Pakistanis Fear US May Be Out to Carve Up Nation

Al-Qaeda, Taliban much closer than public has been led to believe

(NEWSER) - US military and intelligence officials see dangerous misrepresentations in the Obama team’s flirting with a limited, anti-al-Qaeda strategy in Afghanistan. “The White House is downplaying the dangers of doing the only thing that they think Congress and the public will support,” an official tells McClatchy. But taking the focus off of the Taliban may make al-Qaeda stronger as the two groups are even closer now than in 2001. More»

Will redeploy 6K troops from Indian to Afghan border

(NEWSER) - After deploying jets and helicopters yesterday in response to a Taliban incursion into the Buner district, Pakistan has taken back a key town, the military says. The country will also shift 6,000 troops from the Indian border to face militants along the Afghan border, said an official, a move welcomed by American authorities who say Pakistan is doing too little to battle militants, the New York Times reports. More»

Crackdown targets Khyber Pass militants

(AP) - Pakistan closed the main route used to ferry supplies to US and allied troops in Afghanistan today after launching a fresh offensive against militants in the area. The road through the Khyber Pass in the northwest of Pakistan has faced increasing attacks by militants seeking to squeeze Western forces fighting a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan in recent months. More»

(NEWSER) - The US could double the number of its troops in Afghanistan to about 60,000 by next summer, the highest such estimate to date, Reuters reports. American troops currently number 31,000, but joint chiefs chairman Mike Mullen said today that an additional 20,000 to 30,000 will be needed by the spring or early summer. “We're going to fill that requirement so it's not a matter of if, but when," he said. More»

Army officials hash out border problems

(NEWSER) - A group of top US and Pakistani military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and David Petraeus, met in secret aboard an aircraft carrier Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating situation along the Afghan border, the New York Times reports. The US has been frustrated lately by the Taliban’s ever-growing capabilities—particularly across the border in Afghanistan—and Pakistan’s inability or unwillingness to drive them from its southern environs. More»