Pakistan

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Taliban's No. 2 a Fierce, Intelligent Opponent of US

Mullah Omar's lieutenant may be really running the insurgency

(Newser) - Though most Americans know of Mullah Omar, head of the Taliban’s insurgency in Afghanistan, few know his capable lieutenant, Mullah Baradar. As a high-profile US target, Omar has kept a low profile over the last 3 years—while Baradar commands day-to-day operations, Newsweek reports. But Baradar’s cunning leadership...

How a Queens Kid Became an al-Qaeda Fighter

'Impressionable' punk fan radicalized himself in search for structure

(Newser) - Just before he left to become an al-Qaeda fighter 2 years ago, Long Island native Bryant Neal Vinas left a box of mementos. Inside were all-American keepsakes like Yankee caps, alongside dog tags and a copy of Inside the Jihad, a book by a spy who infiltrated al-Qaeda. That was...

New Yorker Was 'Ready to Deliver Suicide Bomb'

His terrorist handler told him he needed more religious instruction

(Newser) - A Queens man who pleaded guilty to aiding al-Qaeda was ready and willing to deliver a suicide bomb for the terrorist organization, he revealed to investigators. His handlers told 26-year-old Bryant Neal Vinas, however, that he needed more "religious" training before he could carry out such a mission, he...

Secret 'Batman' Tech Heroes Protect Internet: Prof

(Newser) - The Internet keeps functioning thanks to the efforts of an army of unsung heroes, a Harvard cyberlaw expert told a tech conference yesterday. The professor used as an example Pakistan's attempt last year to take YouTube offline—the site went down across the world, but volunteers from a tech forum...

US Missile Kills Son of Bin Laden
US Missile
Kills Son of
Bin Laden
Jul 22, 2009 6:58 PM CDT

US Missile Kills Son of Bin Laden

Officials think drone strike hit him in Pakistan

(Newser) - The US is pretty sure that an American missile killed Osama bin Laden's son in Pakistan, reports NPR. Spy agencies are "80 to 85%" certain that a missile from a US drone killed Saad bin Laden, thought to be in his late 20s, sometime in the last year. Saad...

US Man Charged in Afghanistan Rocket Attack

Long Islander also gave al-Qaeda info on NYC mass transit: feds

(Newser) - An American arrested in Pakistan last fall faces charges for firing rockets at a US military base in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. Bryant Neal Vinas, 26, also allegedly gave al-Qaeda detailed information about the New York City transit system and Long Island Railroad in return for military training.

US Afghan Surge Angers Pakistan

(Newser) - The American offensive in southern Afghanistan is sparking serious tensions with Pakistan, the New York Times reports. Pakistani officials fear that the surge will push Taliban militants into its border region, triggering a rise in militancy that it will be ill-equipped to tackle without shifting troops from the Indian border....

Captured US Soldier May Be in Pakistan

Fox News 'expert' suggests that Taliban execute Bergdahl

(Newser) - The American soldier captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan may be in Pakistan, a potentially huge stumbling block in the quest to free the 23-year-old, ABC News reports. If the insurgent group that apparently kidnapped him has indeed moved Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl over the border to South Waziristan, the American...

Gunman Pleads Guilty to Mumbai Attacks

(Newser) - The only surviving gunman of the deadly terror attacks in Mumbai admitted his role in the November rampage in a dramatic courtroom confession today, reports the Times of India. "Sir, I plead guilty to my crime," Ajmal Kasab told the presiding judge, before describing how the attacks...

Al-Qaeda No. 2: 'Hey Pakistanis, Spare a Dime?'

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader warns the Pakistani people in a new audio message that the US poses a grave danger for Pakistan's future, and asks if they could help financially. "It is the individual duty of every Muslim in Pakistan to join the mujahedeen, or at the very least,...

Bin Laden Rips Pakistani Leaders as 'Satan's Allies'

He blames Obama for fighting

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden's most recent rant slams Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistani soldiers as "allies of Satan," and he calls on Paiistanis to join the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces fighting in the Swat Valley, reports the NY Daily News. Bid Laden blamed Barak Obama for...

Refugee Crisis Opens Doors for Pakistan's Secluded Women

Women uprooted by fighting gain new access to health care, education

(Newser) - Women's leaders in Pakistan have found an unexpected silver lining in the country's refugee crisis, the Globe & Mail reports. A million women have been forced from their homes by the fighting, upending the Pashtun code of honor that forces women to spend almost all their time secluded in family...

Taliban Buys Kids for Suicide Bombings

(Newser) - The Taliban is buying children as young as 7 and turning them into suicide bombers, the Washington Times reports. The going rate is $7,000 to $14,000, a huge amount in Pakistan, where where the average income is $2,600. Pakistani and US officials lay blame for the practice...

Forget Pakistan's Claims: Taliban Is Only Hiding Out

Military's paltry victory gives fighters opening to reclaim stronghold

(Newser) - Pakistan is crowing over its victories against militants in the Swat Valley, but the Taliban has simply retreated to fight another day, Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah write in the New York Times. Pakistan, which only controls roads and urban centers, hasn't even killed one Taliban leader. "Most...

US Drone Kills 60 in Pakistan; May Be Deadliest Ever

(Newser) - The American hunt for Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud—implicated, among other things, in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto—took two major twists today in Pakistan. Early reports suggest that a US military drone killed about 60 suspected militants after the funeral of an insurgent commander in South Waziristan near the...

Times Reporter Planned Escape for Weeks

Newspaper was prepared to pay $5M ransom to Taliban

(Newser) - David Rohde escaped from the Taliban only after weeks of planning, taking advantage of a length of rope to aid his descent down a 20-foot wall, the New York Times reports. The journalist and his Afghan colleague waited until a night when the city had electrical power, so the sound...

NYT Reporter Escapes Taliban After 7 Months

(Newser) - A reporter for the New York Times held by the Taliban for 7 months in the tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan has escaped, the paper says. The Times kept David Rohde’s abduction secret out of concern for his safety and had been in sporadic contact with him and...

Brangelina Donate $1M to Aid Pakistan Refugees

Couple give cash to UN refugee fund, Missouri hospital

(Newser) - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been keeping busy with charity work between film shoots, People reports. The Pitt-Jolie Foundation yesterday gave $1 million to help refugees displaced by fighting in Pakistan, and a $1 million donation from "the Brad Pitt family" was made to the newly christened Jane...

With US Help, India-Pakistan Tension Eases

(Newser) - Revamped leadership in India and Pakistan and some behind-the-scenes encouragement from the US could lead to negotiations over the disputed Kashmir region, the New York Times reports. But while there are shimmers of hope, the relationship is still strained. “I am happy to meet you,” India’s PM...

Pakistan Launches Operation to Kill Taliban Leader

Baitullah Mehsud blamed for several recent attacks

(Newser) - Pakistan is launching a manhunt for Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud—branded "the root cause of all evils," by one official—in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan officials blame Mehsud's group for a string of recent attacks, the BBC reports. The heavy military offensive is expected to please...

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