US Releases Pakistan Border Clash Video

Biggest military leak in history underscores grim realities

(NEWSER) - Wikileaks has unveiled 92,000 secret documents about the Afghan war, which, in the New York Times ' words, "illustrate in mosaic detail why ... the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001." Don't have time to scan through 92,000 documents? Here are what appear to be the top revelations:

1. The Army Delta Force runs a top-secret group of commandos called Task Force 373, charged with assassinating Taliban leaders. Some of their raids have resulted in civilian casualties; in one case, seven children were killed by a rocket.
2. The Taliban has employed heat-seeking anti-aircraft rockets, of the same kind the US gave the mujahedeen during the Soviet occupation.
3. The US covered up one attack made with one of those rockets, saying it had been downed by conventional weaponry.

Army probes reports that drone strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud

(NEWSER) - The Pakistani army is investigating reports that the leader of the Taliban in the country has died after being injured in an American military drone strike. Hakimullah Mehsud, 28, had been at the helm of the Pakistani Taliban for 5 months, having taken over after the death—also in a drone strike—of Baitullah Mehsud, reports the Los Angeles Times . But a source within the Taliban says Hakimullah Mehsud is alive and has gone "underground" to dodge a recent campaign of drone attacks, CNN reports. More»

Move could signal a shift to bloody urban battles

(AP) - Pakistani security forces fought Taliban militants in the northwest's Swat Valley and entered two Taliban-held towns there, the army said today, foreshadowing what could become bloody urban battles. A top government official said the offensive had already killed more than 1000 Taliban fighters, while a group of pro-government religious leaders endorsed the operation but condemned US missile strikes. More»

Militants take control of main city in strategic valley

(NEWSER) - Pakistani authorities have warned residents of the country's troubled Swat Valley to leave their homes ahead of an expected military operation in the Taliban-controlled area. The February peace deal between Pakistan and the Taliban, which included the introduction of Sharia law, has effectively collapsed, reports Reuters. Militants have infiltrated several districts of Mingora, Swat's largest town, and have attacked government and army installations. More»

Drone attack is the latest of several near Afghan border

(NEWSER) - A suspected US airstrike on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed at least 5 people today, part of a stepped-up effort against militants in the region, the AP reports. The victims' identities remained unclear. Conflicting intelligence reports called them either al-Qaeda operatives or innocent women and children, AFP notes. US drones reportedly killed 4 low-level militants in a similar drone strike yesterday. More»