Taliban

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US to Pakistan: Take Out Haqqani

Or we will; rhetoric increasing in wake of embassy attack

(Newser) - US officials have been sending Pakistan an increasingly sharp message in recent days: Take out the Haqqani Taliban network, or we will. Pakistan’s intelligence service has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani network—Adm. Mike Mullen described it as a “proxy connection”—but after a series of...

Taliban: Peace Talks Lured Rabbani to His Doom

Assassin promised to bring Taliban leaders to the table

(Newser) - Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated yesterday by a pair of "articulate and well-trained" fighters who won his trust by promising peace talks, a Taliban spokesman gloats. The killer—a suicide attacker who blew up a bomb in his turban—and his accomplice "were telling Rabbani that...

Ex-Afghan President Rabbani Assassinated

Suicide bomber entered his Kabul home with explosives in turban

(Newser) - Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated today, dealing a harsh blow to peace efforts after a decade of war. Officials say a suicide bomber concealing explosives in his turban entered Rabbani's house in Kabul and blew himself up; four of Rabbani's bodyguards also died and a key...

Pakistanis, Taliban Battle for Downed Drone

China, Iran could gain access to drone parts

(Newser) - Pakistani troops battled Taliban fighters over a downed CIA drone today, raising fears that America's enemies may gain access to its military technology. Taliban militants reportedly surrounded the Predator in a tribal region of Pakistan, but were fought off by Pakistani soldiers in a 4-hour battle that left three...

In Prep for US Embassy Siege, Militants Wore Burkas

Siege is over, nearly 21 hours after it began

(Newser) - This morning—almost 21 hours after the attack on the US embassy and other buildings in Kabul began—the last of the six attackers have been killed and the area is locked down. But questions are being raised about why it took so long to secure the high-rise building used...

Attacks Rock Kabul, US Embassy

Taliban takes credit for concerted strikes

(Newser) - Blasts rang out today in Kabul's embassy district, with the Taliban taking credit for a coordinated series of attacks that included suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades, and at-times heavy gunfire, reports the Wall Street Journal. The US embassy was among those targeted, with one western diplomat reporting gunfire within its...

Afghan Bombing Injures 77 Americans

Taliban claim responsibility for suicide bomber at outpost

(Newser) - Nearly 80 American soldiers were wounded and two Afghan civilians were killed in a Taliban truck bombing targeting an American base in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said today, a stark reminder that the war in Afghanistan still rages 10 years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The attack was carried out...

Taliban Claims Kidnapping of 25 Pakistani Boys

It's punishment for their parents' support of the government

(Newser) - The Taliban says it has kidnapped about 25 Pakistani boys as punishment for their parents' support of the government, reports Reuters . Militants reportedly captured the youths when they mistakenly crossed the border into Afghanistan during an outing. A spokesman said militants have yet to decide the boys' fate. "We...

Afghans Leaked US-Taliban Talks to End Them

US contact Tayyab Aga has fled to Europe

(Newser) - Someone in the Afghan presidential palace intentionally leaked the news that the US was negotiating with the Taliban, scuttling the talks and sending the US contact into hiding, sources tell the AP . Hamid Karzai didn't trust the US and feared any deal between it and the Taliban would diminish...

40 Dead in Pakistan Suicide Attack

Suicide bomber hits mosque during Friday prayers

(Newser) - A suicide bomber struck a mosque in a Pakistani tribal region during Friday prayers, officials said, killing at least 40 people and wounding 85 others in the deadliest attack in the country in recent weeks. Some 300 people had gathered for prayers this afternoon in the Sunni mosque, and many...

10 Dead in Attack on British Council in Kabul

Five insurgents involved; Taliban claims responsibility

(Newser) - A coordinated attack today on a British compound in Kabul involving two suicide bombers and a five-hour long firefight between Afghan security troops and attackers who penetrated the complex killed at least 10 people, Afghan officials say. The attack on the British Council occurred as Afghans celebrated Independence Day, marking...

$360M Lost to Insurgents, Criminals in Afghanistan

'Reverse money laundering' turned clean money dirty

(Newser) - While the US military has known for some time that a chunk of the money being spent in Afghanistan on logistics ends up in the hands of the Taliban and criminals , at last the military has an estimate of just how big those losses are—$360 million, according to a...

Witnesses Recount Helicopter Tragedy

Chinook burst into flames, crashed in pieces

(Newser) - As soon as the Chinook helicopter carrying 30 American troops and eight Afghans was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a hillside, it burst into flames, a witness tells the AP . "After it started burning, it crashed. It came down in three pieces. We could see it burning...

US-Taliban Talks Collapse
 US-Taliban Talks Collapse 
Aug 11, 2011 10:07 AM CDT

US-Taliban Talks Collapse

Taliban unhappy over media leaks

(Newser) - The US-Taliban talks have been cut off, thanks to media leaks. Western diplomats tell the Telegraph that confidentiality was a key condition of the talks, held in Germany and Qatar in March and April, but they were halted after just three meetings because details were leaked. Among other things, the...

NATO Strikes Kill Taliban Helicopter Shooters

But second Taliban leader gets away

(Newser) - A NATO strike on Monday took out the Taliban forces responsible for downing a Chinook helicopter, reports Reuters , in a tragedy that killed all 38 Afghan and American soldiers aboard last weekend. "The strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mohibullah and the insurgent who fired the shot associated with the...

Was Crashed Copter's Rescue Mission Necessary?

Investigators probing that question

(Newser) - A heartbreaking twist in the helicopter tragedy that claimed 38 US and Afghan lives: The rescue mission the troops were en route to may not even have been necessary. Special Operations forces in the remote Tangi Valley requested assistance after coming under fire from "several" insurgents, even though they...

NATO: Taliban Rocket Likely Downed Helicopter

Officials working to recover every single piece

(Newser) - The helicopter that crashed over the weekend in Afghanistan, killing 30 US troops and eight others, was likely shot down by a Taliban rocket, NATO forces said today. Though the Taliban was quick to claim responsibility, Western officials had been tight-lipped until today's announcement, Reuters notes. The Navy SEALs...

SEALs in Afghan Crash Died After Rescuing Comrades

Elite fighters saved Army Rangers pinned down by fire

(Newser) - The Navy SEALs killed in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan were headed home from a rescue mission in which they flew to the aid of Army rangers who had come under a major Taliban assault, officials are revealing. The SEALs had "subdued attackers" who had pinned down the Rangers...

AP: Crash Victims Include SEALs Who Killed bin Laden
SEALs From Elite Unit Killed in Afghan Crash
updated
Aug 6, 2011 11:40 AM CDT

SEALs From Elite Unit Killed in Afghan Crash

They weren't the same men who got bin Laden, however

(Newser) - US officials tell the Associated Press that they believe none of the Navy SEALs who died in today's helicopter crash in Afghanistan had participated in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, although they were from the same unit that carried out the bin Laden mission. In all, 30...

30 US Troops Die in Afghan Chopper Crash

Deadliest incident in decade-old war; Karzai sends condolences

(Newser) - A helicopter crash in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province has killed 30 US special operation troops and seven Afghan soldiers, Hamid Karzai said today. (The US figure was revised from 31.) It was the highest number of casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war. NATO confirmed...

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