AKI reports of talks and a NATO withdrawal from a district, but this isn’t policy yet American troops fire artillery near Musa Qala in Helmand province. Photo courtesy of SCANPIX/AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd. Click image to view. With Pakistan’s surrender of North Waziristan to the Taliban and al Qaeda, and the pending negotiations in Bajaur agency, […]
Taliban-style militants roam Pakistan region after pact
Pakistan is negotiating the surrender of Bajaur agency to the Taliban and al Qaeda Protests in Bajaur Agency, Pakistan, after U.S. airstrikes in Damadola in January 2006 . Click image to view. Just days after the signing of the Waziristan Accord, which ceded administrative and security control of the North Waziristan agency to the Taliban […]
Violating the Waziristan Accord yet again, by taxing North Waziristan residents and training al Qaeda and Taliban Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division patrol Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Photo by Spc. Eric Jungels, U.S. Army. Click image to view. The Taliban yet again flaunt the terms of the Waziristan Accord, which is supposed to be an […]
Pakistan™s Afghan policy
President Karzai seeks the support of Pakistani politicians to make the cross border tribal jirga a success. Mulla Omar issued an Eid statement and claimed the Taliban will step up attacks against “foreign forces.”
Afghanistan’s stability lies with Pakistan
The Taliban claim victory after British troops withdraw from Musa Qala in Helmand province. A suicide bomber killed two children and a British Marine in Lashkar Gah. “Gunmen” murdered and robbed 8 Afghan workers in Korengal. Pakistan’s tribal belt is the Afghan Taliban’s main source of weaponry.
Afghanistan’s stability lies with Pakistan
Over 40 Taliban were killed in two seperate engagements. In a battle on the Pakistani border in Paktia, across from North Wazistan, 24 were killed. “Among the dead there are Pakistan nationals, Chechens and people from other countries, as well as Afghans.” Sixteen Taliban were killed in an airstrike in Uruzgan, including an unidentified mid-level […]
A window on al Qaeda’s views of U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Counterterrorism efforts. 2.3 Megabytes File format PDF Click image to download. An al Qaeda document called The Myth of Delusion has been released on the Internet and also distributed via a jihadi email list. This 152 page document, written in both English and Arabic, […]
The Pakistani Press exposes the Waziristan Accord as an agreement between the government and the Taliban “Rebel” tribal elder Maulvi Abbas Khan (right) presenting a copy of the Quran to Pakistan Army Commander Lt Gen Safdar Hussain in Shakai near Wana, South Waziristan. Photo from 2004. Click image to view. While Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf […]
I joined my friend Josh Manchester on his first podcast. We discussed the situation in Iraq, western Pakistan and Afghanistan. Click the icon to listen. The Adventures of Chester is a must read blog on the war and foreign policy issues. Josh was recently a guest on the Global Crisis Watch round table on the […]
Taliban and al Qaeda commanders shed light on the global nature of the war and the status of fighting in Afghanistan A Dutch soldier on watch in Uruzgan. Click image to view. Combat operations in Afghanistan have tapered off over the past month and violent attacks have decreased by half. The operational tempo is declining […]
North Waziristan, Quetta remain hubs for the Taliban, despite Pakistani protestations Pro-Taliban fighters in Waziristan. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban continue their campaign to eradicate any opposition to their rule in North Waziristan. Two more “spies” have been assassinated in North Waziristan. “Militants killed a local doctor in Saobi village of Miramshah, the regional Headquarters, and […]
Islamic Courts, Ethiopian troops dance in south central Somalia Somalia. Cities in red indicate ICU controlled territory. Click map to view. As the Islamic Courts Union presses forward with consolidating power in southern and central Somalia, the chance of a battle between the army of the Islamic Courts and Ethiopian troops currently in country has […]
North Korea joins the nuclear club Red Star indicates location of test, based on USGS seismic reports. Click map to view. North Korea has successfully tested its first nuclear weapon. The Korean Central News Agency, the mouthpiece of the regime, has reported the test took place. “The nuclear test is a historic event that brought […]
I’m now co-hosting the weekly Global Crisis Watch broadcast. If you haven’t listened to the program in the past, check it out. Nick Grace and Richard Lafayette produce a remarkable program. Also, I think you’ll enjoy the interview with Tim Lynch. I spent a week with Tim in Afghanistan and he really knows the lay […]
Karzai calls for a jirga with the Pashtun tribes along the border, and asks for Pakistan to not “fake” it. Two extremists were detained in the western province of Farah.
Senator Frist says the Taliban should be involved in the Afghan government. Brigadier Ed Butler, who recently negotiated a withdrawal with the Taliban in Musa Qala, said the Taliban have been “tactically defeated” in some areas. Three Taliban, along with six Afghan police and soldiers, and five civilians were killed in fighting over the past […]
India says Pakistan’s ISI (intelligence service), Lashkar-e-Toiba and SIMI are behind the Mumbai train bombings that killed over 200. Pakistani calls the charges “baseless” and asks for evidence. Fifteen suspects are currently in Indian custody.
Indian Police Blame Pakistan’s ISI in Mumbai Bombings
Zawahiri Message Circulating in Pakistan
NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai recommends expanding the Waziristan Accord to other tribal agencies, as the Taliban and al Qaeda continue to hit government targets Governor Ali Jan Orakzai in 2004, when he was a general in the Pakistani Army. Click picture to view. As we reported just two days after the signing of the […]
There must be linkages between Hekmatyar, Al Qaeda leader: Musharraf
Pakistani government abandons North Waziristan as the Taliban opens an office in Miranshah. Miranshah, North Waziristan, when the Pakistani Army patrolled the streets. The Taliban has now taken control. Click image to view. The Pakistani government, led by President Pervez Musharraf, has repeatedly stated the Waziristan Accord does not mean the government has ceded control […]
An analysis of the Attyia al-Jaza’ri letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Al Rayah – the flag of al Qaeda. Click image to view. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has published the letter written by Attyia al-Jaza’ri (the Algeria), which was addressed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the deceased leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. […]
Yet again I had the honor and privilege of co-hosting this week’s edition of Global Crisis Watch’s Podcast: Prison Radicalization and Blogging the Coup. We tackle U.S.-Pakistan post-9/11 relations, prison radicalization inside America, the ties between Caracas and Tehran, and the role bloggers played during the Thai coup with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, author of “My Year […]
India’s Defense Minister says Islamabad has done “precious little” to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. State police in Maharashtra have made it mandatory for recruits in the intelligence wing to learn Urdu or Arabic during training. An Indian state minister claims there are 26 terror camps operating across the border in […]
Iraq militants claim killing of Indians, Pakistanis