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Return of the Taliban

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Return of the Taliban

They're back ?"and they're making themselves heard

At one point they were broken, disorganized, and on the run, hiding in the caves of Tora Bora, beaten down by an all-out attack by America and its allies following 9/11. Now, riding popular discontent over civilian casualties caused by allied forces, and with the US distracted by the war in Iraq, they are resurgent, challenging Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s control of the country. Inspired by Al-Qaeda’s devastating suicide bomb attacks in Iraq, the Taliban have imported this tactic to Afghanistan, making them a powerful—and deadly—threat once again

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October 2008
- UN Crackdown on Heroin Is Bleeding Taliban Dry
  
  Bloomberg | Oct 7, 08 11:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The UN has been quietly striking a major blow against the Taliban with a widely successful international attack on its heroin trade, Bloomberg reports. The campaign has seized several hundred tons of acetic anhydride bound for Afghanistan. Without the chemical, the Taliban can’t convert its poppy, which sells for about $100 per kilo, into heroin, which fetches about $3,500 per kilo. More »
- Taliban Breaks al-Qaeda Ties, Talks Peace: Report
  
  CNN | Oct 6, 08 10:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Taliban has broken all ties with al-Qaeda and engaged in peace talks with the Afghan government, CNN reports. The talks, held from Sept. 24-27 in Saudi Arabia, mark the first attempt to negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan. But both Afghan and Taliban spokesmen are denying the report, though Kabul says it’s interested in such a dialogue. More »
- Latest US Strike Kills 12 in Pakistan Border Region
  
  BBC | Oct 3, 08 6:42 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Another US airstrike today killed at least 12 people in the Pakistani province of North Waziristan, sources tell the BBC, backing off original estimates of 20 casualties. “Most were foreigners,” an official told AFP, and nine are suspected of having been Islamic militants. Taliban fighters use the area for raids into neighboring Afghanistan, and US forays across the border have raised tensions with Pakistan. More »
- Red Cross: Pakistan Now a War Zone
  
  New York Times | Oct 3, 08 6:12 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pakistan's escalating confrontation with the Taliban has plunged the country into full-scale war, the New York Times reports. A quarter of a million people have fled the fighting as the Pakistani army attacks the militants in tribal areas on at least three fronts, and 20,000 have flooded in desperation over the border into Afghanistan. "This is now a war zone," warned a Red Cross spokesman. More »
- Pakistan Helped Taliban Plan Afghan Attacks: Report
  
  Cadena SER | Oct 1, 08 6:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pakistani spies armed Taliban insurgents in 2005 assassination plots against the Afghan government, Cadena Ser radio reports after obtaining a confidential Spanish defense document. Bearing the defense ministry’s seal, the report alleges that Pakistan’s intelligence gave the militants roadside bombs, and may have also provided intelligence and training. Cadena Ser does not say how it obtained the documents. More »
- Afghanistan Commander Calls for More Troops, Now
  
  Associated Press | Oct 1, 08 1:51 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The top US commander in Afghanistan today asked for more troops, as well as additional political and economic aid, "as quickly as possible" to combat a growing influx of foreign insurgents in the country, the AP reports. The fight against Islamic militants is going to get harder before it gets any easier, Gen. David McKiernan told Pentagon reporters. More »
- Three Warlords Loom Large in Afghanistan
  
  Los Angeles Times | Oct 1, 08 12:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Behind Afghanistan’s recent escalation in violence looms three faces familiar to the US intelligence community. Mohammed Omar, founding mullah of the “Big T” Taliban government; Jalaluddin Haqqani, his one-time cabinet minister; and the ruthless Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are most responsible for leading the anti-government charge, the LA Times reports—and all three were armed and trained by the US during the Soviet invasion of the 1980s. More »
September 2008
- Taliban Leader Suspected in Bhutto Killing Dead
  
  CNN | Sep 30, 08 4:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Taliban leader suspected in the December assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto died today, officials tell CNN. Baitullah Mehsud, believed to be 34, succumbed to kidney failure, sources in his native tribal region of South Waziristan said; though Pakistani military officials also claimed Mehsud had died, some Taliban representatives denied it. More »
- Taliban Chief to America: Let's Make a Deal
  
  Reuters | Sep 30, 08 3:15 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Taliban boss Mullah Omar has warned that the US will suffer defeat just like the Soviet Union if it fails to withdraw from Afghanistan, Reuters reports. In a message posted on extremist websites, the defiant leader offered American forces "safe passage" out of Afghanistan if officials reconsider their "wrong decision of wrong occupation." More »
- US Must Talk With Taliban: Pakistan Official
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Sep 24, 08 2:42 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The governor of Pakistan’s tribal region says the US must negotiate with the Taliban if it hopes to bring peace to Afghanistan. “They have to talk to Mullah Omar, certainly—not maybe,” Owais Ghani told the Telegraph , referring to the group’s leader. “Political stability will only come when all political power groups, irrespective of the length of their beards, are given their just due.” More »
- Taliban Surges Back With New Battle Plan
  
  Washington Post | Sep 20, 08 3:46 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Today’s Taliban bears little resemblance to the incompetent barefoot mullahs the US ousted 7 years ago. In the past year, the Taliban has reinvented itself as a confident, well-armed militia with a mighty propaganda machine, the Washington Post reports. “This is not the Taliban of Emirate times,” said one aide from the old regime. “They are more educated, and they don't punish people for having CDs or cassettes.” More »
- Blast In Pakistan Capital Kills 40
  
  Washington Post | Sep 20, 08 12:46 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into a Marriott in Islamabad today, completely destroying it, the Washington Post reports. At least 40 are confirmed dead, and 200 injured, but police expect those numbers to rise; unconfirmed reports say more than 1,000 people were in the hotel during the attack. The hotel stood just blocks from major government buildings. More »
- Pakistan Army Fires on US Troops Trying to Cross Border
  
  BBC | Sep 15, 08 9:13 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pakistani soldiers fired shots into the air to prevent American troops from crossing the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan, according to officials in the region. The BBC reports that 9 US helicopters landed at around midnight on the Afghan side of the border, and troops then tried to enter into South Waziristan, part of Pakistan's lawless northwest. More »
- Afghan Governor, 3 Others Killed by Roadside Bomb
  
  Reuters | Sep 13, 08 8:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A bomb detonated near Kabul killed an Afghan provincial governor and three others today, Reuters reports; Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack. The governor and former cabinet minister, Abdullah Wardak, had helped the US when it toppled the Taliban in 2001. It was un