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KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- After an absence of more than 60 years, a handful of rare fanged deer have been spotted in Afghanistan -- just in time for Halloween. The sharp-toothed mammal known as the Kashmir musk deer hadn't been seen in the country since 1948.

But as researchers recently reported in the journal Oryx, a team of field observers with the Wildlife Conservation Society spotted several of the rare specimens -- on multiple occasions -- in the remote alpine fields of northeast Afghanistan, meadows lush with juniper and rhododendron and accented with forested slopes and rugged rock outcrops.

"Musk Deer are one of Afghanistan's living treasures," lead author of the study, Peter Zahler, said in a recent press release. "This rare species, along with better known wildlife such as snow leopards, are the natural heritage of this struggling nation."

The sharp white enamel that protrudes from the musk deer's mouth are more tusks than they are fangs -- not used to kill or eat prey, but to impress females and compete with other males during rutting season.

The Kashmir musk deer, one of seven similar species in Asia, is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Dracula-like deer's largest threats are habitat loss and poaching. The species' scent glands are highly prized for their use in perfume, incense, and medicine -- selling for $20,000 per pound on the black market.

"We hope that conditions will stabilize soon to allow WCS and local partners to better evaluate conservation needs of this species," Zahler added.

Without improved conservation infrastructure and wildlife initiatives, researchers say the deer is likely to disappear from Afghanistan's Nuristan Province and elsewhere in India and Pakistan.

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Fanged deer spotted in Afghanistan, first sighting in 60 years

"The unfinished war in Afghanistan 2001-2014", a book written by Vishal Chandra, a fellow at Delhi based think- tank reflects the key internal dimensions of the Afghan conflict and the successive political transition.

The book was recently launched in India.

The book makes a modest attempt to contribute to the ongoing debate on future challenges for Afghanistan as the largest ever coalition of Western forces prepares to withdraw.

The book touches upon the political transition in Afghanistan since the overthrowing of Taliban regime and intervention of foreign forces and its significance.

It seeks to examine key political developments within Afghanistan over the last one decade in response to the US-led Western military and political intervention.

The author of the book tries to exemplify his views and perceptions on how Afghan politics has evolved since 2001 following a peaceful transfer of democratic power and how Afghan politics responded to foreign intervention.

"The title of the book is "The unfinished war in Afghanistan 2001-2014" which reflects on a particular period in Afghanistan of long history particularly history of civil war. 2001 transition that is not well discussed much these days but I think Bonn agreement that was signed after the overthrowing of the Taliban regime was a very important agreement in a sense though it has come under a lot of criticism time to time. But, I personally believe that Bonn agreement was very instrumental in civilizing the role of militia commander inside Afghanistan," said Vishal Chandra, Fellow, Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Chandra, who took two years to complete the book, believes that the people of Afghanistan would accept the democratic process in the country.

"What I foresee is Afghan democracy would adapt to Afghan environment. Afghan democracy was established by western countries but then the political system emerged out of the Bonn process will adapt post 2014. Process already started there is national unity command the system will adapt Afghan political environment to the Afghan requirements and the fundamentals or the templates of the Afghan politics" added Chandra.

Vishal Chandra has travelled widely in Afghanistan and has attended various international conferences and workshops on Afghanistan.

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Book titled "The unfinished war in Afghanistan 2001-2014" released

Final U.S. Marines Withdraw From Helmand Province, Afghanistan
The final wave of U. S. Marines with Regional Command (Southwest) (RC(SW)) departs the Bastion-Leatherneck Complex in Helmand province, Afghanistan October 2...

By: AiirSource

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Final U.S. Marines Withdraw From Helmand Province, Afghanistan - Video

In the preface to "One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War," Bing West announces that "this is my sixth and final book about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan." If so, West has clearly left the best for last: a gripping, boot-level account of Marines in Afghanistan during the bloody struggle with Taliban fighters for control of an obscure village called Sangin.

When the longest war in U.S. history is finished (or at least U.S. involvement in it), "One Million Steps" may well stand as a classic account of what it was like to be a grunt in that war, assigned each day to find the elusive enemy and kill him.

West knows the Marine Corps. A Marine officer in Vietnam, he was an assistant secretary of Defense during the Reagan administration. His style is narrative, almost novelistic, capturing the personalities of individual Marines and their roles in the platoon. His reporting comes from walking with the Marines during perilous patrols in an area infested with buried bombs and "murder holes" cut into mud houses so Taliban snipers could attack from ambush.

The Marines depicted are from the 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment. The Camp Pendleton-based battalion had more killed and wounded than any other Marine battalion in Afghanistan: 25 killed in combat, more than 200 wounded, including more than two dozen suffering amputations, during the deployment that stretched from fall 2010 to spring 2011.

"The platoon had depth of leadership," West writes. "Like wolves, they become accustomed to the routine of the hunt. When a leader goes down, another must step forward, be accepted, and be followed." As casualties mounted, the secretary of Defense offered to allow the Marines to withdraw. Marine generals refused.

A sergeant explained to West: "It didn't matter how hard the next fight was. Our attitude was you killed one of us, we kill 20 of you."

"One Million Steps" is shorter than some of West's other books, including "No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah" and "The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan." His approach here is pointillist, sharp colors that blend into a cohesive picture.

West's respect for the young Marines is balanced by a withering disdain for much of the military leadership, including the commander in chief and the Army general who was in charge of the Afghanistan mission until a 2010 story in Rolling Stone by the now late Michael Hastings got him fired.

To West, the U.S. strategy of nation-building, of winning hearts and minds and trying to buck up the Afghan government, is folly. Sangin is a Taliban stronghold where farmers grow the poppy crop used to make heroin and provide profits to support the insurgency against the government in far-distant Kabul. Taliban fighters enjoyed sanctuary in nearby Pakistan. According to West, "Sangin was the inevitable overreach of a strategy blindly willful and excessively ambitious."

He predicts a quick collapse by the Afghan army once the U.S. departs on the timetable declared by the president: "What a tangled web we weave when we deceive ourselves. The war didn't end because Mr. Obama quit. Al Qaeda and the Taliban remained on the battlefield, undefeated."

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A gripping 'One Million Steps' examines Marines in Afghanistan

ALL TERRORISTS ARE DEAD - Heavy Fire Afghanistan Gameplay! Part 4!
We beat Afghanistan.

By: Inside Gaming

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ALL TERRORISTS ARE DEAD - Heavy Fire Afghanistan Gameplay! Part 4! - Video