AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN :

BBC News, 24 Jul 08, by Martin Patience
Nato warning on Pakistan fighters
'Nato's secretary general has said an international effort is needed to prevent Taleban and al-Qaeda militants gathering in Pakistan's border areas.'

New York Times, 22 Jul 08, by Jane Perlez
Unilateral Action by U.S. a Growing Fear in Pakistan
'Strong suggestions by the United States that it could resort to unilateral intervention against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan are generating increasing anxiety in the Pakistani press and among government officials, who warn that such an action could backfire.'

New York Times, 22 Jul 08, by Eric Schmitt
Plan Would Use Antiterror Aid in Pakistan on Attack Jets
'The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that country’s aging F-16 attack planes, which Pakistan prizes more for their contribution to its military rivalry with India than for fighting insurgents along its Afghan border.'

Reuters India, 08 Jul 08
Kabul bomb shows dangers India faces in Afghanistan
'The bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul highlights the dangers of India's growing role in Afghanistan, whether from the Taliban or a Pakistan worried about ceding strategic space to its nuclear-armed rival.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Jul 08, by Eric Schmitt
Pakistan is said to be attracting insurgents
'American military and intelligence officials say there has been an increase in recent months in the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to Pakistan's tribal areas to join with militants there. The flow may reflect a change that is making Pakistan, not Iraq, the preferred destination for some Sunni extremists from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia who are seeking to take up arms against the West ...'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Jul 08, by Mark Mazzetti
Coalition deaths in Afghanistan hit a record high
'More American and coalition troops died in Afghanistan last month than during any other month since the U.S.-led invasion began in 2001, the latest evidence of a strengthening Taliban insurgency that has menaced NATO forces and reclaimed control over some southern and eastern parts of the country.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Jul 08, by Gordon Lubold
Afghanistan death toll pressures U.S., allies
'Record U.S. fatalities there last month highlight the need for more troops, but reserves are few.'

BBC News, 03 Jul 08
Britain doubles aid to Pakistan
'Britain is substantially increasing its aid to Pakistan and outlining a new strategy for how it is spent.'

The Telegraph, 02 Jul 08, by Tim Shipman
CIA given green light to bomb Osama bin Laden
'The US intelligence agency does not have to ask permission from the Pakistani government to attack his hideout, presumed to be in the lawless tribal areas on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.'

International Herald Tribune, 30 Jun 08, by Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah
Pakistani forces appear to push back militants
'... Despite its policy of negotiating with militant Islamic groups rather than using military force, the civilian government formed after elections in February ordered the action on Saturday against the Army of Islam and other militant groups in Khyber agency, which is part of Pakistan's lawless tribal area.'

NewsHour, 27 Jun 08, with Jeffrey Brown et al
Resurgent Taliban May Step Up Attacks, Pentagon Says
'A report released by the Pentagon Friday showed growing instability in Afghanistan and a continuing rise in Taliban forces. A reporter and a regional expert size up new security threats and discuss the new report.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Jun 08, by Carlotta Gall
Power vacuum seen in Pakistan
'Pakistan remains in a leaderless drift four months after elections, Western diplomats and military officials say, and Pakistani politicians and Afghan officials are increasingly worried that no one is really in charge.'

NPR, 25 Jun 08, by Ivan Watson
Marines in Afghanistan Weigh In on a Life at War
'Last month, 1,500 U.S. Marines were sent to attack a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern Garmsir district. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit captured Garmsir from the Taliban after 30 days of constant fighting.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Jun 08, by Abdul Waheed Wafa and Dexter Filkins
From Afghanistan, NATO shells militants in Pakistan
'NATO forces in Afghanistan shelled guerrillas in Pakistan in two separate episodes on Sunday, as escalating insurgent violence appeared to be eroding the alliance's restraint along the border.'

International Herald Tribune/Reuters, 23 Jun 08
NATO says 6,000 troops urgently needed in Afghanistan
'Roughly 60,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, most of them part of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), but security has deteriorated over the past two years.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Jun 08, by Judy Dempsey and Alan Cowell
More German troops to Afghanistan
'Under pressure from NATO, Germany announced Tuesday that it would increase the number of soldiers available for duty in Afghanistan by almost one-third to 4,500, but that it would maintain its policy of keeping the bulk of them away from the relatively violent southern provinces.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jun 08, by Carlotta Gall
The face of a deadlier Taliban threat
'The attack was little reported at the time. A suicide bombing on March 3 killed two NATO soldiers and two Afghan civilians and wounded 19 others in an American military base. ... The deadly attack was also devastating for what it showed about the persistence of the Afghan insurgency and the way former mujahedeen leaders, like Maulavi Haqqani, combined tactics and forces with Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist groups.'

Christian Science Monitor/AP, 18 Jun 08, by Noor Khan, AP
Afghanistan: Taliban keeps up pressure with assaults
'Militants took control of a strategic district outside Kandahar. Afghan and foreign troops flew to the city in response.'

Bloomberg, 19 Jun 08, by Ed Johnson and Gregory Viscusi
NATO-Led Forces Say They Control Kandahar Area; Taliban Retreat
'NATO and Afghan forces say they are in control of the area north of Kandahar as an operation to sweep the region of Taliban fighters enters its second day.'

Vanity Fair, 10 June 08, by Janine di Giovanni
Gateway to Jihad: Pakistan's Phantom Border
'Pakistan is often called the most dangerous country on earth. Increasingly, its people would agree. Despite nearly $6 billion in U.S. military aid for the border region since 9/11, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and homegrown terrorist groups have eroded the border with Afghanistan, inflicting a steady toll of suicide bombings. Going where few Westerners dare – from Taliban strongholds to undercover-police headquarters – the author sees what's tearing the country apart.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Jun 08, by Jane Perlez
Pakistani anger over U.S. airstrike remains
'The Pakistani military is so angry over the U.S. airstrikes here last week that it is threatening to postpone or cancel an American program to train a paramilitary force in counterinsurgency for combating Islamic militants, two Pakistani government officials said.'

Christian Science Monitor, 16 Jun 08, by Aunohita Mojumdar
Afghan prison attack stirs tensions with Pakistan
'President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send troops to Pakistan to fight militants themselves.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Jun 08, by Anand Gopal
Investigation: In Afghanistan, routine abuse of terror detainees
'An eight-month review by McClatchy newspapers says the US wrongfully imprisoned many suspected Al Qaeda terrorists.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Jun 08, by Peter Grier
Did rogue network leak nuclear bomb design?
'Some US experts worry that a smuggling ring gave rogue states plans for a light warhead, apparently from Pakistan.'

New York Times, 12 Jun 08, by Carlotta Gall and Eric Schmitt
Pakistan Angry as Strike by U.S. Kills 11 Soldiers
'American air and artillery strikes killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with insurgents on the Afghan border on Tuesday night, a development that raised concerns about the already strained American relationship with Pakistan.'

BBC News, 12 Jun 08
US releases border strike footage
'The US has released video excerpts of a controversial air strike in the Afghan-Pakistani border region which Pakistan says killed 11 of its soldiers.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 Jun 08, by Anand Gopal
Militants attack near Pakistan-Afghanistan border
'Despite ongoing violence in the North West Frontier Province, Pakistan's new government vows to continue peace talks with the Taliban.'

See Afghanistan archive for past stories.