Jun 07, 2009 -
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Villagers in northwest Pakistan have attacked Taliban militants killing seven of them in revenge for a bomb attack on a mosque that killed at least 40 people, a top government official and residents said on Sunday.
It was the latest in a series of instances of people turning their guns on the Taliban in recent weeks and trying to force them out of their areas and will encourage the Pakistani government which needs public support to defeat the militants.
The United States, which needs sustained Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and cut off militant support for the insurgency in Afghanistan, will also be heartened by the move.
- 1 Comment
May 12, 2009 -
Taliban storm strategic Afghan city
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban militants attacked a municipal building in the city of Khost in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday, fighting pitched battles with U.S. forces and taking hostages, U.S. and local officials said.
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Apr 22, 2009 -
April 23, 2009
Taliban Seize Vital Pakistan Area Closer to the Capital
By JANE PERLEZ
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pushing deeper into Pakistan, Taliban militants have established effective control of a strategically important district just 70 miles from the capital, Islamabad, officials and residents said Wednesday.
The fall of the district, Buner, did not mean that the Taliban could imminently threaten Islamabad. But it was another indication of the gathering strength of the insurgency and it raised new alarm about the ability of the government to fend off an unrelenting Taliban advance toward the heart of Pakistan.
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Jul 19, 2009 -
The US military has identified a man shown on a Taliban video as an American soldier captured in Afghanistan. He was named as Pte Bowe Bergdahl, 23, from Ketchum, Idaho. He went missing from his base in a Taleban stronghold near the Pakistani border last month.
- 31 Comments
Oct 07, 2009 -
KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan Taliban pose no threat to the West but will continue their fight against occupying foreign forces, they said on Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that removed them from power.
U.S.-led forces with the help of Afghan groups overthrew the Taliban government during a five week battle which started on October 7, 2001, after the militants refused to hand over al Qaeda leaders wanted by Washington for the September 11 attacks on America.
"We had and have no plan of harming countries of the world, including those in Europe ...
- 6 Comments
Feb 15, 2009 -
From the Telegraph:
Taliban in Swat valley call 10-day ceasefire
Taliban fighters in north-west Pakistan's Swat valley called a 10-day ceasefire on Sunday after local officials agreed to enforce Islamic laws.
By Ben Farmer in Kabul
Last Updated: 9:22PM GMT 15 Feb 2009
The ceasefire brought a pause in fighting between the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Taliban after more than a year of clashes that have left hundreds of civilians, militants and soldiers dead.
The region was once a popular holiday destination for Pakistanis escaping urban life.
- 1 Comment
Mar 10, 2009 -
Obama goes AWOL on Afghanistan.
by Tom Donnelly, Tim Sullivan & Raphael Cohen
In between his many appearances touting the stimulus package and the restructuring of the nation's financial institutions, housing markets, and automobile industry, Barack Obama made his first serious decision as America's commander in chief on February 17. He ordered an additional 17,000 U.S.
- 7 Comments
Feb 21, 2009 -
Pakistani Taliban to Review Cease-Fire
By VOA News
21 February 2009
Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan say they are considering extending their ceasefire, but deny they reached a permanent agreement as local government officials had claimed.
The head of the hardline group of Taliban in Swat valley said Saturday that his group is reviewing its existing 10-day ceasefire. Maulana Fazlullah, said in a radio announcement that they will consider extending it when it expires next week.
- 5 Comments
Jun 09, 2009 -
11 dead in truck bomb blast at Pearl Continental hotel, Peshawar
From correspondents in Peshawar
Agence France-PresseJune 10, 2009 08:26am
-11 dead, 46 hurt in truck bomb blast
-Target was five-star hotel used by foreigners
-Taliban may have acted out of "revenge"
TWO foreigners were among 11 people killed overnight when a suicide truck bomb hit a luxury hotel in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar.
"There are two foreigners among the dead," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said, but he would not reveal the nationalities.
At least another 46 people were wounded.
- 14 Comments
Mar 11, 2009 -
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gepueqQ9a2V5zxXES7DoGnVhSFHwD96REJ1G0
Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo
By PAMELA HESS – 20 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication for the Obama administration's efforts to close the prison. U.S. authorities handed over the detainee to the Afghan government, which in turn released him, according to Pentagon and CIA officials.
- 13 Comments