Iran Trains Taliban on Ambushes, IEDs
22 March 2010
Iranians Train Taliban to Use Roadside Bombs, Times Online, 21 March 2010
EXCERPT: "Taliban commanders have revealed that hundreds of insurgents have been trained in Iran to kill Nato forces in Afghanistan. The commanders said they had learnt to mount complex ambushes and lay improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been responsible for most of the deaths of British troops in Helmand province. The accounts of two commanders, in...
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Peace with Hizb-e-Islami Unlikely to Effect Change
22 March 2010
Afghan Warlord Hekmatyar Talks Peace, but Brings Little to Table, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 March 2010
EXCERPT: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai is holding peace talks with a top envoy from one of the three main insurgent groups, but analysts caution that any deal may not dramatically change the course of the war. The group, Hizb-e-Islami, has made more overtures toward reconciling with the Afghan government than its allies, the...
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US May Use Bagram Prison to Hold Terrorism Suspects
22 March 2010
U.S. May Expand Use of Its Prison in Afghanistan, Los Angeles Times, 21 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The White House is considering whether to detain international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, an option that would lead to another prison with the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay, which it has promised to close. The idea, which would require approval by President Obama, already...
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Marjah Farmers Offered Cash to Destroy Opium Crop
22 March 2010
Marines Offer Cash in Fight against Afghan Opium, Reuters, 21 March 2010
EXCERPT: "After weeks of intense fighting over the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, U.S. Marines are now taking cautious aim at the drugs trade, with a program designed to pay opium farmers to destroy their own crops without a fight. The goal of the new program is to tackle the drugs trade that fuels the insurgency -- without alienating farmers whose livelihoods...
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