insurgency

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Somali Insurgents Fire at US Congressman's Plane

Three killed in following skirmish, locals say

(Newser) - Somali insurgents fired mortars at a Somalia airport as a US congressman was departing, the AP reports. None of the six shells hit the airport, and New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne made it away safely—but 19 civilians were wounded when the shells landed in nearby neighborhoods, a hospital administrator...

For Afghan Success, Look to Colombia
 For Afghan Success, 
 Look to Colombia 
OPINION
Apr 5, 2009 11:11 AM CDT

For Afghan Success, Look to Colombia

Countries face similar troubles—and Colombians know how to fix them

(Newser) - When President Obama reviewed US strategy in Afghanistan, the lessons of Iraq were key. But a better comparison might be Colombia, where parallels abound—and where the government has handled insurgents with a fair bit of success, writes Scott Wilson in the Washington Post. Both Afghanistan and Colombia have faced...

Afghan Insurgency Growing Stronger: Petraeus

(Newser) - Gen. David Petraeus said today that militant insurgents in Afghanistan are growing in strength but will be fought "relentlessly and aggressively" by bolstered American troops. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan said the United States would take the fight...

Smaller, Fiercer Insurgency Has Iraq Worried

(Newser) - As the US military prepares to withdraw from Iraq's cities, security officials in both countries have observed that a smaller but more lethal insurgency seems to be gaining ground. Several recent bombings, believed to be orchestrated by al-Qaeda in Iraq, have killed 123 people in Baghdad and elsewhere, while members...

NATO Troops Kill Key Taliban Commander in Afghanistan

Maulawi Hassan responsible for numerous bombings, attacks in recent months

(Newser) - A top Taliban commander was killed by NATO-led forces in Afghanistan this weekend, the New York Times reports. Maulawi Hassan had been the coordinator of many suicide bombings and other attacks since fall 2008 and reported directly to Mullah Rahmatullah, a Taliban leader who directs operation from outside Afghanistan. Hassan’...

Iraqi Insurgent: We Won't Stop Til US Leaves
Iraqi Insurgent: We Won't Stop Til US Leaves
Interview
Feb 10, 2009 2:15 PM CST

Iraqi Insurgent: We Won't Stop Til US Leaves

Numbers dwindle, but 'I feel happy' when killing Americans

(Newser) - These are tough times for the Iraqi resistance. Violence is down, fighters are scarce, and the public has turned against them. Abu Abdul Aziz is one of just 35 fighters in the Front of Jihad and Change—a far cry from the 750 he fought alongside in 2005—but the...

Afghan Bomber Kills 21 Cops
 Afghan Bomber Kills 21 Cops 
Feb 2, 2009 6:39 AM CST

Afghan Bomber Kills 21 Cops

Suicide bomber disguised himself as police reservist

(Newser) - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Afghan police station, killing at least 21 policemen in an attack claimed by the Taliban, reports the BBC. The attack in the south of the country is the deadliest in months. A police spokesman in Uruzgan said the bomber wore a police...

Crocker Cautions Against Abrupt Iraq Withdrawal

Ambassador cautions that al-Qaeda will take advantage of power vacuum

(Newser) - The US ambassador to Iraq warned today against an abrupt troop withdrawal, saying it would invite foreign fighters, CNN reports. If we “decide suddenly we’re done, they would certainly work to use space that opened up,” Ryan Crocker said of al-Qaeda. Crocker, who will step down shortly,...

Cleric Journeys From al-Qaeda to US Ally
 Cleric Journeys From 
 al-Qaeda to US Ally 
analysis
Jan 13, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Cleric Journeys From al-Qaeda to US Ally

Sunni leader gives up on 'bankrupt' insurgency

(Newser) - A young man who holds sway over one Iraqi town embodies the country’s transition from dictatorship through insurgency to today’s “murkier contest,” the Washington Post reports. Sunni cleric Nadhim Khalil often slammed Saddam Hussein’s government when it was in power. But when it fell, he...

Kid Toll Hits 14 in Afghan Bombing

Kid toll rises as Pakistan bomb kills 30 people

(Newser) - The toll of child victims in an Afghanistan suicide bombing yesterday has risen to 14, reports the Guardian. An exploding truck in eastern Afghanistan killed the children as they walked home from the last day of school for the year. There's no doubt the driver spotted the kids before detonating...

Citing 'Treason,' Somali Prez Fires His PM

Gov't near collapse, insurgents vow never to talk to leadership

(Newser) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf fired his prime minister today and accused him of paralyzing the government with "corruption, inefficiency, and treason." Hours later, as the government veered toward collapse, Islamic insurgents held a brazen news conference in the capital and vowed never to negotiate with the leadership.

US Focus in Afghanistan Shifts to Kabul

Some 3,500 troops will guard capital region

(Newser) - January’s US troop deployments in Afghanistan will focus on areas near Kabul, reflecting rising security concerns about the capital, the New York Times reports. The move marks the first time large numbers of troops will be deployed to regions south of the city. The 3,500 to 4,000...

Obama Must Put Lawless Somalia Back on Agenda

US has treated nation as if it doesn't matter ... just like pre-9/11 Afghanistan

(Newser) - With a government “rotten to the core,” continuing civilian deaths, and burgeoning Islamic extremism that echoes the atmosphere in Afghanistan under the Taliban, it’s time for the US to stop ignoring Somalia, writes Aidan Hartley in Vanity Fair. After two helicopters were shot down there in 1993,...

How the US Made Somalia a Terrorist Haven
How the US
Made Somalia a Terrorist Haven
OPINION
Nov 18, 2008 9:35 AM CST

How the US Made Somalia a Terrorist Haven

Coalition overthrown, country is now run by al-Qaeda allies

(Newser) - Iraq and Afghanistan loom largest among the fiascos undertaken in the name of a "war on terror," Martin Fletcher writes in the Times of London, but there has been a third front in that offensive: Somalia. After 15 years of anarchy, the US helped destroy the country's first...

Afghanistan Sinking Into Chaos

Violence, corruption destroying nation, US report reveals

(Newser) - A soon-to-be released classified report on Afghanistan paints a grim picture of a nation sliding into chaos, the New York Times reports. The report—the most detailed from American intelligence services in years—reveals that rampant corruption and the booming heroin trade has seriously destabilized the country as militants based...

Booby-Trapped Homes Pose Threat to Troops in Iraq

Insurgents load potential shelters with explosives

(Newser) - For US troops in Iraq’s still-volatile Diyala province, abandoned houses can be a refuge—or a serious threat, the Wall Street Journal reports. Soldiers depend on abandoned houses to provide shelter as combat bases, but insurgents have taken to wiring the buildings with “house-borne improvised explosive devices,”...

Petraeus' Successor Has Mixed Record

Ray Odierno takes over today as Army's top dog in Iraq

(Newser) - Gen. Ray Odierno, who today became the top US commander in Iraq, was instrumental in last year’s troop surge that helped stabilize the country. But though most notably known for mirroring predecessor David Petraeus' focus on protecting Iraqi citizens, some in the military have slammed his methods early in...

The Bloody Battle for One Afghan Valley
 The Bloody Battle 
 for One Afghan Valley 
glossies
Sep 7, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

The Bloody Battle for One Afghan Valley

As the war gets bloodier, there's some hope of progress

(Newser) - As the nation's military focus shifts to Afghanistan, Sebastian Junger of Vanity Fair spends time with US troops fighting “ambush by ambush” in the 6-mile Korengal Valley in the tense northeast. The region, Junger says, is a “test case” for fighting insurgencies and a prime example of the...

Afghanistan's Insurgency Endures

Attacks highlight security decline

(Newser) - The insurgency in Afghanistan is mushrooming, and targeting the refurbished highway that provides a weak connection between the country's ethnic halves, the New York Times reports. A series of deadly attacks in June has exposed the tribulations of the United States' 6-year-old effort to defeat the Taliban.

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