Taliban

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Next Target Taliban Stronghold of Kandahar
Next Target Taliban Stronghold of Kandahar
Gen. McChrystal

Next Target Taliban Stronghold of Kandahar

Meanwhile, Gates arrives in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Preparations have begun for a crucial campaign to assert Afghan government control over Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said today. The NATO-led force is growing in districts around Kandahar that are under the Taliban thumb, ahead of an eventual military operation, McChrsytal said, though he added...

Suicide Bomber Kills 12 in Pakistan

Target was cop building where terror suspects are grilled

(Newser) - At least 12 people were killed today when a suicide car bomber struck a police building in Lahore. Scores were injured in the attack, including women and children walking to a nearby school. The bombing, at a location where "high value" terror suspects are interrogated, was the first major...

1 in 3 Killed by US Drones Are Civilians

Think tank issues report on Pakistan casualties

(Newser) - One out of three people killed by unmanned US Predator drones in Pakistan is a civilian, according to a new report sure to fuel criticism of the unmanned attacks. The report by a Washington think tank found that 32% of the more than 1,200 people killed since 2004 were...

Afghans, Allies Split Over Taliban Talks

Karzai's invitation creates confusion

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has invited the Taliban to join peace talks this spring, but widespread confusion remains over who'll be doing the talking and what will be on the table. The British—and some senior American commanders—appear keener than the Obama administration to begin substantive talks, the Washington ...

Afghanistan Bans Live Coverage of Militant Attacks

Country says coverage 'emboldens' militants

(Newser) - Afghanistan has banned live coverage of Taliban attacks, saying live images embolden militants at the government's expense. Journalists with permission from the country's spy agency will be allowed to film the aftermath of battle. Human rights groups denounced the move. "The government should not hide their inabilities by barring...

Suicide Bombers Kill 17 in Downtown Kabul

Taliban claims responsibility for attack targeting Indians

(Newser) - At least 17 people were killed when gunmen and five suicide bombers struck in the heart of Kabul today. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted a major shopping center and two guesthouses used mainly by Indian embassy employees and other foreigners working in the Afghan capital....

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah
 Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah 

Afghan Flag Raised in Marjah

Government aims to win residents' allegiance with jobs, projects

(Newser) - The Afghan flag was raised today in Marjah after a two-week offensive that left at least 10 coalition troops and 150 Taliban fighters dead and set the stage for the Afghan government’s hopeful return to an area it ceded two years ago. The governor of Helmand province was at...

Zazi Pleads Guilty in NYC Subway Terror Plot

Airport shuttle driver points finger at US actions in Afghanistan

(Newser) - A former Denver airport shuttle driver today admitted to a plot to bomb the New York City subways, saying he was recruited by al-Qaeda in Pakistan for a "martyrdom plan" against the US. Najibullah Zazi, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit...

Marines Squeeze Taliban Holdouts in Marjah

(Newser) - Marines and Afghan units converged today on a dangerous western quarter of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, with NATO forces facing "determined resistance" as their assault on the southern town entered its second week. Fighter jets, drones, and attack helicopters flew over Marjah, as Marine and Afghan companies moved...

Marines Seize Marjah Taliban HQ

Elite squads dropped behind Taliban lines as offensive continues

(Newser) - US Marines seized a compound that appears to have been the Taliban's Marjah headquarters after a fierce gunfight Friday. The compound just south of the town center contained dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and diplomas from a Taliban training camp in Pakistan, the AP reports. Small groups of fighters abandoned...

Taliban Snipers Finally Learn How to Shoot

Deadly marksmen a new challenge for US, Afghan forces

(Newser) - In their battle with US-led troops in Marjah, the Taliban seem to have traded up from their characteristically shoddy marksmen to skilled snipers who are taking a toll. Sniper fire, rarely seen in more than eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, has killed one Marine and struck four others in...

Joint Sting Bags Another Key Taliban Leader

US-Pakistan effort captures provincial 'shadow governor'

(Newser) - On the heels of news that US and Pakistani forces working together captured the Taliban’s No. 2 leader comes word that the cooperative effort has bagged the group’s “shadow governor” of Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province. The Pakistanis pinched Mullah Abdul Salam last week in the northeastern...

Taliban Using Human Shields in Marjah

Troops strive to avoid civilian casualties, take city center

(Newser) - Taliban fighters in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, as they try to thwart NATO's house-to-house searches, according to the top Afghan general in the offensive. “The enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a...

In Taliban Commander's Capture, a Coup for Pakistan

Mullah Baradur's arrest likely to complicate Taliban peace talks

(Newser) - The capture of the Taliban's military commander is a major coup for Pakistan that is likely to win the country a bigger say in Afghanistan's future, analysts say. Pakistani officials had complained that they were being excluded from American negotiations with the Afghan Taliban. But with Mullah Baradar in their...

Captured Taliban Commander Said to Be 'Talking'
Captured Taliban Commander Said to Be 'Talking'
UPDATED

Captured Taliban Commander Said to Be 'Talking'

Arrest of Abdul Ghani Baradar signals new US-Pakistani cooperation

(Newser) - The arrest of the Taliban's top military commander in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation in Karachi signals a major victory against the insurgents, officials said today. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is the group's No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and a close associate of Osama bin Laden....

Marjah Taliban 'Running Out of Gas'

Commaders say half town's fighters are dead or fled

(Newser) - The number of Taliban fighters in Marjah has dropped by half and morale is fading fast among the rest, according to American and Afghan commanders. Some 100 of the 400 fighters in the area when the AFghan offensive began Saturday have been killed and commanders say close to 100 more...

US-Pakistan Raid Nets Taliban's Military Chief

Mullah Baradar best capture yet: officials

(Newser) - American officials say they’ve scored their best enemy capture since the beginning of the Afghanistan war, nabbing the Taliban’s military chief in Pakistan in a joint operation with that country’s security services. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is second only in influence to spiritual leader Mullah Muhammad Omar,...

Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah
 Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah 

Snipers Pin Troops in Marjah

Firefights erupt across town

(Newser) - Sniper teams attacked US Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah today, the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland. Multiple firefights broke out in different neighborhoods as American and Afghan forces worked to clear out pockets of insurgents and push slowly...

Allies Storm Marjah, Begin Treacherous Sweeps

Fighting sporadic but fierce as US wonders how many Taliban remain

(Newser) - US, British, and Afghan troops encountered little initial resistance as they swept into Marjah yesterday and took up "all the strategic points in the area" in the biggest offensive since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. It was as they began individually searching houses, reports Dexter Filkins in the New ...

Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy
Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy
analysis

Marjah Offensive Ends 'Mowing the Grass' Strategy

When fighting ends, an Afghan government will move in

(Newser) - The massive new assault under way in Afghanistan represents the new military strategy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, writes Dexter Filkins. When the fighting is over and coalition forces have taken control of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, the Afghan government will quickly set up government offices along with a police...

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