Taliban

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US Holding Direct, Secret Talks With Taliban

New Yorker: They're preliminary but mark a shift in strategy

(Newser) - The US is for the first time holding direct talks with senior Taliban officials in Afghanistan, reports Steve Coll in the New Yorker . He characterizes them as "exploratory" and not as formal peace negotiations, noting that supreme leader Mullar Omar is not a participant. The intent is to pave...

US Busts 7 Would-Be Drug Runners for Taliban

Men also tried to sell weapons, face extradition to US

(Newser) - The US is slapping seven men with charges of trying to peddle weapons and drugs to the Taliban, Reuters reports. In a global sting, agents posing as Taliban operatives arrested five men in Liberia and and two in Romania after the men went through on what they believed were legitimate...

Pakistan Bomber Kills 31
 Pakistan Bomber Kills 31 
Feb 10, 2011 8:59 AM CST

Pakistan Bomber Kills 31

Taliban take credit for blast at military training grounds

(Newser) - A suicide bomber linked to the Pakistani Taliban attacked soldiers during morning exercises at an army training camp in the northwest today, killing 31 troops and wounding 42 others. There were conflicting accounts about the identity of the bomber: An examination of the body parts at the scene indicated the...

Taliban Mentor Dies in Captivity

Sultan Amir Tarar was US ally against Soviets in Afghanistan

(Newser) - A former Pakistani spy who helped the Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan has died in militant captivity 10 months after he was seized in northwest Pakistan, a top official said today. Sultan Amir Tarar, who as an American ally against Soviet rule in Afghanistan in the 1980s trained at...

Afghan Amnesty Deal Has Won Just 3% of Taliban

So much for Anbar Awakening II

(Newser) - It’s been a year since NATO launched the Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program, hoping to win over Taliban fighters in much the same way it won over Sunni fighters in Iraq. But so far, it ain’t going so well. Fewer than 800 insurgents have signed up—which is...

Pakistan 'Disappearing' Thousands of Separatists

US fears some may have been tortured, killed

(Newser) - In Pakistan, thousands are missing—and the US fears the country may be using the war as an excuse to round up and disappear political separatists. For years, human rights groups have reported on Pakistan’s security forces holding prisoners incommunicado, without charges; there are also concerns that some have...

Taliban Attacks Afghan Military, Kills 13

Attackers wore army uniforms

(Newser) - Taliban suicide squads launched two attacks against Afghan security forces today, killing 13. At least four suicide bombers dressed in Afghan army uniforms stormed a recruitment center in Kunduz, setting it on fire amidst a lengthy gun battle. “There are gun shots, heavy machine guns fire and RPGs,”...

Troops on Course to Leave Afghanistan in July: Report

White House cites 'fragile' gains in region

(Newser) - The US is “setting conditions” to begin an Afghanistan troop withdrawal in July as planned, says a White House report. While President Obama’s strategy in the region is “showing progress,” the document says, “the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable,” the...

Afghan Intelligence Report: We're Screwed

Reports contradict military's more upbeat view

(Newser) - The US is faring poorly in the Afghan war, with large areas of the country on the verge of falling to the Taliban, according to the latest National Intelligence Estimates on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The classified reports, which represent the collective wisdom of a dozen intelligence agencies, also say that...

New Taliban Video Shows Captive US Soldier

Bowe Bergdahl spotted in propaganda video

(Newser) - The Taliban's only known American captive appears in a new propaganda video posted online. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan nearly 18 months ago, was last seen in a Taliban video released in April . There is no indication when the scenes in the video were recorded, but Bergdahl's family...

Afghan Cops Catch Man Who Helped Cut Off Teen's Nose

But he may not be punished by country's corrupt courts

(Newser) - Afghan police have captured one of the men who allegedly sliced off the ears and nose of a teenage Afghan girl. That girl, now-19-year-old Bibi Aisha, became the maimed face of Taliban oppression when Newsweek ran a story on her this summer (summarized here .) Police have now arrested her...

27% of Afghans Say Insurgent Attacks Are Justified

Last year, only 8% thought so

(Newser) - A new poll shows a striking increase in the number of Afghans who support insurgent attacks against American troops: 27%, compared to just 8% last year, called such attacks justified. The increase parallels an increase in Afghan civilian casualties—fatalities and injuries were up 31% in the first half of...

Suicide Bombers Kill 50 in Pakistan

Massive casualties attributed to bullets in bombers' jackets

(Newser) - A pair of suicide bombers disguised as policemen killed 50 people today in an attack targeting a tribal meeting called to discuss the formation of an anti-Taliban militia in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The attack occurred on the grounds of the main government compound in Mohmand, part of Pakistan's militant-infested...

Saudi Arabia Is Critical Source of Terror Funding

Money still flowing to al-Qaeda, Taliban, Hamas, and more: WikiLeaks

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia remains a major source of funding for various terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Hamas, according to US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks today, reports AFP by way of Google News. While one cable touted what it termed the “significant progress" the Saudis have made in...

Afghan Government Frees Taliban Fighters for Cash

WikiLeaks cable reveals US fury over prisoner release

(Newser) - Taliban commanders no longer fear capture because Afghan security forces are freeing fighters in return for cash or political favors. The practice has become so widespread that the Taliban have a committee devoted to securing the release of prisoners, reports Reuters , citing sources familiar with a range of cases. One...

Taliban Snickers at US Over Impostor's Ruse

It also shows reports of peace talks were false, says commander

(Newser) - News that an impostor posing as a high-ranking Taliban official fooled US, UK, and Afghan officials—and made a tidy profit to boot—is going over well among the real Taliban. One commander tells the Daily Beast : “Imagine if a shopkeeper from Quetta can make a fool of them...

UK Cabbie Moonlights as ... Taliban Fighter

British citizens with Afghan roots head over for months at a time

(Newser) - Talk about deflating the mystique of the Taliban: "I work as a minicab driver," one fighter in northern Afghanistan tells the Guardian . He spends most of the year in East London but travels to Afghanistan for a few months to join the fight—and he's apparently not alone....

British Brought in Taliban Impostor: Karzai Aide

UK intelligence paid fake senior insurgent

(Newser) - British officials are at fault for bringing a Taliban impostor to Afghanistan’s presidential palace to meet Hamid Karzai, the president’s chief of staff tells the Washington Post . An Afghan at the meeting knew the man wasn’t top Taliban figure Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour; foreigners shouldn’t be...

US Now in Afghanistan as Long as Soviets

9 years, 50 days: Same length, different fight, analysts say

(Newser) - As of today, the US military has been fighting in Afghanistan for 9 years and 50 days—exactly as long as the Soviets did during their doomed campaign to turn the country into a socialist state. Analysts say that while the Soviet invasion and the NATO campaign have very different...

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'
 Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out' 
maureen dowd
Nov 24, 2010 10:03 AM CST

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'

We're stuck in a region that's taking us for a ride, writes Maureen Dowd

(Newser) - Considering the fact that the billions we've spent on intelligence hasn't enabled us to distinguish between an impostor and an actual Taliban leader, it’s no wonder the war in Afghanistan is a mess. “The tragedy has descended into farce,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times...

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