Three U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan - Los Angeles Times
Posted by Google Inc. on August 11, 2009 at 11:25 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
FOXNewsThree U.S. troops killed in AfghanistanLos Angeles TimesReporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Taliban militants killed three American troops in volatile southern Afghanistan, US military authorities …‘Special Report’ Panel on Fighting T…
Stratfor: Mehsud's Death Confirmed
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on August 7, 2009 at 2:59 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
From Stratfor:
Pakistani Intelligence sources have confirmed Baitullah Mehsud’s death, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Aug. 7, Dawn News reported. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) insurgent group, along with one of his wives and six bodyguards were killed in a missile attack Aug. 5. Reuters reported that the TTP leadership called […]
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Baitullah Mehsud May Be Dead
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on August 7, 2009 at 12:26 pm +0000 · 1 Comment
ISLAMABAD — If confirmed, this would be a huge victory in the fight against takfiri militants in Pakistan:
U.S. and Pakistani authorities were investigating whether Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who has led a violent campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations against Pakistan’s government, was killed in a CIA missile strike.
A Pakistani official said Friday that reports of the militant […]
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Newsweek Reporter Detained in Iran
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on June 21, 2009 at 6:32 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
From Newsweek:
On Sunday morning in Tehran, Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari was detained without charge by Iranian authorities and has not been heard from since. Mr. Bahari is a Canadian citizen and a renowned journalist and filmmaker, who has been living in and covering Iran for the past decade. Newsweek strongly condemns this unwarranted detention, and calls upon the […]
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Operation Rahi-i-Rast: One Month On
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on May 27, 2009 at 12:27 am +0000 · 2 Comments
Yesterday marked the one-month mark for the Pakistani military’s offensive against the Taliban in the Swat region. How are things going? Let’s assess:
This weekend saw the beginning of the battle for Mingora, the valley’s administrative seat. The military is reported to be in control of about half of the city, but some Taliban fighters are […]
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Shooting Oneself in the Foot in Swat
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on May 5, 2009 at 8:29 am +0000 · Leave a Comment
How not to conduct an effective counter-insurgency (COIN) campaign:
ISLAMABAD — Thousands of panicked residents on foot and crammed in buses, vans and trucks fled Swat valley north of Pakistan’s capital Tuesday following the breakdown of a fragile truce between government forces and the Taliban.
Authorities lifted a curfew for a few hours to allow residents to evacuate as the […]
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Taliban Push Back in Swat
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on May 4, 2009 at 5:22 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
Taliban forces are pushing back in Swat after the peace deal there between the Pakistani Army and militants “practically stands dissolved,” according to Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan.
To prove it, militants attacked a military convoy, killing one soldier and one was injured, according to a military spokesman. Khan claimed credit for the attack, saying it was in response to […]
Taliban Surge in Pakistan
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 24, 2009 at 8:14 pm +0000 · Leave a Comment
I’ve been feeling a bit on the uninspired side of things over the past two days, especially after I wrote about the Taliban push into Buner. The magnitude of the problems facing Pakistan and the danger it causes to the world are enough to make anyone a bit moody. But then it seemed the militants were pulling back […]
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A Downbeat Assessment on FATA and Pakistan
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on April 17, 2009 at 6:40 am +0000 · Leave a Comment
Yesterday was an exercise in frustration as far as connectivity and the future of Pakistan were concerned. I was at the Jamestown Foundation’s conference, “Pakistan’s Troubled Frontier: The Future of FATA and the NWFP” without wireless or cell phone coverage. So my plans for live-blogging were foiled. But I wanted to post some notes and impressions nonetheless.
As […]
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Taking the Eyes Off the Ball
Posted by Christopher Allbritton on June 16, 2009 at 7:11 am +0000 · 1 Comment
Both Nicholas Schmidle, author of “To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan,” and Andrew Exum (Abu Muqawama, yo) are warning that expanding the Pakistan military operation, currently pushing back the Taliban from the Swat Valley, to Waziristan right now is likely a big mistake.
Schmidle’s concerns are logistical and practical:
… it is unrealistic […]
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