General David McKiernan, the top military commander in Afghanistan, insists that he needs more troops and aid "as quickly as possible." This seems unlikely in the near term, however, as President Bush has already accepted a Pentagon recommendation that keeps troop...
Echoing comments made by Secretary of State Robert Gates last week, CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus has warned that Pakistan must deal with its growing militancy or face a threat to its very existence. Gen. Petraeus was hopeful that Pakistani President Asif...
On Sunday, The Observer cited sources who reported that the Taliban and the Afghan government were engaged in a "wide-ranging peace-process" aimed at ending the seven year conflict. The talks were reportedly sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government and are aimed at...
The Pakistani military's offensive in Bajaur, started in early August, shows no signs of ending. And with the military already claiming 1,000 killed and 2,000 wounded militants in the fighting in the tiny border agency, the supply of militants shows no signs of...
Last week Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, on a visit to Washington DC, warned that he expects another Taliban offensive before winter. The Bush Administration appears to fear strikes in the region as well. The Sunday Telegraph, citing a "senior US...
United Nations Special Envoy Kai Eide has warned that the security situation in Afghanistan "is worse than it was three months ago," and that the deteriorating atmosphere was distracting countries from fulfilling the commitments they made at June's conference in...
This morning NATO issued a statement saying that Pakistani forces opened fire on two US helicopters near the border between Afghanistan's Khost Province and Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency. A US military spokesman confirmed the incident, and insisted that they did...
With the Bush Administration reportedly conducting a major review of Afghanistan policy, a soon-to-be-finished National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan will remain classified and unavailable to the general public. Officials say that a draft version of the report...
Fighting in Afghanistan came to a virtual standstill today as all major combatants agreed to halt offensive operations in honor of International Peace Day. UN envoy Kai Eldi described the drop in violence as "remarkable," with only one attack (the killing of two...
Updating a previous story, it has now been three weeks since Pakistan's government declared its Ramadan ceasefire. With the Muslim holy month more than half way over the ceasefire still hasn't materialized, and though Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the...
