Taliban // Current

U.S. pressured Abdullah Abdullah to withdraw from presidential race

Why did the man who accused Karzai of corruption and contested the Afghan presidential... more

Ishtar56
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Pakistan Fashion Week Defies Taliban

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/6504709/Pakistan-fashion-week-d... more

Kay_Bee
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Reclaiming Rights in Afghanistan: With and Without the Burqa

Spend some time with a group of brave Afghan lawyers and their young clients, the... more

brishkay
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5 days ago
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Policeman who killed British troops had Taliban links

The Guardian reports that tribal elders were aware of policeman's links to the... more

dlamb
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6 days ago
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Feds: No True Count of Iraq Contractors

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29052.html "KBR, the largest contractor... more

rodstradamus
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6 days ago
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Hamid Karzai Elected As President | mobixone.com

http://www.news.mobixone.com/world-news/hamid-karzai-elected-as-president/

mobixone
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Taliban Leader Rejects US Bribe Money

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/30/taliban.obama/index.html?eref=rss_world... more

rodstradamus
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11 days ago
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U.S. set to pay the taliban.....

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/28/afghanistan.taliban.pay/ I hope they... more

JuJubeez
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13 days ago
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New defense bill would pay Taliban to switch sides

The defense bill President Barack Obama will sign into law on Wednesday contains a new... more

JanforGore
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14 days ago
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US plans to pay Taliban fighters who renounce violence in Kabul

"The US military commanders in Afghanistan are to be allowed to pay Taliban fighters... more

Chod77
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14 days ago
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Taliban kills more than 80 people in a market in Pakistan

"A car bomb has exploded in a crowded market in the northwest Pakistani city of... more

Chod77
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14 days ago
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24 comments

Gunmen Storm UN Guest House in Afghanistan

Taliban militants wearing suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in... more

ebindelglass
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Clinton Applauds Pakistan

By ROBERT BURNS
AP National Security Writer
ISLAMABAD (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opened a three-day visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, praising the government for pressing a high-risk military offensive against extremist forces in a volatile region near the Afghan border.

"I give the Pakistani government and military high marks for taking them on," she said. "That wasn't what they were doing before."

Speaking to reporters traveling with her from Washington, Clinton said she would seek an update from Pakistani officials on their military campaign in South Waziristan, which began Oct. 17. She said the campaign has important ramifications for the struggle against Islamic extremism.

"Clearly these people are allies in a network of terrorism that includes al-Qaida and therefore we believe that what the Pakistanis are doing in standing up to extremism in Pakistan is in our national security interests," Clinton said.

Last spring Clinton raised eyebrows in some quarters by telling Congress that the Pakistani government was abdicating to the Taliban and other extremist groups by not taking them on militarily.

Clinton said her visit is intended to convey the Obama administration's support for Pakistan - not just its military efforts but also its cooperation with Washington on a range of other issues, including the war in Afghanistan.

Clinton said the relations between Islamabad and Washington developed a lot of "scar tissue" over the years.

"We are turning the page on what has been for the past several years primarily a security, anti-terrorist agenda," she told reporters on the flight from Washington. Anti-terrorism "remains a very high priority, but we also recognize that it's imperative that we broaden our engagement with Pakistan," to include issues like education, energy and employment.

Clinton also hoped to put a better face on the U.S. image among Pakistan's predominantly Muslim population, where anti-Americanism is running high. To that end, she was scheduling an unusually large number of interviews with a range of Pakistani media.

"It is fair to say there have been a lot of misconceptions about what the United States intends for our relationship with Pakistan," she said, adding, "It is unfortunate there are those who question our motives. I want to clear the air."

In addition to the U.S. partnership with Islamabad in fending off insurgent efforts to destabilize the government, Washington sees Pakistan as central to its strategy in neighboring Afghanistan. Taliban militants seeking to overthrow the government in Kabul find haven on the Pakistani side of the border.By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer ISLAMABAD (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of... more

ksutherland27
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7 Dead in attack on UN in Kabul; Taliban "This is our first attack."

KABUL (AP) -- Gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house used by U.N. staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early Wednesday, killing at least seven people including three U.N. staff, officials said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, saying it was meant as an assault on the upcoming presidential election.

Heavy gunfire reverberated through the streets shortly after dawn and a large plume of smoke rose over the city following the attack on the hostel in the Shar-e-Naw district. Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahman said seven people were killed, including some attackers.

U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards confirmed that three U.N. staff were among the dead and one was seriously wounded. He said 20 U.N. staff were living at the guest house, some of them known to be registered there but he was unsure whether all were there at the time of the attack.

Flames could be seen on the roof of the guest house. Hours after the attack began, three explosions could be heard but it was unclear if they were from that location.

Following the attack, a rocket slammed into the grounds of the luxury Serena Hotel, which is favored by many foreigners. The device failed to explode but filled the lobby with smoke, forcing guests and employees to flee to the basement, according to an Afghan witness who asked that his name not be used for security reasons.

The guesthouse attack was the third major one in the capital in recent weeks.

On Oct. 8, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy, killing 17 people - mostly civilians - and wounding at least 76 more. The Afghan Foreign Ministry hinted at Pakistani involvement - a charge Pakistan denied.

On Sept. 17, a suicide car bomber killed six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians on one of Kabul's main roadways.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press, saying three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the assault.

He said three days ago the Taliban issued a statement threatening anyone working on the Nov. 7 runoff election between President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah.

"This is our first attack," he said.

Afghans vote Nov. 7 in a second round election after U.N.-backed auditors threw out nearly a third of Karzai's votes from the Aug. 20 ballot, determining widespread fraud. That pushed Karzai's totals below the 50 percent threshold needed for a first round victory in the 36-candidate field.

The Taliban warned Afghans to stay away from the polls or risk attacks. Dozens of people were killed in Taliban attacks during the August balloting, helping drive down turnout.KABUL (AP) -- Gunmen with automatic weapons and suicide vests stormed a guest house... more

ksutherland27
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14 days ago
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Troops already outnumber Taliban 12-1

BRUSSELS (AP) -- There are already more than 100,000 international troops in... more

ksutherland27
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14 days ago
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John Kerry: The Taliban’s Best Friend | Newsflavor

War is war and must be left to the men and women fighting the war. Mixing politics... more

Ronnie_Spangler
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15 days ago
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Wither Afghanistan: More troops or less troops?

FROM THE NEWS BLOG:
With the two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan today (killing 14 Americans), we wanted to check in real quick on how war #1 of our two wars is going.

Wired's Danger Room talks about how today's crashes reveal that helicopter are the "achilles' heel of the Afghan War", absolutely necessary in a country with few roads and constantly undersupplied. Maintenance on those that are there is apparently critical as well:
"Earlier this year, Popular Mechanics reporter Joe Pappalardo spent some time with the wrench-turners who keep the helicopters flying in Afghanistan. “Afghanistan,” he concluded, “is hell on helicopters.” Here’s a list of just a few of the things he noted that can go wrong: Temperature extremes that destroy seals and gaskets; “high/hot” flying conditions that reduce engine performance; dust and sand that ruin rotor blades and clog up hydraulics. And, of course, there’s the enemy. (Soviet helicopter operations were also vulnerable, albeit for a different reason: The delivery of the Stinger missile, courtesy of the United States.)"

Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria looks at the question of troop levels in Afghanistan and points out that Obama is considering not "a surge" but "a third surge":
"The number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in January 2008 was 26,607. Over the next six months, the Bush administration raised the total to 48,250. President Bush described this policy as "the quiet surge," and he made the standard arguments about the need for a counterinsurgency capacity—the troops had to not only fight the Taliban but protect the Afghan population, strengthen and train the Afghan Army and police, and assist in development. In January 2009, another 3,000 troops, originally ordered by President Bush, went to Afghanistan in the first days of the Obama presidency. In February, responding to a request from the commander in the field, Obama ordered an additional 17,000 troops into the country. In other words, over the past 18 months, troop levels in Afghanistan have almost tripled. An additional 40,000 troops sent in the next few months would mean an almost 400 percent increase in U.S. troops since 2008. (The total surge in Iraq, incidentally, was just over 20,000 troops.) It is not dithering to try to figure out why previous increases have not worked and why we think additional ones would."

Boston.com's Big Picture also has another amazing set of photographs from Afghanistan, all taken in the month of October. (LINK BELOW)

Question of the day for you: What should Obama do with Afghanistan? Should he send more US troops to pacify rural areas? Reduce the troop levels and focus on urban areas? Or should he "Why not do the Petraeus plan [counterinsurgency] for the major population centers and the Biden plan [counterterrorism] for the rest of the country?" (Defense expert Tom Ricks in the Zakaria article)FROM THE NEWS BLOG: With the two helicopter crashes in Afghanistan today (killing 14... more