28 June 2011
A senior leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror group has been captured in northern Afghanistan dressed up like a woman — the latest in a recent series of cases involving male militants disguised as females, the U.S.-led military coalition said Tuesday. A joint Afghan and coalition force apprehended a senior figure from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and two of his associates during a nighttime operation Monday in Kunduz city, NATO said. It...
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Reactions to US Troop Withdrawal Plans
24 June 2011
European allies on Thursday applauded President Barack Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, with France jumping at the chance to announce its own drawdown in a mission that has drained budgets and strained public opinion across the continent. After nearly a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, Obama's withdrawal blueprint was welcomed by NATO allies facing dwindling support, if not outright opposition, because of the conflict. Obama...
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Price of Opium Triples amid Struggling Economy, Planned Troop Drawdown
21 June 2011
Far away from the war, in the remote hills of Badakhshan, there is another battle raging. Trundling into the valleys on dusty roads ripped up by large SUVs, an Afghan task force is heading towards their target: an industry so profitable that many fear it's Afghanistan's only viable option once the West pulls its troops and money out. We've joined up with the Ministry of Counter Narcotics looking for opium. Here in Badakhshan, the Taliban aren't much...
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Report Notes Complex Motives behind Rising Attacks by Afghan Troops on NATO Soldiers; Cites Stress as Factor
15 June 2011
In late November, U.S. soldiers were supervising artillery training for Afghan troops in Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border. After they climbed a ridge to assess the impact area, an Afghan border policeman suddenly turned on them and opened fire. Seconds later, six Americans and their assailant were dead. It was one of the deadliest incidents of what the military call "green on blue" -- a euphemism for attacks by members of the Afghan...
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Training of ANSF Won't Be Complete until 2016/2017, Units "Still Too Dependent on Coalition": ISAF
13 June 2011
Not a single Afghan police or army unit is capable of maintaining law and order in the war-torn country without the support of coalition forces, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. Almost a decade after international troops were sent in to overthrow the Taliban and help to establish a functioning democracy in Afghanistan, a combination of poor training, lack of numbers, corruption and illiteracy has left the country unable to protect its own people....
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Gates Blasts NATO, Questions Future of Alliance
10 June 2011
America's military alliance with Europe — the cornerstone of U.S. security policy for six decades — faces a "dim, if not dismal" future, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in a blunt valedictory address. In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of NATO, saying its members' penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization...
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The Targeted Killings Debate: Expert Roundup
08 June 2011
The Obama administration has escalated the campaign of targeted killings against suspected terrorists worldwide, increasing the use of unmanned drone strikes (ForeignPolicy) and so-called kill/capture missions (PBS) on al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership both on and off the traditional battlefield. While some analysts tout successes, like the U.S. Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan, others say the strategy lacks proper legal boundaries,...
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Helmand, Kandahar Key Areas in Fight against Taliban in 2011: General
07 June 2011
The population centers of Afghanistan’s Helmand and Kandahar provinces and Spin Bolduk on the Pakistan border constitute key areas in the fight against the Taliban this year, the commander of International Security Assistance Force Joint Command said here today. Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the Taliban and its terrorist allies are trying to return to the area, which coalition...
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Lack of Capable Logisticians a Great Challenge for ANA: US
03 June 2011
Stocking warehouses in most police forces is low-rank, unglamorous work. In Afghanistan, where literacy and education are at a premium, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hurley is pushing to make it a well-paid and prestigious job. The U.S. and its allies are rushing to ready the Afghan army and police to take over control of security from July, but they are discovering they have a job far more complex than just providing guns and training about how...
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Polish Troops Cleared over Afghan Civilian Deaths
02 June 2011
A military court on Wednesday cleared seven soldiers over the deaths of a group of civilians in Afghanistan at the end of the first ever Polish court martial involving troops fighting the Taliban. Announcing his verdict, the presiding judge said the court had been unable to gather key evidence or hear from witnesses to the incident in southeastern Paktika province, giving it no option but to pass a not guilty verdict. "There is a lack of evidence...
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