Anwar ul Haq Mujahid, who had formerly been detained and released by Pakistan, spoke at Awar Gul’s funeral in Nangarhar province. An official Taliban statement was read, praising Gul as “the renowned commander.” In addition, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for the release of a top Taliban official from Guantanamo.
Pakistan taxes Afghan-bound goods, NATO still exempt
US Joint Chiefs chairman says military must focus beyond Iraq and Afghanistan
Afghan leader: NATO reconstruction bases to go
The Taliban killed two ISAF soldiers in separate attacks in the south, a district governor in Khost, and a civilian in a suicide attack in Kandahar. Security forces killed one Taliban fighter and detained 10 more in Helmand and Parwan. Ten Taliban fighters surrendered in Kunduz.
Afghan, NATO forces brace for spring offensive
This presentation, based on a recent lecture that I delivered, examines the geography and history of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, as it applies to the current challenges that the US confronts in the region. The presentation covers several historical themes, including Afghanistan’s history of foreign invasion, how leaders gain legitimacy, center-periphery relations, and the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship.
The Afghan High Peace Council has requested the release of Khairullah Khairkhwa, a top Taliban official, from Guantanamo. Khairkhwa, who was detained in early 2002, was the governor of Herat province during the Taliban’s reign. He was also allegedly involved in drug trafficking, had ties to senior al Qaeda leaders, and admittedly set up security for meetings between the Taliban and Iran.
Afghans working with UK troops ‘regularly smoke opium’
In Ghazni province, stacks of Taliban records and photographs
In eastern Afghanistan, at war with the Taliban’s shadowy rule
Hundreds of Afghan fighters to lay down arms: NATO
Chinese weapons fall into hands of militants: US cables
US initiative to arm Afghan villagers carries some risks
Karzai seeks end to NATO reconstruction teams
Security threats decrease in northern Afghanistan
New British troops aim to beat Taliban on trust
The Taliban stormed a police checkpoint in Sar-i-Pul province; a Taliban commander and a policeman were killed in the fighting. The Taliban killed the leader of a tribal militia in Balkh.
In a piece last week, I noted that a former Taliban commander, Awal Gul, died of an apparent heart attack at Guantanamo on Tuesday, Feb. 1. The Taliban have now released a statement online concerning Gul’s death, calling him “the prominent Jihadi commander of Nangarhar province” and lamenting the “martyrdom of the eminent commander.” Much […]
Afghan rights fall short for Christian converts
Security forces killed 15 Taliban fighters in Nangarhar and 12 more in Uruzgan. The Taliban killed two ISAF soldiers in the south and attacked the homes of Taliban fighters who defected to the government. Hekmatyar’s deputy denounced suicide attacks but blamed them on the presence of ISAF forces.
Thirwat Salah Shehata, a top al Qaeda operative who has long served Ayman al Zawahiri, has released a statement in support of the Egyptian protesters. According to a Saudi publication, Shehata issued the statement from Iran.
In the Taliban’s heartland, US and Afghan forces dig in
Powell on drone strikes in Pakistan
US said to reduce civilian deaths after increasing CIA Pakistan strikes
Security forces killed 15 Taliban fighters in Nangarhar. The Taliban attempted to assassinate Kandahar’s chief of police, for the second time in three days; the suicide bomber killed only himself. Officials in Parwan said the Taliban are plotting attacks from Pakistan.
Awal Gul, a former Taliban commander, died of an apparent heart attack at Guantanamo on Tuesday. According to the US military’s declassified files, Osama bin Laden allegedly gave Gul $100,000 to help al Qaeda members escape Afghanistan after 9/11.
22,000 Pakistanis flee fighting near Afghan border
The Taliban killed five civilians in a bombing in Kunduz and a cleric in a mosque in Laghman. Security forces detained an “insurgent financier” in Nangarhar and five Taliban fighters in Kabul. Twenty-five Taliban fighters defected in Samagan.
Militants use mosques to plot attacks – senior Afghan security official