Taliban

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Karzai Vows to Protect Taliban Chief in Talks

Will not cave to huge bounty, or US pressure to turn Omar over

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ensure the safety of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar if he agrees to peace talks, the Washington Post reports. "If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices: remove me or leave," Karzai said, referring to US...

US Aid Worker Shot Dead in Pakistan

Gunman kills man and driver

(Newser) - Gunmen shot and killed an American aid worker as he traveled to work today in northwestern Pakistan, the latest in a spate of attacks on foreigners in the militancy-wracked country. The shooting occurred in University Town, an upscale area of Peshawar where a top US diplomat was attacked just a...

Obama to Focus on bin Laden, Revamp Afghan Approach

Eyes regional strategy, talks with Taliban, Iran

(Newser) - Barack Obama is drastically rethinking the war effort in Afghanistan, his security advisers tell the Washington Post, including making the capture of Osama bin Laden a top priority. The administration’s fledgling plan calls for a more aggressive regional approach, possibly involving help from Iran. Obama also favors the ongoing...

Resilient Taliban Drives Pakistan to Brutal Tactics

200,000 displaced in tribal regions as state battles militants

(Newser) - In the lawless Northwest Frontier Province, the Pakistani army has been fighting the Taliban for 3 months for control of just a sliver of land. State forces had expected the battle to be a cursory victory, but the Taliban is stronger and more deeply entrenched—literally, in a network of...

Afghans Hard-Pressed to Hold Gains in War on Opium

Corruption, other obstacles make cultivation of legitimate crops tough to maintain

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s second-largest opium-producing province has eradicated the drug, a remarkable feat but one that farmers fear is short-lived, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO-backed efforts in the country that makes 90% of Earth's opium have reduced poppy harvests, violence, and corruption nationwide. But to grow anything else, the region...

US Strike Kills 40 at Wedding: Afghans

President Karzai angry; military investigating incident

(Newser) - A US air strike killed 40 civilians at a wedding party Monday, the Afghan government said today. The US said it was investigating the incident, but would not verify any attack or death toll, the New York Times reports. A Kandahar province official said US forces were fighting with the...

Afghan Officials Helped Taliban Attack US Army

Nine Americans died when hundreds descended on camp

(Newser) - An Afghan police chief and a local government official aided Taliban militants who killed nine American soldiers, an internal military review has found. The July attack came as American and Afghan forces were constructing a base in the country's remote east, when around 200 fighters descended on the soldiers. The...

Pakistani Vigilantes Strike at Taliban

Desperate police encourage citizens to take actions

(Newser) - As Pakistan’s overtaxed military and police forces wage a desperate battle against the Taliban, vigilantes are striking back at the militants on their own, the New York Times reports. Last August, citizens in a quiet farming valley hunted down and killed the Taliban fighters who murdered six policemen, lining...

$3.2B Opium Stash May Be Taliban's Secret Weapon

International agencies alarmed by 8,000 of tons of missing opium

(Newser) - A huge pile of missing opium has international law enforcement agencies worried, Time reports. The UN estimates up to 8,000 tons of opium—enough to supply every addict in the world for two years—have disappeared between Afghanistan's poppy fields and the world market in recent years. Experts fear...

US Weighs Talks With Taliban
US Weighs Talks With Taliban
Oct 28, 2008 10:51 AM CDT

US Weighs Talks With Taliban

Petraeus, set to take charge of Afghanistan policy, backs at least limited negotiations

(Newser) - The US is strongly considering negotiating with at least some elements of the Taliban, the Wall Street Journal reports. The talks, which would exclude top leaders, are part of a draft White House assessment of strategy in Afghanistan, officials say. Gen. David Petraeus, who takes over Central Command this week,...

Pakistan to Arm Local Militias
 Pakistan to Arm Local Militias 
Oct 23, 2008 10:32 AM CDT

Pakistan to Arm Local Militias

Insurgency strategy, successful for US in Iraq, boosts American confidence in ally

(Newser) - Pakistan plans to give weapons to thousands of  tribal fighters along its border with Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports—a strategy that has helped the US in Iraq. The move to link the militias—called lashkars—to anti-Taliban efforts is a boost to US confidence in Pakistan’s military efforts,...

Al-Qaeda Crows About US Credit Crisis

Some supporters hope for McCain victory

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda websites are celebrating the crippling crisis sweeping the US economy and financial markets, with some internet postings crediting al-Qaeda for luring the nation into a war that has exhausted its resources, reports the Washington Post. Some writers are penning messages expressing hope for renewed terror attacks and a John...

Taliban Gunmen Kill Christian Aid Worker

Afghanistan militants say they were angered by teaching of religion

(Newser) - Taliban gunmen killed a Christian aid worker in Kabul today, and the militant group said it targeted the woman because she was spreading her religion. The dual South African-British national worked with handicapped Afghans and was shot by gunmen on a motorbike around 8 am, officials said.  "This...

Afghan Activists Push for Peace Talks

Activists launch growing anti-war movement

(Newser) - More and more Afghan activists are pushing for a negotiated end to their country’s increasingly violent war, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Thousands have attended peace assemblies throughout Afghanistan, aimed at forcing the government to open public talks with the Taliban. "We need to pressure the Afghan government...

Petraeus Panel to Rethink Iraq, Afghan Strategy

General assembles brain trust for 100-day review of regional efforts

(Newser) - Gen. David Petraeus is assembling a panel of experts to carefully reconsider US strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan, Iran and the surrounding region, reports the Washington Post. He's recruiting a handpicked brain trust of advisers from the private sector, State Department and Pentagon. The group will...

Top General: 'We Will Win' in Afghanistan

McKiernan aims to defuse concerns about region

(Newser) - As concerns mount about the situation in Afghanistan, the top US commander there asserted that America and its allies are winning against the Taliban, the New York Times reports. There have been “too many” reports suggesting the contrary, and “I absolutely reject that idea, I don’t believe...

US Missiles Kill 5 in Pakistan
 US Missiles Kill 5 in Pakistan 
Oct 12, 2008 6:07 AM CDT

US Missiles Kill 5 in Pakistan

Strike is second this week in militant stronghold

(Newser) - A pair of US missiles yesterday killed five militants in a Pakistani border community, according to a local intelligence official. Some were foreigners living in a village in North Waziristan, an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, the official said. US drones had been circulating for hours and delivered the missiles after...

NATO Troops Target Afghan Drug Lords

Troops given green light to attack industry that funds Taliban insurgents

(Newser) - NATO has given its troops permission to go after Afghanistan's drugs labs and opium kingpins, Agence France Presse reports. Some members of the alliance had been wary of targeting the industry, fearful of alienating farmers. But the Afghan government has given its blessing to attacks on the trade that puts...

Afghanistan Sinking Into Chaos

Violence, corruption destroying nation, US report reveals

(Newser) - A soon-to-be released classified report on Afghanistan paints a grim picture of a nation sliding into chaos, the New York Times reports. The report—the most detailed from American intelligence services in years—reveals that rampant corruption and the booming heroin trade has seriously destabilized the country as militants based...

Germany Ups Afghan Force, Debates Talking to Taliban

Negotiation with radicals seems necessary, but Karzai's not the man for the job

(Newser) - Germany’s government decided today to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan and to keep its forces there for 14 more months, Der Spiegel reports. But as Angela Merkel’s government recommits to the fight, the German press argues over whether a radical change in strategy—including diplomatic engagement...

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