [pro-government militias], ANA soldiers, and the police" during fighting yesterday, and an additional 25 security personnel on Wednesday, according to a statement on Voice of Jihad.

The French presidency announced today that president Francois Hollande will be meeting his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, on Tuesday, in NY, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

The Public Gas Corporation DEPA has signed an agreement with Azeri state owned SOKAR and the Shah Deniz Consortium to purchase gas that will be pumped from the Shah Deniz2 field. The agreement was signed in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku.

The Greek debt is not viable, unless there is a new "haircut" is the message from a study published by DZ bank, which believes the IMF assessments are over-optimistic.

The Greek debt will fluctuate around 160% of GDP, as long as the present interest rates are maintained , is the point the bank's economist Daniel Lenz made to German newspaper "Die Welt." Dr. Lenz added that debt will be at 143% in most optimistic scenario, according to which starting in 2014 creditors will forgo interest payments.