AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN :

BBC News, 10 May 08
Pakistan's government in turmoil
'Nine ministers from a leading party in Pakistan's new coalition have handed in their resignations, plunging the country into political uncertainty.'

International Herald Tribune, 30 Apr 08, by Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti
Pakistan's planned accord with militants alarms U.S.
'Bush administration officials are expressing increasing alarm that a deal being negotiated between the new Pakistani government and militant tribes in the country's unruly border area will lead to further unraveling of security in the region.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 May 08, by Eric Schmitt
Attacks in Pakistan increasing, U.S. reports
'Terrorist attacks against noncombatants more than doubled in Pakistan from 2006 to 2007, reflecting the growing violence in the country's turbulent tribal areas and new bombings against Pakistani government officials and security services, according to a report by the State Department.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 May 08, by Carlotta Gall and Abdul Waheed Wafa
Afghans see link to Qaeda in plot to shoot Karzai
'The attempt to kill President Hamid Karzai on Sunday was the work of militants who had infiltrated Afghanistan's security forces and had ties to groups linked to Al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas, the Afghan intelligence chief said Wednesday.'

International Herald Tribune, 24 Apr 08, by Carlotta Gall
Fighting the Taliban with better governance, not just arms
'... local governance like the effort [in Wardak] has become one of the most pressing issues in Afghanistan, said Afghans, Western diplomats and NATO and U.S. military officials, and one that could determine the outcome of the still uncertain war.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Apr 08, by Carlotta Gall
Afghans should be able to secure their own country by 2011, NATO predicts
'The Afghan Army and police forces should be able to secure most of Afghanistan by 2011, allowing international forces to start withdrawing, according to the U.S. commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill.'

Washington Post, 22 Apr 08, by Candace Rondeaux and Imtiaz Ali
Pro-Taliban Leader Released by Pakistan
'The release was part of a broader deal between the secular political leadership of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province and Islamist groups, which exert strong influence within the religiously conservative population. It represents the type of political negotiation promised by the country's newly elected lawmakers with groups the Bush administration and President Pervez Musharraf consider enemies.'

New York Times, 20 Apr 08, by Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt
U.S. Military Seeks to Widen Pakistan Raids
'American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to United States officials.'

New York Times, 18 Apr 08, by Eric Schmitt
U.S. Lacks a Pakistan Plan, Report Finds
'The Bush administration has failed to develop a governmentwide plan to combat terrorism in Pakistan’s unruly tribal areas, even though top American officials concede that Al Qaeda has regenerated its ability to attack the United States and has established havens in that border region, government auditors said Thursday.'

Asia Times, 10 Apr 08, by Syed Saleem Shahzad
The Taliban talk the talk
'Another spring, another promised Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. This time it will be different, claim the Taliban, bolstered by hard-nosed tacticians and seasoned fighters who have honed their skills in Kashmir and the Pakistani tribal areas. Coalition forces in Afghanistan, while concerned over disruptions to their supply lines, are unmoved: bring them on, they say.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Apr 08, by Tim Golden and David Rohde
Afghans hold secret trials for men that U.S. detained
'Dozens of Afghan men who were previously held by the United States at Bagram Air Base and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are now being tried here in secretive Afghan criminal proceedings based mainly on allegations forwarded by the American military.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Apr 08, by Gordon Lubold
Afghanistan to ask NATO for bigger army of its own
'At the NATO meeting in Romania Thursday, Afghan officials are expected to request money to expand its National Army from 86,000 to 120,000 troops.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Apr 08, by Anand Gopal
Afghan opposition courts Taliban
'Talks began in 2007, a powerful coalition revealed last week. Experts say the move, an effort to undercut the government, could draw Taliban into the political process.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Apr 08, by Eric Schmitt
Army chief in Pakistan wins honor from U.S.
'Since General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani took command of Pakistan's army last November, a parade of top American officers and spymasters has trooped to Islamabad to urge him to wage an aggressive campaign against Al Qaeda and other militants in the country's restive tribal areas.'

Washington Post, 26 Mar 08, by Robin Wright and Joby Warrick
U.S. Steps Up Unilateral Strikes in Pakistan
'The United States has escalated its unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda members and fighters operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, partly because of anxieties that the country's new leaders will insist on a scaling back of military operations in that country, according to U.S. officials.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Mar 08, by C. J. Chivers
Supplier under scrutiny on aging arms for Afghans
'Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur.'

Washington Post, 27 Mar 08, by Imtiaz Ali
Extremists Killing Afghans They Suspect Are Spying
'Extremists in Pakistan's western tribal areas have killed dozens of people suspected of providing intelligence to the United States and its allies in recent months, according to local officials and tribal elders.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Mar 08, by Carlotta Gall
Pakistan pins hope for border region on moderate tribal party
'The victory of the Awami National Party, or ANP, [in Pakistani elections in February] was welcomed by Western officials and Pakistanis as a clear rejection of the Taliban and the religious parties in the province. The ANP ... sees itself as critically placed to begin a dialogue with the militants, something the Bush administration has been regarding warily.'

Globe and Mail, 22 Mar 08
Talking to the Taliban
'A portrait of average Taliban fighters.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Mar 08, by Thom Shanker
Joint Chiefs chairman emphasizes U.S. role in Pakistan
'[Admiral Mike] Mullen said the United States was willing to offer assistance for things like training, transport helicopters and night-combat operations, but he stressed that he was bringing no specific proposals on this visit and that he would await formal requests from Pakistan's military.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Mar 08, by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker
U.S. plan widens role in training Pakistani forces
'The United States military is developing a plan to send about 100 American trainers to work with a Pakistani paramilitary force that is the vanguard in the fight against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, American military officials said.'

See Afghanistan archive for past stories.