The Latest - Afghanistan
Boise Case May Be New Chapter for Terror Group
The IMU has been active in Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than a decade. The U.S. State Department declared it a foreign terrorist organization in 2000. more...
Reduced Security Blamed for Taliban Attack
The Taliban fighters who blew up a half-dozen U.S. Marine fighter jets on a sprawling NATO base last fall were able to walk easily onto the encampment because patrols of the perimeter... more...
Uzbek Fighters Gain Support in Afghan North
More than a decade ago, the people of the predominately Uzbek province of Takhar in the country's north fiercely resisted the Taliban's desire to impose Sharia on the region. Indeed, in January 2001, Taloqan... more...
Afghan Jail a ‘Tougher Problem Than Guantanamo’
With more than five times the number of prisoners than the detention facility on Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. jail next to Bagram Airfield is just one of many factors affecting the degree to which U.S. forces... more...
The Last Men
Eleven years later, almost to the week, Griffis’s time in Afghanistan, along with that of the last of the additional forces sent there by President Obama in early 2010, came to an end. Charlie Troop pulled out... more...
Alleged Insider Attack Kills 2 Nato Troops in Helmand
Two Isaf troops were killed and as many as two were injured in an apparent insider attack in southern Helmand province on Tuesday, officials said, with some reports saying the soldiers were British. more...
‘Mullah Radio’ Believed to be Behind Attack on Pakistani Schoolgirl
The Taliban leader who apparently ordered the assassination of a Pakistani schoolgirl last week may not be well-known outside the remote, picturesque Swat Valley. more...
Afghanistan’s Online War of Words
On October 5 the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) invited the Taliban to discuss the coalition's committment to free speech in Afghanistan. more...
Afghanistan Heads Towards a Messy, Unresolved Stalemate
Everything is going so swimmingly well in Afghanistan, suggested the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond last week, that British troops may start coming home early. more...
2 More NATO Troops Killed in Insider Attack
Two troops belonging to the U.S.-led military coalition were killed Saturday when an Afghan policeman turned his weapon on them in southern Afghanistan, NATO officials said. more...
So Many US Troops Are Getting Killed By Afghan ‘Allies’ They Now Carry Loaded Weapons Everywhere
Green on blue equals red alert for troops in Afghanistan. Troops will now carry loaded weapons everywhere they go on base, to include into meetings, because of the growing threat... more...
Coalition Steps Up Fight Against Afghan ‘Green-on-Blue’ Attacks
The United States and its allies are working to stop what they regard as an ominous trend: attacks against NATO-led troops by Afghan security forces or others clad in military or police uniforms. more...
US Troops Winning War Against IEDs of Taliban
The U.S. military is on a path toward significantly fewer battlefield deaths in Afghanistan this year because it has become better at detecting the No. 1 killer of U.S. troops: the improvised explosive device (IED). more...
The Commander in Chief is Tired of Commanding
Mr. Obama had reluctantly decided to order a surge of more than 30,000 troops. The aide told Mr. Obama that he believed military leaders had agreed to the tight schedule to begin withdrawing those troops just 18 months later. more...
Did Obama Improve Our Position in Afghanistan?
I asked Cliff May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies his take on whether the Taliban was growing stronger. He answered via e-mail: “They have an ideology/theology they believe in. more...
Year After bin Laden’s Death: Al-Qaeda ‘Far From Defeated’
"He created an organization and developed it," said Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA official and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "I don't think his death fundamentally affects the future of jihadist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan,"... more...
Taliban Website Under Repeat Attack By Hackers
Unknown hackers brought down the main Taliban website earlier this month, when El Emara's English-language page was replaced temporarily with images of Taliban atrocities and photographs of roadside bombs. more...
Al-Qaeda is Down, but Far From Out
The numbers tell the story: America’s counter-terrorism campaign is gradually shifting from Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and other parts of Africa. more...
Keeping on Offense
In the past few years the organization has also suffered steady losses from U.S. drone strikes. The drone campaign began under President George W. Bush and increased in intensity near the end of Bush’s time in office. more...
US Forces Make Gains After Trading Static Afghan Outposts for Mobility
“The belief was our presence there was radicalizing and driving the insurgents,” said Bill Roggio, who directs the Long War Journal for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. more...
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