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KARACHI, Pakistan – Two suspected suicide bombers have attacked the most beloved Sufi shrine in Pakistan's largest city, killing at least eight people, wounding 65 others, and sending a stark reminder of the threat posed by Islamist militants to this U.S.-allied nation. Angry mobs burned tires and torched buses in the aftermath of the bombings in Karachi late Thursday. The attack came amid tensions between Washington and Islamabad over NATO helicopter incursions that have led Pakistan to close a key border crossing used to ferry supplies to Western troops in Afghanistan. Despite U.S. apologies over the incursions, one of which...

For the second night in a row, The Wall Street Journal has the story on US officials' mounting frustration with Pakistan. According to the WSJ, US defense and intelligence officials and even Taliban commanders are now saying that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate is urging the Taliban to step up the violence in Afghanistan: Members of Pakistan's spy agency are pressing Taliban field commanders to fight the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan, some U.S. officials and Afghan militants say, a development that undercuts a key element of the Pentagon's strategy for ending the war. The explosive accusation is the strongest...

Note: Photos included. SNIPPET: "Iran has allowed an al Qaeda terrorist who served as Osama bin Laden’s spokesman to return to Afghanistan. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti preacher who gained worldwide infamy after the September 11 attacks, had lived in Iran since early 2002, and was reportedly held under a loose form of house arrest beginning in 2003. Abu Ghaith’s departure from Iran was first reported by the Kuwaiti press, which has long tracked the influential cleric because of his following inside Kuwait and beyond. The preacher was stripped of his Kuwaiti citizenship in late 2001 after promising another al...

Note: Photos included. SNIPPET: "Boys as young as five can barely hold up the machine guns and pistols in their hands as they take aim at imaginary targets in the Pakistan desert. But this is no sick game, it is their first step along the way to becoming al-Qaeda terrorists as they are taught about military combat and how to launch suicide missions. At hidden camps terrorist chiefs also use toys to teach the boys how they can blow up buildings and mount roadside bomb attacks. One chilling image from a video filmed inside one camp shows children, barely old...

SNIPPET: "TOKYO—A Japanese journalist returned home Monday after militants in Afghanistan released him from five months in captivity." SNIPPET: "Tsuneoka had been abducted before. He disappeared in Georgia in 2001 and was held for several months by unidentified individuals, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. He was freed during a Georgian military operation."

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 14 04:31 PM Age: 11 hrs By: Urged by a senior al-Qaeda ideologue to take over Pakistan, members of jihadi internet forums have begun to examine the possibility of controlling Pakistan’s nuclear weapons (al-faloja1.com, April 24). At the same time, jihadis continue to collect information on nuclear facilities around the globe, especially Israel’s nuclear projects, waiting for an opportunity to perpetrate successful terrorist attacks against these facilities after massive terrorist attacks using conventional weapons failed to give rise to the global supremacy of Islamic law (al-faloja1.com, April 22). On March 14, al-Fajr Media Center...

"Medical charity: 6 Americans among 10 killed by militants in remote area of N Afghanistan" KABUL, AFGHANISTAN SNIPPET: "KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Six Americans and two other foreigners on a medical mission were shot and killed by the Taliban who ambushed their vehicles in a remote part of northern Afghanistan, a charity said Saturday. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Pakistan that they killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity.""

The Taliban can't stop killing the people they supposedly are trying to help. A new directive from leader Mullah Omar instructs Taliban fighters to go easy on Afghan civilians. On Monday, however, five Afghan children fell victim to Taliban suicide bombs. Apparently, Islamist guerrillas believe they have to destroy kids in order to save them. The Taliban "layeha," or rule book, says, "All efforts must be made to avoid harming civilians in attacks." In this battle for hearts and minds, the Taliban are failing miserably. A June Congressional Research Service report showed that from December 2009 to March 2010, 737...

PHOTO CAPTION: "Banner for the Al Qaeda 313 Brigade website/forum. Pictured, from left to right, are Mustafa Abu Yazid, Abu Laith al Libi, and Ilyas Kashmiri." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A website connected to al Qaeda's military arm in Pakistan has sprung up on the Internet in the past month. The website, called Al Qaeda Brigade 313, at www.aqbrigade313.com, was registered on June 2, 2010, and became active in early July. The site has 86 registered users and five administrators, according to a report at the Open Source Center that was obtained by The Long War Journal. The website contains a forum...

Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come...

Note: Photos included. NOTE The following text is a quote: Wanted Mullah Omar Up to $10 Million Reward Height : Tall Hair : Black Sex : Male Nationality : Afghan Characteristics : Shrapnel wound to the right eye Mullah Omar's Taliban regime in Afghanistan sheltered Osama bin-Laden and his al-Qai'da network in the years prior to the September 11 attacks. Although Operation Enduring Freedom removed the Taliban regime from power, Mullah Omar remains at large and represents a continuing threat to America and her allies.

NOTE The following text is a quote: Pentagon Officials Confirm Sailor’s Death American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 – Defense Department officials today announced the death of a sailor who previously was listed as “duty status whereabouts unknown” while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, of Renton, Wash., died of wounds suffered from an incident in Afghanistan’s Logar province July 23. Coalition forces recovered his body yesterday after an extensive search, officials said. He was assigned to Navy Reserve Force Command. The July 23 incident remains under investigation, officials said.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 665-10 July 27, 2010 DOD Announces Navy Casualty and Identifies Sailor Listed as Whereabouts Unknown The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor and the identity of another sailor listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN). The announcement resulted from a July 23 incident in Logar province, Afghanistan, while the sailors were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin McNeley, 30, of Wheatridge, Colo., died from wounds sustained from the July 23 incident. Coalition Forces recovered his body July 25 after an extensive search. He was assigned to Assault Craft Unit One...

NOTE The following text is a quote: July 22, 2010 TG-782 Treasury Targets Taliban and Haqqani Network Leadership: Treasury Designates Three Financiers Operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three key leaders and financiers for the Taliban and its affiliated group the Haqqani Network, for supporting acts of terrorism and for acting for or on behalf of the Taliban or the Haqqani Network. Today's designation, pursuant to Executive Order 13224 targets Gul Agha Ishakzai, the head of the Taliban's financial commission; Amir Abdullah, former treasurer to senior Taliban leader Mullah Berader; and...

The White House is revising its Afghanistan strategy to embrace the idea of negotiating with senior members of the Taliban through third parties – a policy to which it had previously been lukewarm. Negotiating with the Taliban has long been advocated by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, and the British and Pakistani governments, but resisted by Washington. The Guardian has learned that while the American government is still officially resistant to the idea of talks with Taliban leaders, behind the scenes a shift is under way and Washington is encouraging Karzai to take a lead in such negotiations. "There is...

SNIPPET: "Jere Van Dyk, a freelance CBS reporter and author held by the Taliban for 45 days last year, still gets threatening messages from the Islamic militants on his answering machine in New York City. “I am wary,” Van Dyk says. “I have received about 40 to 50 calls since I returned." He also gets threats via e-mail. "I have been threatened. I think most, maybe all, of the calls have come from my interpreter. He has called my family.”"

KABUL: A huge blast was heard in the Afghan capital Saturday as a US military official arrived for meetings to explain the sacking of the US commander of foreign forces in the country, witnesses told AFP. The blast took place in the centre of the city, at 9:55 am, the witnesses said. A spokesman for the interior ministry, Zemarai Bashery, said he had heard the blast, the cause of which was being investigated. It seemed to have taken place near the foreign ministry, he said.

Faisal Shahzad, Jihadi, Explains Terrorism by Daniel Pipes June 25, 2010 Jaw-dropping court testimony by Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber, singlehandedly undermines Obama administration efforts to ignore the dangers of Islamism and jihad. Shahzad's forthright statement of purpose stands out because jihadis, when facing legal charges, typically save their skin by pleading not guilty or plea bargaining. Consider a few examples: Naveed Haq, who assaulted the Jewish Federation building in Seattle, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Lee Malvo, one of the Beltway Snipers, explained that "one reason for the shootings was that white people had tried...

INTERNET HAGANAH.com: "MALAYSIAN COMPLICITY IN TALIBAN TERRORISM" SNIPPET: "http://124.217.252.55/~alemarah/" SNIPPET: "That IP address (124.217.252.55) is provided to the Afghan Taliban by Malaysian company piradius.net. Piradius.net has been central to the online activities of al-Qaida and its affiliated organizations for many years." (Posted June 15, 2010)

The White House is clinging to President Obama's ill-conceived pledge to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011, regardless of how the war is going at the time. In dogmatically standing by that pledge, Mr. Obama is virtually guaranteeing he will preside over America's second lost war. The issue arose last week during congressional testimony when Central Command commander Gen. David H. Petraeus said that withdrawing from Afghanistan would be "based on conditions" and that "July 2011 is not the date where we race for the exits." Au contraire, according to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. "The July...