Clinton: Taliban Threat to Pakistan Is Rising

But Pakistani officials call concerns 'overblown rhetoric'

(NEWSER) - The growing insurgency in Pakistan has heightened US worries about the security of the country’s nuclear arsenal, the New York Times reports. Some fear militants could steal weapons in transport or get access to nuclear facilities. President Obama says he’s “confident” that the stock is “secure,” but the US doesn’t know where all the arms are stored. “We are largely relying on assurances” from Pakistan, says one official. More»

Or we will; rhetoric increasing in wake of embassy attack

(NEWSER) - US officials have been sending Pakistan an increasingly sharp message in recent days: Take out the Haqqani Taliban network, or we will. Pakistan’s intelligence service has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani network—Adm. Mike Mullen described it as a “proxy connection”—but after a series of recent attacks, including last week’s attack on the US Embassy in Kabul, US officials are demanding that stop, the Washington Post reports. More»

Militants regroup further north in a different district

(NEWSER) - Good news from Pakistan's prime minister in the fight against the Taliban—the army has driven the militants from South Waziristan after a 3-month campaign. The bad news: The Taliban appear to have regrouped a little further north in a district called Orakza, reports BBC . "The operation in South Waziristan is over," said Yousuf Raza Gilani. "Now there are talks about Orakza." More»

(AP) - A suicide bomber apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor struck a crowded market near Peshawar today, killing the mayor and 11 other people and wounding dozens, police said. The market was crowded with shoppers and goats being sold to celebrate the upcoming Muslim festival of Eid. The mayor, Abdul Malik, who was initially reported to have survived, died in the attack, said a top official. More»

Discovery suggests suspects hiding in South Waziristan

(AP) - Pakistani soldiers battling their way into a Taliban stronghold along the Afghan border have seized passports that may be linked to 9/11 suspects. One is a German document belonging to a man named Said Bahaji, believed to be a member of the Hamburg cell that conceived the attacks. The passport indicates he arrived in Karachi on Sept. 4, 2001. More»