Drug War Falters as Forces Narrow Focus on Taliban
14 January 2011
, The Washington Post, 14 January 2011
EXCERPT: "After several years of steady progress in curbing opium poppy cultivation and cracking down on drug smugglers, Afghan officials say the anti-drug campaign is flagging as opium prices soar, farmers are lured back to the lucrative crop and Afghanistan's Western allies focus more narrowly on defeating the Taliban....
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The Taliban's Evolving Ideology
14 January 2011
[pdf], London School of Economics Global Governance, 1 July 2010
EXCERPT: "Amid the stash uncovered during a raid on a Taliban bomb-making house in 2009 was a Sony PlayStation controller, most likely used as a detonation device. In a Taliban propaganda video, a commander is shown touring a roomful of young men working on computers. Once notorious for their ultra-orthodox interpretation of Islam which prescribed...
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Escalation in Kunduz: Who Are the Insurgents in NE Afghanistan?
14 January 2011
[pdf], German Institute of Global and Area Studies, 1 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Although approximately 5,000 US soldiers were transferred into Northern Afghanistan in the first half of 2010 and there have been initial military successes, the intensity of the insurgency in the Kunduz region has not diminished. Instead, there has been a continuing escalation...
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Seven Afghan Taxi Drivers Accused of Spying Killed by Roadside Bomb
14 January 2011
Seven Afghan Taxi Drivers Killed by Roadside Bomb, Reuters, 14 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Seven Afghan taxi drivers were killed on Friday after insurgents accused them of spying for the government, forced them into a vehicle and made them drive it over a roadside bomb, a government official said. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, spokesman for the governor of southern Zabul province, said the taxi drivers transported people between Zabul and neighboring...
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Former UK Diplomat Claims Troops Sent to Helmand "to Avoid Cuts"
14 January 2011
Army strategy in Helmand under Fire from Former Top Diplomat, The Guardian, 13 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Britain's former top diplomat in Afghanistan has delivered a scathing attack on the conduct of UK military operations in the country. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles accused the army of deploying 'spurious' arguments and revealed a cabinet minister confessed to not knowing the difference between a Tornado jet and a torpedo....
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US Sees Better Governance in Some Afghan Areas
14 January 2011
US Sees Better Governance in Some Afghan Areas, Reuters, 14 January 2011
EXCERPT: "Efforts to improve governance in Afghanistan are bearing fruit in areas where a troop surge has driven back the Taliban but more work is needed to sustain progress as Washington prepares to thin troops next year, a U.S. official said on Thursday. 'It's clear to us that within the security bubbles created by the sacrifice of Afghan and coalition...
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Afghan Taliban Ready to "End" Opposition to Educating Girls
14 January 2011
Afghan Taliban "End" Opposition to Educating Girls, BBC News, 14 January 2011
EXCERPT: "The Taliban are ready to drop their ban on schooling girls in Afghanistan, the country's education minister has said. Farooq Wardak told the UK's Times Educational Supplement a 'cultural change' meant the Taliban were 'no more opposing girls' education'. The Taliban - who are fighting the Kabul government - have...
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