Top Taliban Commander Is Killed

Washington weighs withdrawal, other options

(NEWSER) - The big question in Washington: Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, what do we do about Afghanistan? Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, and Richard Lugar, a Republican, both said yesterday that we must reassess the nearly decade-old conflict and work toward, as Kerry said, "the smallest footprint necessary." But Pentagon officials argue that rather than withdraw American troops, the US should try to make further gains and apply more pressure on the Taliban, setting the stage for what's sure to be a heated debate. More»

(NEWSER) - A Taliban spokesman today denied that the group was behind a huge explosion that killed at least 43 and injured 65 more in Kandahar last night. Roughly 40 shops were destroyed in the blast, which went off outside a wedding hall just as people were breaking their Ramadan fast. Rescue workers are still pulling people from the wreckage. More»

Worst Taliban suicide attack since 2001 hits spectators at dog fight

(NEWSER) - A suicide blast today killed at least 80 in a crowd of spectators watching a dog fight in the Afghan city of Kandahar. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but local authorities believe it was the work of the Taliban, which has a large presence in the area, BBC reports. Militia leaders watching the dog fight were the likely target of the attack. More»

Kandahar roadside bomb deadliest since 2009

(AP) - Nine NATO service members were killed Thursday in Afghanistan, including seven US troops and another NATO service member killed when a powerful bomb exploded in a field where they were patrolling on foot, officials said. Two Afghan policemen also died and two others were wounded in the explosion in the mountainous Shorabak district of Kandahar province, 12 miles from Pakistan, said the chief of the Afghan border police in the province. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast. More»

Taliban spokesman says 100 are commanders

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of prisoners, most of them Taliban fighters, escaped from an Afghanistan prison last night, and so far only 13 have been recaptured. Taliban militants staged the escape by digging a 1,050-foot underground tunnel into Kandahar's main prison and leading about 475 prisoners out, the AP reports. Al Jazeera puts the number of escapees at 540. The jailbreak illustrates the ongoing weakness of Afghan's government in the south; at this same prison in 2008, roughly twice as many prisoners broke out . More»