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The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead. According to a DawnNews report, Mehsud died on Sunday in Multan after succumbing to injuries received in a drone attack in Shaktoi village. However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a statement. Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor. Government officials too have confirmed his death. American and Pakistani officials had been saying Mehsud was dead since the past few weeks. Maulvi Noor Jamal is a native of the Orakzai Agency and rose to...

Pakistani Taliban confirms Hakimullah Mehsud's death PTI, 9 February 2010, 01:11pm IST ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday confirmed that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate. Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14. The sources claimed Mehsud died recently near Multan city in Punjab province while being taken to Karachi for treatment. His body was taken back to the tribal belt,...

The United States Marines, America’s best and bravest, are about to land in the Town of Marja, southern Afghanistan. The news is already out. Meetings have gone on for weeks to alert the Marja townspeople. The tribal elders know about it. It’s in the Los Angeles Times. It’s all over Afghanistan. Hell and the entire World know it. And the Taliban Soldiers of Allah know it. The Marines have been instructed not to shoot back if there are civilians in the line of fire. Protecting Afghanistan civilians’ lives must count for more than American lives. It’s CIC Barack Obama and...

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) – Afghan men, women and children fearing imminent fighting between the Taliban and US troops, loaded up trucks on Monday and streamed out of one of the world's main sources of heroin. Wrapped in blankets to fend off the winter chill, families packed up goats, furniture and clothes, clogging roads with taxis, cars and tractors in a major exodus to safety, dodging roadside bombs planted to kill US and NATO troops. "We left the area because lots of aircraft were flying over and lots of forces were moving back and forth," Shir Ali Khan told AFP...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – NATO commanders urged the Taliban to surrender as troops dug in Monday for a major assault on a key insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan, sending thousands of residents fleeing. Final preparations for battle with Taliban militants around Marjah in Helmand province, which could begin within days, had begun, a senior Marines commander said. "The combat operations for the assault of Marjah have begun this morning," Lieutenant Colonel James "Matt" Baker, of 1st Battalion 3rd Marines Regiment told AFP, referring to the final phase of assault preparations. Related article: Taliban, heroin hold sway in Marjah The Taliban...

SNIPPET: "Troops say they have seen insurgents sending out boys to lay IEDs, sometimes only 150 yards from British positions. A senior Army source said: ‘The Taliban know that if they get caught in the sights of our snipers, they don’t last long, so they have resorted to hiding behind compound walls and directing children to plant bombs for them. ‘Lots of home-made IEDs detonate before they have even been laid, but the Taliban don’t seem to care whether a child gets killed or maimed. Some boys are as young as 12.’" SNIPPET: "In neighbouring Musa Qaleh district, where Prince...

American and British forces poised to assault the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, have begun targeting insurgent leaders for assassination, The Sunday Times reported. "Special forces guys have been going in on assassination missions with the aim of decapitating the Taliban force," a military source told the Sunday Times. The military has widely publicized the upcoming offensive in Marjah — the biggest Taliban-held community in the south — although the precise date for the attack in Helmand province remains classified. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said the element of surprise is not as important as letting Marjah's estimated...

Moazzam Begg spend a few years in Guantanamo accused of being a member of al Qaida and other affiliated terrorist organizations, which he denies. He has written a book about his Guantanamo experience claiming he was tortured. He also claims his innocence, despite the fact that there is evidence that he * recruited individuals to attend al Qaida run terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. * provided money and material support to al Qaida terrorist training camps. * received extensive training at al Qaida run terrorist training camps since 1993. He has been trained on the AK-47, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs),...

NEW DELHI: The Federation of International Cricketer's Association (FICA) once again raised the issue of security during the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). FICA president Tim May, a former Aussie cricketer, told TOI on Saturday that foreign players urgently needed information on security arrangements during IPL because independent Australian security experts have told FICA that the T20 event faces threat from terror outfits, including Taliban. "We have generic inputs from an independent security agency in Australia that Taliban, a couple of other right wing and terrorist groups could be a threat to the IPL and we are really concerned about...

AMERICAN and British troops poised to assault the Taliban stronghold of Marjah have begun targeting insurgent leaders for assassination. Military sources said special forces had been infiltrating the town on “kinetic” missions — jargon for armed attacks. “Special forces guys have been going in on assassination missions with the aim of decapitating the Taliban force,” one said. At the British base of Camp Bastion and the adjoining Camp Leatherneck, the US marine base, troops and munitions have been airlifted in by night to avoid enemy rockets. It is clear that international forces are on the brink of a big battle....

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO - Here is very disturbing video of the Taliban flogging a young man in Pakistan for not growing a beard. The Taliban often beat people for not following their strict-interpretation of the Koran. They are strong in many ares of western Pakistan, especially along the border with Afghanistan. This shows the mentality and the cruelty of the enemy who seeks to destroy our way of life. . . . (VIDEO)

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Thursday demanded the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist who has been convicted by the US court on charges of her alleged attempt to murder US soldiers in Afghanistan, and threatened to execute an American soldier they were holding currently. They claimed Aafia Siddiqui’s family had approached the Taliban network through a Jirga of notables, seeking their assistance to put pressure on the US to provide her justice. “Being Muslims, it becomes our religious and moral obligation to help the distressed Pakistani woman convicted by the US court on false charges,” said a...

KABUL, Feb. 5, 2010 – A combined Afghan and international security force detained several suspected insurgents and seized weapons and opium in recent operations, military officials reported. A combined force searched a compound south of the village of Bangluk in Kabul province’s Kalakan district last night after intelligence indicated militant activity there. The force detained “a few” suspected insurgents, officials said. Meanwhile, a combined security force arrested several suspected insurgents and confiscated a weapons cache yesterday in Kabul’s Paghman district. The cache contained 18 hand grenades, three AK-47 assault rifles, a pistol and ammunition. Elsewhere, an International Security Assistance Force...

Courtesy UK Ministry of DefenceElements of the Royal Welsh, Grenadier Guards and Scots Guards have taken part in an air and ground ISAF operation to the south of Nad e-Ali, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.The operation, being conducted with Afghan National Security Forces, is part of the preparation for a major ISAF offensive known as Operation MOSHTARAK.Op MOSHTARAK has been planned to remove insurgents from areas of central Helmand not previously cleared by ISAF troops. Major General Gordon Messenger briefed the media today on Op MOSHTARAK. He said that the operation was fully supported by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and that...

KABUL, Feb. 4, 2010 – A combined Afghan and international security force captured a Taliban leader and seized multiple weapons in Afghanistan yesterday, military officials reported. The force searched a series of compounds around the village of Saleh Kheyl in Ghazni province’s Jaghatu district after intelligence confirmed militant activity there. The force captured a Taliban sub-commander and another insurgent responsible for conducting homemade-bomb attacks and ambushes against Afghan and international troops. The force also found multiple weapons. In Helmand, a combined security force searched a vehicle northwest of Marjah in Nad Ali district after intelligence indicated militant activity there. The...

To many Pakistanis the most shocking aspect of the latest Taliban bombing was not the death toll, or the injuries inflicted on survivors, but the question that it raised: what was a team of American soldiers doing in a tense corner of North West Frontier province? In a way, the attack tugged the veil from a multi-faceted military assistance programme that, while not secret, is rarely publicised – by either side. President Obama's public aid to ­Pakistan is transparent: $1.5bn a year for the next five years, mainly to boost the civilian government. But behind the scenes the US is...

HELSINKI, Finland, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. military recently announced that the elders of the Shinwari tribe, which comprises 600,000 people in Nangarhar province and spans the Afghan-Pakistan border, signed an agreement to keep the Taliban out of their area. The United States agreed to pay $1 million into a Shinwaru tribal fund and $200,000 for a jobs program. The tribal elders admitted that the pact grew as much out of frustration with the Afghan central government as from hostility toward the Taliban. U.S. frustration with the present Afghan central government is no secret. In November, Karl Eikenberry, the...

THE STANSUAV Swarm Attack Waziristan Stronghold "Up to eight US drones fired some 18 missiles at multiple militant targets in Dattakhel village," a senior security official told AFP. by Staff Writers Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Feb 2, 2010 At least 16 militants were killed on Tuesday after US drones fired numerous missiles at a village in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, security officials said. The strike, which officials said involved 18 missiles fired from eight of the unmanned planes, is the latest in a series of US attacks on the lawless tribal area, which Washington calls the most...

Every once in awhile columnist Diana West writes a piece that makes me want to break things. This is one of those days. Today’s analysis at her blog tells the story of The United States Marines Corps handcuffed in the position of being social workers, civilian police officers – and by the rules of engagement under which they must operate, sitting ducks for the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is a sickening expose’ of how the Politically Correct upper levels of the United States Military Services, under two consecutive Commanders In Chief who grossly and obstinately misunderstand The World of Islam,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2010 – A combined Afghan and international security force detained several suspected militants in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province during two operations yesterday. During the first operation, the combined force searched a vehicle after intelligence information indicated militant activity, and detained several people for further questioning. In the second operation, a combined force searched a vehicle and detained a man. In other operations yesterday: -- A combined force searched a compound in Khowst province after intelligence data indicated insurgent activity. During the search, the force captured a terrorist cell operator and other insurgents responsible for the movement of mines,...

PESHAWAR: Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud’s close aide Qari Hussain, the top trainer of suicide bombers and one of his potential successors, was killed in the same US drone attack that fatally injured him, sources said.

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – Numerous missiles fired from US drones on Tuesday killed at least ten militants in a village in Pakistan's northwest tribal region near the Afghan border, security officials said. "Up to eight US drones fired some 18 missiles at multiple militant targets in Datta khel village," a senior security official told AFP. "Ten militants were killed in the missile strikes," the official said. Local administration and intelligence officials confirmed the deaths after the volley of strikes reportedly struck militant hideouts and a training centre in three places in the village. Residents in Miranshah, the main town of...

The Pakistani Taliban is meeting to choose a new leader today after their chief appears to have died of wounds caused by a CIA drone strike, according to a Pakistani and an American official. Hakimullah Mehsud was seriously injured in a mid-January drone attack, and the Pakistani officials have received "word of mouth" confirmation that he died in late January, as was first reported by ABC News last week. The attack that injured Hakimullah Mehsud was part of a flurry of CIA airstrikes launched after a suicide bomber infiltrated a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, in late December and killed...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2010 – Afghan and international forces responded to two suicide bombers in Afghanistan’s Qalat City today. A member of the Afghan force shot one of the suicide bombers, who then detonated his explosives. An Afghan troop received minor injuries, but did not require further medical attention. Afghan national police and international forces secured the area and continued the search for the second bomber who had fled the scene. There were no civilian casualties during the attack. In other operations today, international troops assisted Afghan forces in an investigation after Afghan national police found a significant weapons cache...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- If the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud is confirmed, his successor could be a military strategist or suicide bomb instructor, a report says. Both Wali ur-Rehman, known as the chief military strategist, and Qari Hussain, chief instructor for suicide bombers, rank high on the Taliban hierarchy, The New York Times reports. While Mehsud's death could set off a power struggle within the group, the report said it may be only a short one. A brief succession struggle came after Baitullah Mehsud, the previous leader, was killed last August in a similar drone...

ISLAMABAD: More and more Pakistan army officers are being identified with extremist beliefs, as well as with links to the Taliban and other related organisations which is the greater worry inside Pakistan. In the most recent instance, one Colonel Shahid Nazir and two colleagues, serving army and air force officers, were arrested in Balochistan and court-martialled in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). They were charged with passing on information to guide terrorist attacks on military establishments inside Pakistan. The charges were serious. The three officers are members of Hizbul Tehrir, an extremist Islamist group. They were accused of passing on information...

The Afghan war has notched up another grisly record, with the number of international troops to die in the fight against the Taliban the highest for the month of January since the war began. With tens of thousands more international troops being deployed to Afghanistan this year, analysts and officials are warning the deaths of 44 foreign soldiers in January is a sign of things to come. The record death toll comes as the Kabul government and its international partners shift the war's emphasis from battleground to development, and start focusing on attempts to convince Taliban infantry to lay down...

Marine assault vehicles key to Afghan strategy As U.S. and Afghan troops prepare for an offensive in Helmand province, the Assault Breacher Vehicle - a cross between a tank and a bulldozer - is intended to conquer the terrain and roadside bombs. By Tony Perry January 31, 2010 Reporting from Camp Pendleton Weighing 70 tons, traveling up to 45 mph and possessed of a smash-mouth name, the Assault Breacher Vehicle is the Marine Corps' latest answer to a perennial problem of offensive warfare: how to push through the barriers and booby traps of an enemy's outer defenses. Over the decades,...

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone attack, Pakistan state television reported Sunday. The report stated Mehsud had been injured in a drone attack in the Shaktoi area January 14 and died three days later. He reportedly was buried in the village of Mamuzai in the North Waziristan region. The Pakistani army said Sunday that it was investigating the reports. The militant leader's death would be an important success for both Pakistan, which has been battling the Pakistani Taliban, and the U.S., which blames Mehsud for a recent deadly bombing against the...

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a US drone attack, according to Pakistan state television. The Pakistani Taliban are believed to have played a role in the suicide bombing of a CIA base in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province in December last year. More to follow...

LONDON: A one-day international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday rejected India's argument that there were no degrees of Talibanism. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, hosting the conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, announced in his opening address the establishment of a $500 million 'trust fund' to buy "peace and integration" with warriors who are engaged in violence for economic rather than ideological reasons. A whopping $140 million has been pledged already for this year. During his pre-conference discussion with the British foreign secretary David Miliband, external affairs minister S M Krishna had specifically...

The continuing saga of Afghanistan and the Taliban. During the last week, we’ve been writing about attempts by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Afghan president and other leaders in London to buy off the Taliban with asylum, bribes and political positions. It may work in the United States, but Taliban leadership is not falling for it. As written last week and yesterday, the conference in London is tossing up trial-balloons in record numbers to see if they can get any sort of agreement with “moderate” Taliban. Maybe they will finally realize there is nothing “moderate” about the Taliban.

Afghan Border Police Company Commander Tagh Ali, passes out FM/AM radios to locals in the village of Shabow Khel during a joint humanitarian aid mission in Khost Province, Afghanistan on Jan. 25. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Chlosta, ISAF HQ PAO)   Story by Army SFC Matthew Chlosta, ISAF HQ PAO Task Force Steel employs COIN successfully in Khost Province Counter insurgency strategy, protecting and interacting with the local population, has been mandated in Afghanistan since Gen. Stanley McChrystal arrived in June 2009. The Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division have been implementing COIN successfully since...

A Magnum photo essay. During his coverage of the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2002, photographer Thomas Dworzak discovered a stash of pictures showing male Taliban members in curious, effeminate poses.

LONDON (Reuters) - Members of the Taliban's leadership council have met secretly with the United Nations representative for Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of laying down their arms, a U.N. official said on Thursday. The regional commanders from the Taliban's Quetta Shura requested the meeting with U.N. Special Representative Kai Eide and it took place on Jan. 8 in Dubai, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official told Reuters it was the first time such talks had taken place with members of the Taliban's top leadership council, which U.S. officials say is based in the Pakistani city...

KABUL, Jan. 27, 2010 – Two insurgents, including a senior explosives operator, were killed during an operation conducted by a combined Afghanistan and international security force near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border early Jan. 25, military officials reported today. The combined force went to an area in Afghanistan’s Helmand province where the insurgents had collected a large amount of fertilizer containing ammonium nitrate, a key ingredient used to create homemade bombs. The material was placed on a truck and driven north toward central Helmand. Afghan forces set up a roadblock about 30 miles from the border and stopped the vehicle. As forces...

LONDON, Jan. 27, 2010 – Born a 1950s baby boomer, I grew up during the Cold War with the threat of nuclear holocaust looming on the horizon. As a little girl, I had dreams in which Russian troops swarmed over the hill in our back yard. Maybe that’s what propelled me to serve in the Army for nine years and work as a Defense Department civilian for another 17 years. No complaints, though. I’ve had an incredibly fortunate career with the military. I’ve enjoyed the fun, travel and adventure those old recruiting ads always offered. I’ve also seen the world...

United Nations, Jan 27 (IANS) United Nations removed five former Taliban officials from its blacklist Wednesday, pushing forward President Hamid Karzai's efforts at reconciliation with the armed group in Afghanistan. The de-listing was approved by a special Security Council committee. The five Afghan nationals would no longer be subject to a freeze on their assets and a travel ban, the UN said in a statement. The move comes after Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for the lifting of the 2001 UN sanctions against some Taliban leaders, Press TV reported.

A U.S. Marine recon squad was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an US Navy Seabee in a similar but less serious state. The Seabee was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured petty officer what had happened. The Seabee reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along...

WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration pours 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan, it has begun grappling with the next great dilemma of this long war: whether to reconcile with the men who sheltered Osama bin Laden and who still have close ties to Al Qaeda.

A highlight of this week's "what do we do about Afghanistan?" conference in London will be the announcement of a $500-million program to bribe low-level Taliban fighters to quit. I'm all for any program that prevents a single IED attack on our troops, but the hoopla attending this hail-Mary play reflects our stubborn refusal to understand the enemy. In the ninth year of a war, we still don't want to know why the other guy fights. The assumption behind this program is that three-quarters of the Taliban fight for money or because of small-time grievances. There's zero serious data behind...

Afghanistan's finance minister has raised the prospect of involving the Taliban across all strata of government, at both district and national level, as part of a plan for their reintegration and brokering peace. "Negotiations could begin as early as tomorrow if we have international backing," he said. Before tomorrow's opening of an international conference on Afghanistan in London that will address plans for an exit strategy for western forces, Omar Zakhilwal told the Financial Times he believed that the Taliban was ready to negotiate. "Even at this moment they do sense that it will be impossible for them to return...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2010 – Afghan and international forces captured multiple insurgents, including a Taliban cell leader, in operations across five Afghan provinces last night, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-International Security Assistance Force unit searched a compound in a rural area of the Nawa district of Helmand province and captured a Taliban cell leader responsible for improvised explosive attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The assault force also detained a pair of insurgents. In Kandahar, a combined force searched compounds in western Kandahar City and captured a Taliban operator and other insurgents responsible for weapons movement and coordinating assassinations...

"Internationalizing the Jihadist Threat from Pakistan-Afghanistan" "American terror arrests show reach of al Qaeda-affiliated jihadi groups along Pakistan-Afghanistan border" IPT News January 25, 2010 SNIPPET: "Much of the Afghan Taliban leadership is in the Pakistani city of Quetta, which borders southern Afghanistan. Supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar reportedly conducts Taliban operations in Quetta and raises money from wealthy Persian Gulf states to supply guns and fighters for the insurgency in southern Afghanistan." SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda's alliance with terrorist groups in Pakistan and the lawless tribal region bordering Afghanistan has bolstered its ability to plan international attacks directed at the United...

A leaked memo intended to be distributed at the close of the London Conference on Afghanistan this week tells a most disturbing story: British troops can expect to continue combat operations against the Taliban for another five years. Governments allied with the Brits, including the United States, are expected to pony up hundreds of millions of British pounds (you can multiply that by 1.61 to compute American dollars) for bribing Taliban leaders to get them to stop fighting. Think about all that for a minute. The Afghanistan front opened on October 7, 2001. The PC madness continues in our war...

The U.S. must negotiate a political settlement to the Afghanistan war directly with Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar because any bid to split the insurgency through defections will fail, said the Pakistani former intelligence officer who trained the insurgent chief. Omar is open to such talks, asserted retired Brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, a former operative of Pakistan's premier spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. He is popularly known as Colonel Imam, whose exploits have gained him near-legendary status in central Asia. "If a sincere message comes from the Americans, these people (the Taliban) are very big-hearted. They will listen....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Jan. 25, 2010 – By any measure, Mike Woodgerd is a patriot. And by any measure, U.S. forces are going to benefit from his patriotism and his innovative spirit. Having spent more than 20 years in an Army uniform, Woodgerd is spending the next phase of his military career as a civilian contractor. But in terms of service, he hasn’t missed a beat. In fact, he’s stepped up his game. Moved by the death of an explosive ordnance disposal soldier in 2008, Woodgerd has dedicated the last 19 months of his life to the development...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2010 – Combined Afghan and international security forces detained two Taliban operators and numerous suspected insurgents during operations in Afghanistan over the past two days. A combined Afghan and international security force searched a compound in Helmand province today and detained an undisclosed numbers of suspected insurgents. In Logar province last night, a security force searched a compound and captured a Taliban operator responsible for providing weapons and refuge to Taliban members. Also last night, a force searched a compound in Kandahar province and captured a Taliban operator with direct ties to several militant networks. Another insurgent...

Court martial proceedings began Monday for a Canadian soldier charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of a wounded Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan. Capt. Robert Semrau is facing a military judge and five panel members on the murder charge and three other charges: attempting to commit murder, behaving in a disgraceful manner and negligently performing a military duty. The first two weeks of the trial in Gatineau, Que., are expected to be taken up with legal arguments. According to a joint statement by defence and prosecution lawyers. Semrau's troops were on patrol Oct. 19, 2008, when they were ambushed...

LONDON — The NATO commander in Afghanistan said his troop surge could lead to a negotiated peace with the Taliban, in an interview published Monday ahead of a major conference this week on the war. US General Stanley McChrystal also told the Financial Times he hopes his allies will leave Thursday's meeting in London with a "renewed commitment" to the increasingly bloody conflict. By using the 30,000-strong surge in US troops to secure territory stretching from the Taliban's southern heartlands to Kabul, the general said he aims to weaken the insurgency so much its leaders would accept a political settlement....