Pakistan Would Back Taliban Office in Turkey: Official
14 April 2011
Pakistan would back a plan to allow the Taliban to open a political office in Turkey to help with talks to end the war in Afghanistan, a Pakistani official said on Thursday during a visit by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Ankara. Muslim Turkey, which has hosted talks aimed at building trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has said it is open to allowing the establishment of a diplomatic presence for the Taliban on its soil, but that there...
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Taliban Claim Multiple Suicide Bombings; Strike Police Centre in Paktia
14 April 2011
At least three Afghan policemen were killed when suicide bombers attacked a police training centre in the east of the country, officials say. Police said two bombers also died in the raid on the base in Paktia province where dozens of men were being trained. Two more suicide attacks took place in Kabul and Kandahar, police said. The Taliban claimed all three attacks. Several policemen were wounded in the Kabul incident. In Kandahar, three people,...
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States of Conflict: An Update on Afghanistan
14 April 2011
Leaving aside all the new conflicts in the Middle East, how are our nation's longstanding struggles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan going? Afghanistan has seen the most action. Gone, it seems, are the days of quiet winters there. Violence has been frequent this year — partly because of mild weather, partly because of the work by the NATO -led International Security Assistance Force and Afghan troops to consolidate their gains against insurgents...
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Taliban Deepens Infiltration of Afghan Institutions to Gain Edge in Information War
14 April 2011
The Taliban has deepened its infiltration of Afghan institutions and sharpened its surveillance of Afghan and foreign troops as it seeks to exploit an edge in the information war that will help decide the fate of the insurgency. [...] The Taliban uses the information it gathers to probe for openings for suicide bombers, to monitor the movements of Western and Afghan forces and to stymie efforts to improve public services that help the government...
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