Afghanistan

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Why There Haven't Been More Bombings Here

Would-be terrorists face multiple obstacles stateside

(Newser) - From the explosives in Umar Abdulmutallab's pants to Faisal Shahzad's smoldering SUV in Times Square, most recent terror attempts in the US have failed spectacularly. Militant groups who regularly and successfully carry out bombings in Afghanistan and Iraq have a much tougher time launching attacks in the US. Dina Temple-Raston...

Villagers' Revolt Against Taliban Raises US Hopes
Villagers' Revolt Against Taliban Raises US Hopes
afghan war
Jun 21, 2010 6:44 AM CDT

Villagers' Revolt Against Taliban Raises US Hopes

Gizab villagers won town back from insurgents

(Newser) - In late April, a remote village in southern Afghanistan became the unlikely site of a major milestone in the 9-year-long war here: For the first time, ordinary Afghans rose up against the Taliban on their own, in a local revolt that succeeded in winning the town of Gizab back from...

17 Afghan Soldiers Have Gone AWOL in Texas

Some have security access badges

(Newser) - A nationwide alert has gone out warning that 17 Afghan military members have gone AWOL while training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The men were training to be pilots, know some English, and have security badges granting access to any Defense Department installation, according to a bulletin entitled...

Democrats Confront Pentagon on Afghan War

Violence is up, and so is lawmaker anxiety

(Newser) - A schism deepened yesterday between US war leaders and Congress as top Democrats challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan. "I wouldn't call it eroding," Carl Levin said of support for the war. "But there's a lot of fair concern." That was especially...

Wikileaks Set to Release US Massacre Vid

Assange: 140 civilians killed in bloody tape

(Newser) - Wikileaks' founder has emerged from hiding from federal officials to announce plans to release a US troop massacre video leaked to the whistleblower website. The classified Pentagon video shows the Garani attack last year that resulted in the death of some 140 Afghanistan civilians, many of them children, Julian Assange...

Did Pentagon Use the Times to Hype its Afghan Auction?

Timing of miracle minerals story fishy

(Newser) - There has been much grousing about the New York Times’ non-scoop on Afghanistan’s trillion-dollar mineral deposits. Most people figured the Pentagon spoon-fed the paper the story to drum up public support for the war. But now it looks like it may have been trying to drum up customers, says...

Times 'Scoop' on Afghan Minerals Less Than Meets the Eye

Administration using carrot of mineral wealth to drum up war support

(Newser) - The New York Times reports today that the government has discovered billions in mineral reserves in Afghanistan—"far beyond any previously known reserves." But is it true? In fact, Afghanistan's mineral wealth seems to be well known—Paul Jay, writing for the Huffington Post , points to a 2007...

Pakistan's Spy Agency Arms, Trains Taliban: Report

ISI allegedly trains and funds militants

(Newser) - Pakistan's main spy agency continues to arm and train the Taliban and is even represented on the group's leadership council despite US pressure to sever ties and billions in aid to combat the militants, a research report concluded. "Pakistan's apparent involvement in a double-game of this scale could have...

US Finds $1T Worth of Minerals in Afghanistan

Iron, copper, gold, and lithium identified

(Newser) - Vast deposits of iron, copper, gold, and lithium have been discovered throughout Afghanistan by US geologists, a find estimated to be worth $1 trillion. The discovery of such huge natural resources could turn Afghanistan into one of the world's most important mining centers—and could have a profound impact on...

Karzai Doesn't Think US Can Win

Afghan leader doubts West will defeat the Taliban

(Newser) - This doesn't bode well for the mission in Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai doubts that the US and NATO can defeat the Taliban, reports Dexter Filkins of the New York Times . While the West is pressing ahead with its military push against insurgents, Karzai is reportedly reaching out to the Taliban in...

We Can't Take Kandahar Yet: McChrystal

NATO delays operation because locals don't want them there

(Newser) - The military push to secure Kandahar is being delayed, because the hearts-and-minds part of the operation isn’t going so well, General Stanley McChrystal revealed at a NATO meeting in Brussels today. The massive operation to take back the birthplace of the Taliban was supposed to begin this month, the...

Taliban Executes 7-Year-Old Spy
Taliban
Executes 7-Year-Old Spy
Jun 10, 2010 7:22 AM CDT

Taliban Executes 7-Year-Old Spy

Hamid Karzai slams hanging as a 'crime against humanity'

(Newser) - The Taliban hanged a 7-year-old boy accused of spying for the government, reports the Daily Mail . Reports of the execution—yet to be confirmed by Afghan officials—drew the attention of President Hamid Karzai, reports CNN . "A 7-year-old boy cannot be a spy," he said. "A 7-year-old...

Suicide Attack Kills 40 at Afghan Wedding Party

Taliban blamed for Kandahar blast

(Newser) - Officials in Kandahar say they have no doubt that the Taliban was behind a suicide attack that killed at least 40 people at a wedding party last night. Dozens more were injured, although the bride and groom survived. The groom's brother and two of his cousins were police officers, and...

Taliban Torch 50 Trucks in NATO Supply Convoy

Attack calls into question Pakistan supply route

(Newser) - In a bold attack on the allied military supply chain in Afghanistan, Taliban gunmen last night torched a convoy of 50 NATO supply trucks in Pakistan, killing at least seven people. The gunmen ambushed the convoy on the outskirts of Islamabad, killed drivers and security guards, then set the vehicles...

Al-Qaeda No.3 'Killed by Drone'

US: Mustafa al-Yazid's death will be a crushing blow to militants

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda's operational chief has been killed by a US Predator drone strike in Pakistan, according to reports from the militant group that American officials believe are correct. Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, an Egyptian, was a founding member of al-Qaeda and is believed to have been the militant group's third-in-command behind Osama...

Child Brides Flogged for Fleeing Illegal Marriages

Afghan girls expecting help beaten instead

(Newser) - When Khadija, 13, and Basgol, 14, escaped from the much older men they'd been forced to marry, they thought the police would help. Instead, the police officers who found the girls fleeing on a bus sent them back to their home village to be brutally flogged for running away from...

US Slams Drone Jockeys for Killing Afghan Civilians

Operators ordered to undergo increased training

(Newser) - The US military has released a harsh self-critique, blaming the “inaccurate and unprofessional” actions of Predator drone operators for the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians in a February strike. Six servicemembers have been disciplined, reports the New York TImes, in a report that underscores the importance being placed on...

1,000th US Military Death in Afghan War

Major Taliban leader reported dead

(Newser) - The US military suffered its 1,000th death in the nearly 9-year-old Afghan war today, according to an AP count, as fighting continued in a remote Eastern region near the Pakistan border for a sixth day. Hundreds of militants have been trying since Sunday to seize control of the Barg-e-Matal...

US Troop Count in Afghanistan Overtakes Iraq

100K US troops to be in Afghanistan by this summer

(Newser) - The number of US troops in Afghanistan has hit 94,000, for the first time surpassing the 92,000 currently deployed in Iraq. The milestone comes as the US prepares to reduce its number of personnel in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August, the BBC reports. But...

US Troops Wooing Taliban Foot Soldiers

What Washington still debates, soldiers are implementing

(Newser) - As Washington debates reconciling with Taliban commanders, US Marines on the ground in Afghanistan are already welcoming Taliban foot soldiers back into the fold. Reintegration, a process in which militants swear before their tribal elders to renounce the Taliban, is playing a growing role in American efforts to win over...

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