Taliban

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Marines Launch New Afghan Strategy

(Newser) - US Marines today launched a major offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan that will serve as the first big test of a new American strategy, reports the Washington Post. About 4,000 Marines descended on villages and towns in the remote Helmand province. Their goal, however, isn't to wage war...

Forget Pakistan's Claims: Taliban Is Only Hiding Out

Military's paltry victory gives fighters opening to reclaim stronghold

(Newser) - Pakistan is crowing over its victories against militants in the Swat Valley, but the Taliban has simply retreated to fight another day, Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah write in the New York Times. Pakistan, which only controls roads and urban centers, hasn't even killed one Taliban leader. "Most...

US to Change Tactics in Afghan Drug War

(Newser) - The US is changing tactics in its war against the Afghan opium trade, the AP reports. Rather than targeting crops for eradication, the US will focus on interdiction and alternative crop programs. A top administration official called eradication “a waste of money” that failed to divert “a single...

Karzai to Taliban: Please Vote
Karzai to Taliban:
Please Vote
Jun 27, 2009 4:51 AM CDT

Karzai to Taliban: Please Vote

Afghan prez urges militants to participate in election, not attack it

(Newser) - The president of Afghanistan has urged members of the Taliban to vote at the polls instead of attacking them in the country’s upcoming election, AFP reports. Incumbent Hamid Karzai said in a press conference today the Taliban should "vote for the president they want" in the Aug. 20...

US Drone Kills 60 in Pakistan; May Be Deadliest Ever

(Newser) - The American hunt for Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud—implicated, among other things, in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto—took two major twists today in Pakistan. Early reports suggest that a US military drone killed about 60 suspected militants after the funeral of an insurgent commander in South Waziristan near the...

Times Reporter Planned Escape for Weeks

Newspaper was prepared to pay $5M ransom to Taliban

(Newser) - David Rohde escaped from the Taliban only after weeks of planning, taking advantage of a length of rope to aid his descent down a 20-foot wall, the New York Times reports. The journalist and his Afghan colleague waited until a night when the city had electrical power, so the sound...

2 US Troops Killed in Attack on Afghan Base

Taliban claims responsibility for strike that wounded 6

(Newser) - Two US troops were killed and six more Americans were injured early this morning in a rocket strike on a US air base in Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the 2 a.m. strike on the heavily fortified compound, which brings the American death...

Media Kept Quiet on Journalist's Kidnapping

Times convinced all to put reporter's safety first

(Newser) - Media outlets ranging from major newspapers to blogs agreed to stay quiet on the kidnapping of New York Times reporter David Rohde, who escaped Taliban captors Friday after seven months, out of fear for his safety, reports the Washington Post. Times executive editor Bill Keller decided sit on the story...

NYT Reporter Escapes Taliban After 7 Months

(Newser) - A reporter for the New York Times held by the Taliban for 7 months in the tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan has escaped, the paper says. The Times kept David Rohde’s abduction secret out of concern for his safety and had been in sporadic contact with him and...

With US Help, India-Pakistan Tension Eases

(Newser) - Revamped leadership in India and Pakistan and some behind-the-scenes encouragement from the US could lead to negotiations over the disputed Kashmir region, the New York Times reports. But while there are shimmers of hope, the relationship is still strained. “I am happy to meet you,” India’s PM...

Pakistan Launches Operation to Kill Taliban Leader

Baitullah Mehsud blamed for several recent attacks

(Newser) - Pakistan is launching a manhunt for Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud—branded "the root cause of all evils," by one official—in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan officials blame Mehsud's group for a string of recent attacks, the BBC reports. The heavy military offensive is expected to please...

Pakistan Suicide Bombing Kills Moderate Cleric

(Newser) - One of Pakistan’s most prominent anti-Taliban clerics was killed today in a suicide bomb attack, the Times of London reports. Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, who supported the Pakistan army’s campaign in the Swat Valley, died on the way to the hospital after an explosion at his Islamic college in...

Death Toll Rises to 11 In Pakistani Hotel Blast

(Newser) - The death toll in the suicide attack on a luxury hotel in Pakistan rose to 11 with at least 70 injured, reports the Times of London. At least two foreigners were among the dead at the five-star Pearl Oriental in Peshawar, though no more specific IDs were available. Still no...

Pakistan Hotel Bombing Kills at Least 5

No responsibility claimed; attack matches Taliban threats

(Newser) - Gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Peshawar, then set off a huge blast that killed at least five people and wounded dozens more today in the latest of a string of suicide attacks in Pakistani cities, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it fit with...

Brits Grab $105M in Drugs From Afghan Taliban

Taliban drug factory found and destroyed in Helmand province

(Newser) - British troops have seized a huge stash of Taliban drugs after fierce fighting in Afghanistan, the Telegraph reports. Soldiers from the elite Black Watch squad discovered opium, heroin, and cannabis with a street value of some $105 million after attacking a Taliban drug factory in Helmand province. A number of...

Bin Laden Short on Hiding Spots: Officials

Pakistan offensive, troops in Afghanistan, drone attacks cut space

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden has fewer and fewer places to hide these days, officials tell NPR. And “the administration smells blood,” says a former counterterror official who cites three reasons for the shrinking space: Pakistan’s Swat Valley offensive against the Taliban, "along with US activities from the...

Pakistanis Finally Turning Against the Taliban

Swat Valley battles push citizens away from Islamic extremism

(Newser) - Only a year ago the Taliban had growing support in Pakistan, and many citizens regarded them as fellow Muslims opposed to the American government and military. But as the New York Times reports, public sentiment has shifted in recent months. Following violence in the Swat Valley and months of televised...

Taliban Kidnapped 500 From Boys' School: Pakistan

Police said to be negotiating with militants

(Newser) - Police are negotiating with the Taliban to release hundreds of people abducted in a northwest tribal region, a Pakistani official says. Around 500 students and staff from a boys’ school and their relatives were being held captive today in the militant stronghold of Bakka Khel in North Waziristan, he said....

Pakistan Says It's Close to Swat Victory

(Newser) - Pakistan’s defense secretary says the army will crush Taliban militants in the Swat Valley within days, the BBC reports. Just "5% to 10% of the job" is left, Syed Athar Ali told an Asian forum, though an army spokesman declined to give an actual timeline. Meanwhile, 40 rebels...

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City
 Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City 
May 30, 2009 9:50 AM CDT

Pakistan Retakes Key Swat City

(Newser) - Pakistan's military has regained control of the main town in the Swat Valley, raising hopes that at least some of the 2 million refugees from the region may be able to return home, reports Reuters. Battles on the outskirts remain, but the military said today it has ousted the Taliban...

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