Afghanistan

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US Must Talk With Taliban: Pakistan Official

Frontier governor says insurgents have place in peace efforts

(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...

Pakistani Troops Fire on US Helicopters

US forced back across border to Afghanistan

(Newser) - Pakistani troops fired on two US helicopters crossing the border apparently to attack militants last night and drove them back into Afghanistan, Reuters reports. The aircraft crossed the border in the restive North Waziristan tribal region, according to Pakistani sources. US officials refused to confirm the report. Pakistani officials have...

Taliban Surges Back With New Battle Plan

These are not your father's theocrats

(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,”...

US Able to Delay Al Qaeda's Annual 9/11 Tape a Week

Intelligence efforts to infiltrate terror group's networks appears to pay off

(Newser) - Al Qaeda’s commemoration of the Sept. 11 terror attacks came a bit later than usual this year, ABC News reports, as US intelligence services were able to block the group's annual propaganda video from making the Internet rounds until today. Sources said Germany and Malaysia helped keep the extremist...

Missile Strikes Are Learning Tool: CIA

Chief says agency 'tickles' terrorist enemy to gauge reaction

(Newser) - The CIA purposely uses missile strikes to "tickle" enemy groups, often by targeting a single person, to learn from their responses, agency chief Michael Hayden said today. Hayden also told a gathering of Air Force members the CIA has "picked up insights" from working alongside the military, the...

Gates Apologizes for Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan

US defense secretary expresses 'personal regret' over wayward airstrikes

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Afghanistan today, apologized for recent civilian casualties from military operations, the AP reports. While the US strives for precision in airstrikes against Taliban insurgents, “it is clear that we have to work even harder,” Gates said—even as the coalition commander said...

Pakistan Orders Troops to Fire if US Launches Raid

Civilian leaders say they seek diplomatic solution

(Newser) - Pakistan's military has ordered its forces to open fire if US troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said today. The orders come in response to a highly unusual ground attack by American commandos earlier this month, and subsequent repeated reports of US...

Pakistan Army Fires on US Troops Trying to Cross Border

Tensions high as shots rebuff helicopters

(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...

Afghan Governor, 3 Others Killed by Roadside Bomb

Official had helped in 2001 US defeat of Taliban

(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 unclear whether the roadside attack was...

US Missile Strike Kills at Least 10 in Pakistan

New fuel for tensions between US and Pakistan

(Newser) - A US missile attack killed at least 10 people today in northwest Pakistan, where many al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are based, Reuters reports. Drones fired missiles at a former government school that housed militants and their families in the latest move in  a heated US-Pakistan disagreement over militants in the...

Al-Qaeda Looks Weaker, But Still Hungry to Strike

Anti-terror campaign has taken toll, but threat remains imminent

(Newser) - Seven years after 9/11, al-Qaeda's hatred of the West hasn't waned, even if some experts think the terrorist group’s capabilities are weakened, the Los Angeles Times reports. Al-Qaeda’s failure to launch any major attacks since 2005 suggests that aggressive prosecution and prevention operations have been successful. However, Osama...

Bush Ordered Raids Without Pakistan OK

White House suspicious of Pakistan intelligence ties to militants

(Newser) - President Bush green-lighted orders allowing American special forces to conduct raids inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government, senior US officials told the New York Times. One raid took place last week and more are expected as the US steps up its actions against al-Qaeda militants—despite the...

US 'Running Out of Time' in Afghanistan: Defense Chiefs

(Newser) - The top US military brass warned Congress today that America needs more troops and a better strategy in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports. "I am not convinced that we're winning" there, said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, though he added: "I'm convinced we...

Pakistan's Zardari Sworn In

New president under pressure to tackle Islamic militants

(Newser) - Asif Ali Zardari took office as Pakistan's new president today, facing immediate pressure to crack down on Islamic militants and address daunting economic problems. Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai was present at a brief ceremony to swear in the widower of assassinated ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, his presence an imposing reminder of...

US Opens Probe in Deadly Afghan Strike

Strike on Azizabad seems far deadlier than military admits

(Newser) - Two weeks after it launched a major airstrike in Azizabad, the American military is still insisting that only 5 to 7 civilians died in the raid. But the villagers, the Afghan government, the UN and human rights groups all say that the civilian death toll was much higher—that more...

Cheney Sued to Expose Secrets

Citizens group asks judge to order his records preserved for public access

(Newser) - A federal judge is being asked to prevent Dick Cheney from destroying or hiding what some believe are the administration's best kept secrets, reports the Washington Post. The advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics is calling for a court order to force the powerful vice president to preserve his...

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...

Bush Advised to Delay Troop Cuts in Iraq

He may also leave any Afghan buildup to his successor

(Newser) - President Bush's top defense advisers have recommended he maintain 15 combat brigades in Iraq until the end of the year—contrary to expectations that the improved security in Iraq would allow for quicker cuts, the AP has learned. If Bush follows the recommendations, he would delay any additional buildup in...

Taliban Photos Enrage French
Taliban Photos Enrage French
Sep 5, 2008 9:06 AM CDT

Taliban Photos Enrage French

Magazine shows militants posing with personal effects of dead soldiers

(Newser) - A magazine photo shoot of Taliban fighters wearing the uniforms and personal effects of dead French troops has shocked France, the Guardian reports. Paris Match ran the photos and an interview with a Taliban commander who claims to be responsible for the ambush that killed 10 French soldiers last month....

Suspected US Strike Kills 5 in Pakistan

Drone attack is the latest of several near Afghan border

(Newser) - A suspected US airstrike on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed at least 5 people today, part of a stepped-up effort against militants in the region, the AP reports. The victims' identities remained unclear. Conflicting intelligence reports called them either al-Qaeda operatives or innocent women and children, AFP notes. US...

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