Afghanistan war

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Marines Seize Marjah Taliban HQ

Elite squads dropped behind Taliban lines as offensive continues

(Newser) - US Marines seized a compound that appears to have been the Taliban's Marjah headquarters after a fierce gunfight Friday. The compound just south of the town center contained dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and diplomas from a Taliban training camp in Pakistan, the AP reports. Small groups of fighters abandoned...

Taliban Snipers Finally Learn How to Shoot

Deadly marksmen a new challenge for US, Afghan forces

(Newser) - In their battle with US-led troops in Marjah, the Taliban seem to have traded up from their characteristically shoddy marksmen to skilled snipers who are taking a toll. Sniper fire, rarely seen in more than eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, has killed one Marine and struck four others in...

Joint Sting Bags Another Key Taliban Leader

US-Pakistan effort captures provincial 'shadow governor'

(Newser) - On the heels of news that US and Pakistani forces working together captured the Taliban’s No. 2 leader comes word that the cooperative effort has bagged the group’s “shadow governor” of Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province. The Pakistanis pinched Mullah Abdul Salam last week in the northeastern...

Taliban Using Human Shields in Marjah

Troops strive to avoid civilian casualties, take city center

(Newser) - Taliban fighters in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, as they try to thwart NATO's house-to-house searches, according to the top Afghan general in the offensive. “The enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a...

In Taliban Commander's Capture, a Coup for Pakistan

Mullah Baradur's arrest likely to complicate Taliban peace talks

(Newser) - The capture of the Taliban's military commander is a major coup for Pakistan that is likely to win the country a bigger say in Afghanistan's future, analysts say. Pakistani officials had complained that they were being excluded from American negotiations with the Afghan Taliban. But with Mullah Baradar in their...

Marjah Taliban 'Running Out of Gas'

Commaders say half town's fighters are dead or fled

(Newser) - The number of Taliban fighters in Marjah has dropped by half and morale is fading fast among the rest, according to American and Afghan commanders. Some 100 of the 400 fighters in the area when the AFghan offensive began Saturday have been killed and commanders say close to 100 more...

US-Pakistan Raid Nets Taliban's Military Chief

Mullah Baradar best capture yet: officials

(Newser) - American officials say they’ve scored their best enemy capture since the beginning of the Afghanistan war, nabbing the Taliban’s military chief in Pakistan in a joint operation with that country’s security services. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is second only in influence to spiritual leader Mullah Muhammad Omar,...

Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah
 Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah 
Feb 15, 2010 9:09 AM CST

Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah

Firefights erupt across town

(Newser) - Sniper teams attacked US Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah today, the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland. Multiple firefights broke out in different neighborhoods as American and Afghan forces worked to clear out pockets of insurgents and push slowly...

Allies Storm Marjah, Begin Treacherous Sweeps

Fighting sporadic but fierce as US wonders how many Taliban remain

(Newser) - US, British, and Afghan troops encountered little initial resistance as they swept into Marjah yesterday and took up "all the strategic points in the area" in the biggest offensive since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. It was as they began individually searching houses, reports Dexter Filkins in the New ...

Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy
Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy
analysis
Feb 13, 2010 10:54 AM CST

Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy

When fighting ends, an Afghan government will move in

(Newser) - The massive new assault under way in Afghanistan represents the new military strategy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, writes Dexter Filkins. When the fighting is over and coalition forces have taken control of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, the Afghan government will quickly set up government offices along with a police...

Major Afghan Assault Begins
 Major Afghan Assault Begins 
Feb 12, 2010 6:00 PM CST

Major Afghan Assault Begins

US, Afghan forces attack Taliban-held Marjah

(Newser) - The largest US-led offensive in Afghanistan since the 2001 charge that unseated the Taliban is now under way, with Marines and Afghan troops attacking the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah, which they surrounded yesterday. Operation Moshtarak—meaning “together” in the native Dari tongue—could involve as many as 15,...

US Evolves Strategy, Widens Assault on Terrorists

Iraq withdrawal and Pakistani cooperation enable more drone strikes

(Newser) - Long before he went on the defensive for his handling of the failed Christmas Day airline bombing, Obama had widened the list of US targets abroad and stepped up the pace of airstrikes. The death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in August marked his first major victory in a...

US, Afghan Troops Ring Taliban Stronghold

Battle for Marjah to be the biggest in 9-year war

(Newser) - US and Afghan forces ringed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah yesterday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the 9-year war. Taliban defenders repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at units poised in foxholes along the edge of the town,...

Afghan Bomber Wounds 5 Americans at US Base

Bomber infiltrates US base near Pakistani border

(Newser) - A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan border policeman's uniform blew himself up today at a US base near the Pakistani frontier, wounding five Americans, an Afghan official said. The attack occurred after sundown in a barracks at a US facility in the Dand aw Patan district in eastern Afghanistan, about...

'Hurt Locker' Brit Dies Disarming Afghan Bomb

NATO preparing massive assault on Taliban stronghold

(Newser) - A British soldier with the kind of chillingly dangerous job featured in the movie Hurt Locker has been killed disarming a roadside bomb to clear a route for a new Afghan offensive. Warrant Officer David Markland, 36, had survived 8 stints in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Times of London...

Schools Win; NASA Loses



Schools Win; 
 NASA Loses  
budget ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2010 5:31 PM CST

Schools Win; NASA Loses

First look at proposed 2011 budget shows sharp break between haves and have-nots

(Newser) - President Obama delivered his proposed 2011 budget to Congress today, and the Washington Post drills down to find the winners and losers. Winners first:
  • K-12 education: The Department of Education's budget will increase by 6%, or $3 billion.
  • Research: The proposal pumps up the Energy Department's budget 7%, or $2
...

France: No More Combat Troops for Afghanistan

Minister says France will consider sending extra trainers

(Newser) - The 7,000 reinforcements NATO has promised to send to Afghanistan along with the American surge won't be coming from France. French officials have ruled out sending more combat troops to the country but will consider sending more trainers for Afghanistan's army and police, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told CNN...

Afghan Tribe to Fight Taliban in Deal for US Aid

US hopes for similar deals throughout Afghanistan

(Newser) - In a groundbreaking pact, an entire Afghan tribe has pledged to join with the US-backed government to fight the Taliban. The 400,000-strong Shinwari tribe, which controls key areas on the Pakistan border, will battle insurgents, burn down homes harboring Taliban fighters, and contribute one military-aged male from each family...

Alleged Blackwater Murderers Had Checkered Pasts

Court revelations cast doubt on contractor's hiring practices

(Newser) - A pair of former Blackwater contractors charged with murdering two people in Afghanistan had checkered pasts with the military before getting hired to work overseas, according to service records disclosed in recent court hearings. Their backgrounds are a sign that Xe—formerly known as Blackwater—employed contractors who might not...

Stunning Kabul Attack Shows Taliban Moving Into Cities

'Nobody is ready to make any kind of deal'

(Newser) - Yesterday's militant assault in the heart of Kabul succeeded not only in paralyzing the city for hours—it also exposed the vulnerability of the US-backed Afghan government, demonstrated the resilience of the Taliban, and left the usually quiet city with a lingering sense of fear. The morning rush-hour attack offered...

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