Taliban

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Pakistan Routs Taliban Forces in Major Offensive

Government abandons diplomatic tack to cut militant violence

(Newser) - Pakistan blasted suspected militant hideouts today, launching its biggest offensive against Taliban forces since electing a government last March. The military cleared three militant outposts and forced the insurgents west, CNN reports. For weeks, tensions have mounted between militants and Islamabad, which abandoned its diplomatic strategy as insurgent strikes increased.

Afghan Taliban Resurgence Alarms Pentagon

Pentagon report cautions a renewed insurgency

(Newser) - Taliban militants in Afghanistan have regrouped “into a resilient insurgency” that has US  allies "losing ground and slipping backwards," a new Pentagon report concludes. Bombing attacks set a record in 2007, and are on track to top that in 2008. Security conditions in the war-torn country have...

Afghans Accuse Pakistan of Karzai Plot

Say they have concrete evidence of link to April assassination attempt

(Newser) - Afghanistan publicly accused Pakistan of plotting the April assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai, saying it has evidence linking Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence to the deed. A spokesman said phone records, documents, and confessions from suspects proved the ISI harbored "the real schemers and organizers" behind the attack.

US Can't Be Sure Pakistan's $5.6B Went to Fight Terror

Suspect accounting makes tracking funds nearly impossible: GAO report

(Newser) - The Defense Department cannot show that nearly $6 billion the US has sent to Pakistan since 2001 has been used, as intended, to fight terrorism. In a report yesterday, the Government Accountability Office said the Pentagon hadn’t properly tracked the funds, CNN reports, blindly signing off on questionable charges—...

Taliban Said Routed Near Kandahar

NATO forces help kill 56 insurgents in 'successful airstrikes'

(Newser) - Yesterday's swift offensive by Afghan and NATO forces drove Taliban militants from a strategic group of villages outside southern Afghanistan's largest city and killed 56 insurgents, Afghan officials said today. The Afghan National Army has taken control of the villages, a defense ministry spokesman said, but militants had planted hundreds...

Afghans Launch Assault on Taliban

Kandahar is next militant target

(Newser) - Afghan and NATO troops launched a huge offensive against the Taliban today, Reuters reports, starting with an air and ground assault on a valley in southern Afghanistan. Bolstered with hundreds of fighters freed in last week’s prison break, the Taliban has taken several villages in Arghandab, and has its...

Karzai Warns Pakistan He'll Send Troops Over Border

Afghan leader says he'll self-defend vs. militants

(Newser) - Citing the right to self defense, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that his country may send troops across the border with Pakistan to fight militants who have killed Afghans, BBC reports. "When they cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops it...

Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200
 Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200 
Jun 13, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Taliban Jailbreak Frees 1,200

Inmates spill into streets after suicide blast at Kandahar prison

(Newser) - Taliban fighters blasted into Kandahar's main prison last night and freed about 1,200 inmates, including 350 Taliban, the New York Times reports. Prisoners, including Taliban leaders, quickly flooded the streets and scattered into nearby villages. “It is very dangerous for security," a Kandahar politician said. "They...

Afghan Cops Blow Up Huge Hashish Stash

260 tons of narcotics destroyed after history's biggest drugs bust

(Newser) - Afghanistan police have made what is believed to be the biggest narcotics bust in history, the Guardian reports. Some 260 tons of hashish—worth $400 million—was found buried in trenches near the Pakistan border. The narcotics haul, which would have made as much as $14 million in profits for...

US Releases Pakistan Border Clash Video

Coalition says footage proves troops were returning militants' fire

(Newser) - US-led coalition forces have released a video shot from a surveillance drone showing a controversial clash on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistan claims the engagement led to an airstrike that killed 11 of its troops, but the coalition says the footage proves that US and Afghan forces were simply returning fire...

Pakistan Condemns US Air Strike That Killed 11 Troops

...which were reportedly working with the Taliban

(Newser) - At least 11 Pakistani soldiers and 10 other people were killed today in an ugly border incident that could strain US/Pakistani ties. US fighters reportedly launched an air strike inside Pakistan’s mountainous tribal area, backing up Afghan troops fighting Taliban forces. The matter was complicated, however, because Pakistani troops...

In Afghanistan, Laura Bush Urges Support

Int'l community dare not pull out during 'crucial' Taliban uprising

(Newser) - During an unannounced visit to Kabul today, Laura Bush urged the international community not to pull support from Afghanistan, highlighting successes in reconstruction and improved women’s rights, Reuters reports. The first lady's visit came even as Afghan, US, and NATO forces fight to contain a Taliban guerilla war in...

Pakistan Cuts Off Talks With Militant Tribes

US saw increase in groups' activity in Afghanistan during lull

(Newser) - Pakistan is suspending talks with militant tribes along its lawless border with Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports, a move that could bolster relations with the US. Negotiations won’t resume until the warlords agree to new conditions, including an end to activities within Afghanistan, Pakistani officials told the Bush...

Taliban Frees Kidnapped Pakistan Envoy

Ambassador freed after Pakistan releases over 40 militants

(Newser) - Taliban militants released Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan today soon after the Pakistani government liberated over 40 Taliban fighters, a Pakistan security official said. The government has not yet given official details of Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin’s release. He had been kidnapped February 11, along with his driver and guard,...

Pentagon to Build Giant Prison in Afghanistan

New Bagram complex marks intention to hold prisoners abroad for years to come

(Newser) - The Pentagon is planning to build a huge new detention complex in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times, acknowledging that the US expects to hold prisoners there for many years to come. The 40-acre, $60-million facility at Bagram Air Force Base will replace the existing makeshift prison in a converted...

Taliban 'Narco Terrorist' Convicted in US Court

Afghan plotted to use drug profits to fight US

(Newser) - A Taliban militant has become the first person convicted under a "narco-terrorism" provision of the Patriot Act, Reuters reports. The Afghan man was busted by DEA agents for plotting to ship heroin to the US and use the proceeds to buy weapons to use against American and coalition forces....

18 Afghans Killed by Bomber in a Burka

Taliban claims responsibility for blast

(Newser) - A suicide bomber wearing a burka killed 18 people today in a western Afghanistan bazaar, Reuters reports. A spokesman for the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said the bomber was a man. The past two years have been Afghanistan’s bloodiest since 2001, and some Western officials fear...

Pakistan's New Leaders Balk at Giving US Free Rein

Unilateral action against terror targets would be 'counter-productive'

(Newser) - If the US was hoping the new government would give it leeway to strike at al-Qaeda within Pakistan, those hopes were dashed today, as the ruling coalition said such attacks would be “counter-productive.” Pakistan had been a US ally in the war on terror under President Pervez Musharraf,...

Marines Tread Lightly in Opium Poppy Fields

Fighters ignore Afghan crop to avoid alienating locals

(Newser) - The US Marines have been battling the Taliban in the world's largest opium-growing region—and they're taking care not to damage the crop, the AP reports. Troops in Afghanistan are aware that the Taliban makes millions from the poppy harvest, but they also realize that destroying the locals' only source...

Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat
Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat
ANALYSIS
May 2, 2008 8:29 PM CDT

Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat

'Asymmetrical' warfare has casualties down, hopes of prevailing up

(Newser) - The Taliban might hope Sunday's brazen attack on Afghan president Hamid Karzai signaled a new age of potency for the rebels. But although deaths from Taliban violence are on the rise, the Economist argues, the organization has not grown substantially—it has shifted its strategy away from conventional firefights to...

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