Taliban

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Afghan Intelligence Report: We're Screwed

Reports contradict military's more upbeat view

(Newser) - The US is faring poorly in the Afghan war, with large areas of the country on the verge of falling to the Taliban, according to the latest National Intelligence Estimates on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The classified reports, which represent the collective wisdom of a dozen intelligence agencies, also say that...

New Taliban Video Shows Captive US Soldier

Bowe Bergdahl spotted in propaganda video

(Newser) - The Taliban's only known American captive appears in a new propaganda video posted online. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan nearly 18 months ago, was last seen in a Taliban video released in April . There is no indication when the scenes in the video were recorded, but Bergdahl's family...

Afghan Cops Catch Man Who Helped Cut Off Teen's Nose

But he may not be punished by country's corrupt courts

(Newser) - Afghan police have captured one of the men who allegedly sliced off the ears and nose of a teenage Afghan girl. That girl, now-19-year-old Bibi Aisha, became the maimed face of Taliban oppression when Newsweek ran a story on her this summer (summarized here .) Police have now arrested her...

27% of Afghans Say Insurgent Attacks Are Justified

Last year, only 8% thought so

(Newser) - A new poll shows a striking increase in the number of Afghans who support insurgent attacks against American troops: 27%, compared to just 8% last year, called such attacks justified. The increase parallels an increase in Afghan civilian casualties—fatalities and injuries were up 31% in the first half of...

Suicide Bombers Kill 50 in Pakistan

Massive casualties attributed to bullets in bombers' jackets

(Newser) - A pair of suicide bombers disguised as policemen killed 50 people today in an attack targeting a tribal meeting called to discuss the formation of an anti-Taliban militia in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The attack occurred on the grounds of the main government compound in Mohmand, part of Pakistan's militant-infested...

Saudi Arabia Is Critical Source of Terror Funding

Money still flowing to al-Qaeda, Taliban, Hamas, and more: WikiLeaks

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia remains a major source of funding for various terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Hamas, according to US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks today, reports AFP by way of Google News. While one cable touted what it termed the “significant progress" the Saudis have made in...

Afghan Government Frees Taliban Fighters for Cash

WikiLeaks cable reveals US fury over prisoner release

(Newser) - Taliban commanders no longer fear capture because Afghan security forces are freeing fighters in return for cash or political favors. The practice has become so widespread that the Taliban have a committee devoted to securing the release of prisoners, reports Reuters , citing sources familiar with a range of cases. One...

Taliban Snickers at US Over Impostor's Ruse

It also shows reports of peace talks were false, says commander

(Newser) - News that an impostor posing as a high-ranking Taliban official fooled US, UK, and Afghan officials—and made a tidy profit to boot—is going over well among the real Taliban. One commander tells the Daily Beast : “Imagine if a shopkeeper from Quetta can make a fool of them...

UK Cabbie Moonlights as ... Taliban Fighter

British citizens with Afghan roots head over for months at a time

(Newser) - Talk about deflating the mystique of the Taliban: "I work as a minicab driver," one fighter in northern Afghanistan tells the Guardian . He spends most of the year in East London but travels to Afghanistan for a few months to join the fight—and he's apparently not alone....

British Brought in Taliban Impostor: Karzai Aide

UK intelligence paid fake senior insurgent

(Newser) - British officials are at fault for bringing a Taliban impostor to Afghanistan’s presidential palace to meet Hamid Karzai, the president’s chief of staff tells the Washington Post . An Afghan at the meeting knew the man wasn’t top Taliban figure Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour; foreigners shouldn’t be...

US Now in Afghanistan as Long as Soviets

9 years, 50 days: Same length, different fight, analysts say

(Newser) - As of today, the US military has been fighting in Afghanistan for 9 years and 50 days—exactly as long as the Soviets did during their doomed campaign to turn the country into a socialist state. Analysts say that while the Soviet invasion and the NATO campaign have very different...

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'
 Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out' 
maureen dowd
Nov 24, 2010 10:03 AM CST

Afghanistan Is 'Faking Us Out'

We're stuck in a region that's taking us for a ride, writes Maureen Dowd

(Newser) - Considering the fact that the billions we've spent on intelligence hasn't enabled us to distinguish between an impostor and an actual Taliban leader, it’s no wonder the war in Afghanistan is a mess. “The tragedy has descended into farce,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times...

Taliban Chief at Peace Talks Was Impostor

Fake leader paid handsomely for taking part in talks

(Newser) - A "Taliban leader" heavily involved in peace talks in Afghanistan was an impostor, according to US and Afghan officials. The man, who pretended to be high-ranking Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, was flown to several meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was given a sizable sum of cash for...

Pakistan Freed Captors of NYT Reporter

It's more evidence of ties between government, Taliban

(Newser) - An investigative piece by the Nation about what happened in the aftermath of an American reporter's escape from his captors demonstrates yet again that Pakistan's secretive ISI agency maintains close ties with the Taliban. The case revolves around New York Times reporter David Rohde, who was kidnapped and held 7...

Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014
Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014
nato summit
Nov 19, 2010 9:30 AM CST

Obama Plans to Stay in Afghanistan Past 2014

President brings new strategy to NATO summit

(Newser) - As the NATO summit in Lisbon begins today, President Obama has a new plan for Afghanistan—and it calls for the US and others to stick around beyond 2014, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO forces, the plan says, will turn over the country to Afghan forces by 2014, but...

We're Not Open to Talks: Taliban Boss

Mullah Mohammed Omar says insurgents are winning war

(Newser) - Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has once again denied that the insurgents are open to talks with the Afghan government. In a message for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Omar argues insurgents in Afghanistan are winning the war. "Claims about negotiation, flexibility in the stance of the Islamic...

Taliban Writes Letter to Congress

'Your military leaders are lying,' states missive

(Newser) - In a brazen bid to squeeze the US out of Afghanistan, the Taliban has written its first "open letter" to Congress detailing why America "can't win" the war. Letter author and Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi called on Congress to send a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan. The...

Entire Afghan Police Station Defects to Taliban

19 cops cut a deal with insurgents, sack, burn station

(Newser) - An entire Afghan police station defected to the Taliban today, with as many as 19 officers joining insurgent fighters in sacking and burning their own station, the New York Times reports. The lone remaining cop of the station southwest of Kabul—the chief—said that the turncoats took their guns,...

Afghan Peace Talks Not Actually Happening: Officials

Experts say reports likely part of 'information strategy'

(Newser) - Don’t believe the reports of high-level peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government: No such discussions are taking place, say US officials and Afghan experts. Such reports, the experts noted, could be intended to divide Taliban bosses, McClatchy reports. “This is a psychological operation, plain and...

Taliban Retreats in Kandahar: NATO

Coalition thinks they've made big progress

(Newser) - NATO and Afghan forces have been wiping the floor with the Taliban in Kandahar in recent weeks, using new high-precision mobile rockets to rout insurgents from their long-held strongholds, NATO commanders, Afghan officials and local residents tell the New York Times . Western officials believe the Taliban has been dealt a...

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