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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 5, 2008 – Task Force Gladiator, together with the Afghan National Police and a contracted construction and supply company, delivered 75 desks, 10 chalk boards and 150 sets of school supplies to the villages of Jurghati, Hasanzi and Shawo Katay in the Kohi Sofi district of Afghanistan’s Parwan province Aug. 26. A child from the Kohi Sofi district of Afghanistan’s Parwan province, laughs at Army Sgt. Jeremy Smith of Task Force Gladiator’s Alpha Company. The task force distributed school supplies to the district’s Shawo Katay, Hasanzi and Jurghati villages on Aug. 26, 2008. Courtesy photo  (Click...

Almost three thousand British troops in southern Afghanistan have successfully transported a huge hydroelectric power turbine through Taleban territory. In one of their biggest operations in Helmand, a convoy of 100 vehicles took five days to move the massive sections of the turbine 180km (112 miles). The $6m (£3.4m) turbine will produce electricity for an extra 1.9m people. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the operation was a reminder of Nato's "fundamental purpose" in Afghanistan. The operation to increase the output of the Kajaki dam in southern Afghanistan is part of a development project which has been planned for two years.

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed more than 220 suspected Taliban militants in strikes in southern Afghanistan last week, the U.S. military said on Monday, the biggest insurgent toll reported in recent weeks. But several residents and a lawmaker said scores of civilians had died in the operation in the Sangin district of Helmand province, the latest allegation of civilian deaths as fighting intensifies across the nation this summer.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 – U.S. Marines in Afghanistan face daunting challenges in legitimizing the Afghan police and turning them into an effective counter-terrorist force, but perseverance and focus have served them well, a Marine officer said Aug. 27. “Probably the biggest challenge has been the size of our area of operations,” Marine Corps Lt. Col. Richard D. Hall, commander of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, said during a call with online journalists and military bloggers. “And to answer how we’ve overcome that challenge, I summed it up in one word: Marines.” Hall’s unit has responsibility for recruiting, training and...

HERAT, Afghanistan -- A Taliban sentry fired the first shots shortly after 2:30 a.m. as Afghan commandos and U.S. Special Operations Command troops surrounded the compound at Aziz Abad. Though the Marine Special Operations Team had employed a daring deception to achieve surprise, they were engaged heavily by gunfire from AK-47s and machine guns almost immediately after deploying at the objective. For the next 2 1/2 hours, the 207th Afghan Commandos and their U.S. Army and Marine counterparts were in a running gunfight with heavily armed Taliban fighters inside the walled compound. When enemy combatants on rooftops and in narrow...

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2008 – The chief of the National Guard Bureau came to see his troops serving here during a two-day visit that began Aug. 26. Army Chief Warrant Officer Russell Hoyer from Voorheesville, N.Y., assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix Logistics Task Force, poses for a photo with Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. U.S. Army photo by Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum was accompanied by Army Command Sgt. Maj. David Ray...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2008 – Iraq’s once-deadly Anbar province could within the next few days become the 11th province to be turned over to Iraqi control, paving the way for a reduced U.S. Marine Corps presence there, the Marine Corps commandant said today. Gen. James T. Conway told Pentagon reporters the marked drop in violence in Anbar sets the stage for a drawdown of Marine forces that could be freed up for duty in Afghanistan, if needed. “The change in the al-Anbar province is real and perceptible," with attacks at an all-time daily low of two to three, Conway said....

Nine Funerals for Nine Warriors by Steve Mraz and Jeff Emanuel Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d Airborne [Brigade Combat Team], accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly taken advantage of. A combined force of up to 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters quickly moved into the nearby village of Wanat and prepared for their assault...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a fighting force _ one advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks and claim American lives at a record pace. The U.S. military suffered its 101st death of the year in Afghanistan last week when Sgt. 1st Class David J. Todd Jr., a 36-year-old from Marrero, La., died of gunfire wounds while helping train Afghan police in the northwest. The total number of U.S. dead last year _ 111 _ was a record itself and is likely to be surpassed. Top...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan forces killed an unknown number of armed militants and seized a suspect in Afghanistan yesterday, military officials said. Enemy fighters attacked a coalition base in the Bermel Valley of Paktika province with small-arms, machine-gun and rocket fire. Combined forces retaliated with machine-gun and mortar fire, killing several militants, military officials said. No Afghan, coalition forces or civilian casualties were reported. Meanwhile, as troops searched for a Taliban leader in a compound in the Tag Ab district of Kapisa province, they came under fire from multiple enemy fighters. Coalition forces responded with air...

Several clashes in Afghanistan's south and east have killed 30 Taliban fighters, officials said Sunday. A group of Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 23 militants, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Four police were wounded and 13 other militants were detained, it said. Following the clash, the police abandoned the checkpoints, the statement said.

Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces have killed more than 90 militants during several days of fighting in the south of the country this week, the U.S. military and the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Afghanistan — This British-built fortress, perched on a plateau in southwestern Afghanistan, is well named. Surrounded by miles of open desert, the citadel has its own concrete runway, water supply, sewage, electricity, Level 3 Trauma Hospital, even fire mains — all constructed in the last 30 months. The heavily-armed camp is home to British, Danish, Estonian and Czech troops of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It's also home to Task Force 2/7 (T/F 2/7), built around the legendary 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment out of Marine Corps Base 29 Palms, California — a good place...

New technology helps gun troop fight and protectWednesday, August 13, 2008Project Number:08-0557KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – On the modern battlefield, weapons and technology go hand-in-hand. With state-of-the-art howitzer orientation devices and data computation transfer methods, 1 Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (1 RCHA), B Battery´s Field Artillery gun troops are prepared to face a formidable, yet lesser equipped opponent. "The technology is good. Teamwork and well-trained soldiers make the equipment operate effectively," says Gunner Bellehumeur when asked about the many new technological additions to the gun line. "Most of this work is done when the heat is not so intense. Daily maintenance is...

Helmand Province, Afghanistan — First in a series Helmand Province, Afghanistan – To Americans of my generation and older, Korea is “The Forgotten War.” For this generation, it’s Afghanistan – or to be precise, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). This seven-year long campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the shadow of the Hindu Kush didn’t start out as a “forgotten war.” On October 7, 2001, less than a month after the 9-11 attack, OEF began with a salvo of Tomahawk cruise missiles and raids by B-1s, B-2s, B-52s and waves of carrier-based aircraft. For the next month the entire...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2008 – The Defense Department has extended by one month the deployments of about 1,250 Marines working as trainers to Afghan security forces, a U.S. Marine Corps official said today. The extension will keep the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in Afghanistan through late November, according to an Associated Press report that was confirmed by a Marine official. Ongoing discussions in the Pentagon center on providing additional troops to Afghanistan, where commanders have expressed a desire for three more brigade combat teams, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. “We are working to provide them with...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered roughly 1,250 Marines serving as trainers for the Afghan security forces to stay on the warfront about a month longer to continue a mission that military leaders say is a top priority, according to a senior military official. In addition, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authorized the deployment of up to 200 other troops to Afghanistan to support the Marines. That includes eight helicopter crews that could be shifted from Iraq if commanders decide. The senior military official spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement has...

A FOX News cameraman helped save the life of an injured Marine in Afghanistan — and was injured himself — when the armored Humvee convoy he was traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb Sunday night in the Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold. Two U.S. Marines were badly injured when the improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy. Though FOX News cameraman Chris Jackson was injured in the blast, he went back to the burning vehicle to rescue one of the Marines. "The cabin was on fire and I jumped out," said Jackson in a report filed immediately following...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and NATO troops targeted a group of Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, killing 17 militants and wounding six others, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

Today was the funeral for Army Cpl. Matthew Phillips. Phillips, 27, was just weeks from completing his 15-month tour when he and eight other soldiers were killed in a July 13 attack. They died during a three-hour battle with Taliban militants at a remote base in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. People started lining the road to his funeral at about noon. By the time his procession was passing, escorted by police and Patriot riders, there was a large crowd on both side of the road as far as I could see. I remember seeing an older lady in a car right...

Duke Field Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped the last operational Bomb Live Unit-82 from an MC-130E Combat Talon I July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range. Nicknamed "Commando Vault" in Vietnam and "Daisy Cutter" in Afghanistan, the BLU-82 is a 15,000-pound bomb, and because of its size, the bomb was dropped by parachute from the aircraft. "We in the Air Force Reserve Command feel fortunate to have been chosen to drop the last operational Daisy Cutter," said Col. Jon Weeks, the 919th Special Operations Wing vice commander and mission commander on the drop. "Our people...

THE Taliban were in disarray last night after their Helmand province leader surrendered — fearing the SBS was about to kill him.

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2008 – An undetermined number of enemy fighters were killed today in separate air strikes in Afghanistan, with one of the engagements prompting an investigation into reports that Afghan National Police officers were killed. Combined Joint Task Force 101 officials said they’ve launched an investigation into an incident in which a combined U.S.-Afghan patrol came under attack by a “non-uniformed hostile force” early this morning in the Ana Dara district of western Afghanistan’s Farah province. The combined patrol signaled their status as coalition forces, but continued to receive fire, officials said. Coalition forces then returned small-arms fire...

KABUL (Reuters) - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama called the situation in Afghanistan "precarious and urgent" on Sunday and said Washington should start planning to transfer more troops there from Iraq. The Illinois Democrat spoke from Afghanistan on the CBS program "Face the Nation" after meeting privately with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on an overseas trip meant to bolster his foreign policy credentials. "We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan and I believe this has to be the central focus, the central front, in our battle against terrorism," Obama said.

Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass. It looked surreal. It looked like a movie. That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk. That was Sunday morning in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. At a forward operating base — maybe as big as a football field —...

173rd’s fight not symbol of more violent Afghanistan, says Preysler "The sky is not falling," Col. Charles "Chip" Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Saturday from Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Preysler spoke via telephone less than a week after his paratroops and their Afghan allies were involved in a fierce attack at a small post near the village of Wanat. In the July 13 battle, nine of his men were killed and 15 others wounded. But the attack is not a sign of conditions worsening in the country, he said. The battle occurred just after dawn at a...

NORFOLKAs doctors removed pieces of shrapnel from his body Friday, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck was piecing together accounts of the attack that killed nine of his comrades in Afghanistan earlier this week.Queck, who grew up in Eastville and Cheriton on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is recovering from combat injuries at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.He is one of about a dozen injured soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.The battle Sunday involved an estimated 200 Taliban insurgents coordinating a large-scale attack on an unfinished mountain outpost near the Pakistani border.About 45 U.S. soldiers...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2008 – Pentagon planners are studying ways to get more U.S. troops to Afghanistan quickly. “We're constantly reviewing troop needs, troop levels,” President Bush said during a July 2 news conference. “We're halfway through 2008; as I said, we're going to increase troops by 2009.” U.S. and international leaders agree on the need for more troops in Afghanistan. A statement released at the end of the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April stressed the need for allies to provide troops needed in Afghanistan. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has unmet requirements for more forces,...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two top Pentagon officials said Wednesday that they expect to be able to recommend troops cuts in Iraq this fall and will try to increase troops in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, right, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates speak at the Pentagon on Wednesday. The remarks came after U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in the deadliest firefight in Afghanistan in recent years. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he had ruled out extending the deployment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan or making tours longer than 15 months, leaving few options other than shifting troops who were destined for...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Commanders in Afghanistan have asked for more of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles the military calls “MRAPs,” the Pentagon’s press secretary said today. There are roughly 800 MRAPs in Afghanistan. “It’s safe to say that commanders are interested” in more of the vehicles, Geoff Morrell told reporters. Though the request is unofficial so far, it was relayed by Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of Combined Task Force 101 at Bagram Airfield to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen during the chairman’s recent visit to Afghanistan. Part of the request may be...

US troops in Afghanistan massed close to the border yesterday for a possible attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban bases in the lawless North Waziristan tribal belt in Pakistan. Reports from the area said that hundreds of Nato troops were airlifted across the mountains from the village of Lowara Mandi, which has been an important base for cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position. The deployment followed a claim by the Afghan Government on Monday that the Pakistani Army and its spy agency had become “the world's biggest producers of terrorism and extremism”....

LAKE CITY - Spc. Jason Dean Hovater was much more than a soldier stationed in an outpost in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. "He was a brother and a son and a husband,'' said Hovater's sister, Jessica Davis of Norris. "Most of all, he was a man of God. He was a light to other people around him." Hovater, a Clinton resident, was one of nine soldiers killed last weekend in the deadliest assault in Afghanistan against the U.S. military in three years. Some 200 militants with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked the outpost but were beaten back...

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain sharply criticized the flagging U.S. war effort in Afghanistan on Tuesday and vowed to turn it around if elected, starting with sending more U.S. troops. "That's no way to run a war," said McCain, complaining that security in Afghanistan has deteriorated and the status quo is not acceptable. McCain waded into the debate over what to do in Afghanistan, a war begun after the September 11 attacks that Democrats charge has been neglected by the Bush administration as it concentrates on Iraq. An attack on a U.S. base near the...

Taliban Flexing Muscle in Afghanistan Fighters Staged Notable Attack from Pakistan that Left U.S. Soldiers Dead By LUIS MARTINEZ WASHINGTON, JULY 14, 2008 This weekend's deadly attack on an American combat outpost in remote eastern Afghanistan that killed nine U.S. servicemen was a highly organized assault by as many as 200 Taliban fighters that coalition military officials believe was staged from neighboring Pakistan. A senior Defense Department official told ABC News today that attacks on outposts in eastern Afghanistan are a tactic often used by Taliban militants, but that this attack was noteworthy for its significant discipline, training and size...

WASHINGTON — Senator McCain will announce plans today for an Iraq-style "surge" of troops in Afghanistan. An adviser to the campaign told The New York Sun that, in a speech to be delivered in Albuquerque, N.M., the senator will call for an increase in combat troops and the creation of a special Afghanistan tsar to coordinate policy toward the country. "There will be a surge for Afghanistan. It will be moving combat troops in and applying the lessons from Iraq and the strategy that was successful in Iraq and taking that to Afghanistan," this official said.

Last week my wife and I traveled to Fort Hood, Texas to see our youngest son, 1st Lt. Christopher B. Lee, leave with his unit for a 15-month combat tour to Afghanistan. We visited him and his wife, Katie, and our eight-month-old granddaughter Avary, at their military-provided duplex housing on the fort located in Central Texas. Chris’s unit, 1st Battalion of the 26 Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One), just missed the Pentagon’s policy change of combat tours from 15 to 12 months, by two weeks. If he had been deployed on or after August...

....says Washington Post. There are a large number of "depending on" qualifiers and so this is by no means a done deal. In any case, the military has no plan to send additional troops to Afghanistan till next years. If this happens, three brigades slated for Iraq in 2009 will retrain for Afghanistan. So why are we not happy? Haven't we been yelling and screaming for more troops for Afghanistan? We are not happy for two good reasons. First, the US has an absolute shortage of combat brigades. That three may go to Afghanistan and not Iraq changes nothing: the...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 13 — Taliban insurgents mounted a large-scale attack on an American forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday, killing nine American soldiers in fierce fighting that continued through the day. Mark Laity, a spokesman for NATO, confirmed that nine soldiers had been killed and 15 more wounded, but did not give their nationality. Separately, a senior American military official confirmed that the nine soldiers killed were Americans. Four Afghan soldiers also were wounded, Mr. Laity said. The Taliban assault on the base was the deadliest single attack on the NATO security force...

Both the United States and Britain are hoping to reduce their military commitment in Iraq to focus on Afghanistan. The US is considering cutting American troop numbers to below 120,000, compared with 170,000 last year. Up to three combat brigades could be withdrawn in September. Britain is also looking to cut troop numbers by almost a half in Iraq, from 4,000 to about 2,500, although not until next year. This would give the Government the option of deploying more units to Helmand province, where the Taleban has intensified its operations, using suicide attacks, roadside bombs and mines. More American and...

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2008 – at least 40 insurgents during an ongoing operation in Afghanistan’s Helmand province yesterday, military officials said. The fight began when insurgent forces attacked an Afghan and coalition security patrol yesterday in Sangin district. From multiple concealed and fortified positions, the insurgents used small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The ensuing fight led the combined forces to return fire and call for precision air strikes. The friendly forces destroyed four insurgent fortified fighting positions, two bunkers, two trench lines, one improvised-explosive-device site, and more than 30 enemy boats, officials said. Elsewhere, Afghan and coalition forces killed several...

At least eight US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants. US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country. The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there. The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts. On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours. There are conflicting reports as...

Forget spoilt footballers and minor Royals. Yesterday, Miss Michelle Clifford married Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton. And the terrible injuries he suffered in Afghanistan could not diminish the towering, inspirational love they share The walk down the aisle yesterday was only a matter of yards. Yet for Martyn Compton it meant everything. Indeed, his determination to make the distance was matched only by that of the beautiful young woman he was about to marry. And when he falteringly held out his hand for her to slip the gold ring on his finger, they both finally fulfilled the dream they had fought desperately...

KORENGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday took the opportunity to present 12 paratroopers with awards here for valorous and heroic achievements in combat. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen pinned five Army Commendation Medals with valor devices, five Purple Heart Medals, one Bronze Star with valor device, and one Silver Star on the troopers’ chests during a ceremony at their combat outpost here. “It’s an honor and privilege to be here,” Mullen said to the awardees. “This ceremony is about individuals who represent the sacrifice of so many.” The paratroopers are assigned...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said in a new interview Friday that the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai had not got out of a "bunker" to rebuild the war-torn country. Obama also said in the interview with CNN to be broadcast in full this weekend that the Bush administration had allowed Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to regroup, by diverting vital US forces to the war in Iraq. "I think the Karzai government has not gotten out of the bunker and helped to organize Afghanistan and (the) government, the judiciary, police forces, in ways that would give...

THE Australian commando killed by a bomb in Afghanistan overnight has been remembered for his humour, integrity and dedication as a soldier. Signaller Sean McCarthy, 25, a member of the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment, was killed yesterday when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan. Two other commandos were injured in the attack. Signaller McCarthy is the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002, and the second this year. Kevin Rudd, who is attending the G8 summit in Japan, described the death as a “terrible loss to his family, the...

KABUL (AFP) — More than 400 militants have been killed in a 10-week-old operation led by US Marines in a remote district of southern Afghanistan but fighters remain in the area, a commander said Wednesday. Marines and British troops under NATO command in late April launched the operation in Garmser district, a desert area on the border with Pakistan described as an insurgent "logistics hub" and key opium-producing centre. Citing figures from Helmand province governor Gulab Mangal, the Marine commanding officer in Afghanistan told reporters in Kabul that more than 400 Taliban-linked rebels had been killed.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Michael Toussiant-Hyle Washington, 20, of Tacoma, Wash. Lance Cpl. Layton Bradly Crass, 22, of Richmond, In. Pfc. Dawid Pietrek, 24, of Bensenville, Ill. Pfc. Michael Robert Patton, 19, of Fenton, Mo. All four Marines died June 14 while supporting combat operations in Farah Province, Afghanistan. They were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Sgt. Michael Toussiant-Hyle Washington, 20, of Tacoma, Wash. Requesting...

News ReleaseOne Canadian Soldier Dies in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.026 - July 7, 2008OTTAWA – At approximately 12:50 a.m., Kandahar time, on July 5, a Canadian soldier suffered critical injuries and later died when an explosive device detonated near a dismounted security patrol in Panjwayi District. The fallen soldier is Private Colin William Wilmot, a medic serving with the Health Services Support Unit in Afghanistan attached to 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group. His home unit was 1 Field Ambulance, based in Edmonton, Alberta. First-aid was administered to Private Wilmot immediately following the explosion. He was evacuated by helicopter...

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2008 – Defense Department officials are very concerned about the situation in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. “Violence is up significantly from a year ago,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a Pentagon news conference. For the second month in a row, more coalition servicemembers died in Afghanistan than died in Iraq. Given the country’s harsh winters and unforgiving terrain, summer historically is the fighting season in Afghanistan, but the Taliban have become more organized and efficient, Mullen said. But part of the increase in violence is because there are...

Afghan, U.S. troops kill 32 Taliban in clashes Sat Jun 28, 1:00 PM ET Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed 32 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, including some who dressed as women in an attempt to escape, the U.S. military said on Saturday. The Taliban opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on a patrol of Afghan security forces and coalition troops in Uruzgan province on Thursday, the U.S. military said in a statement.