President Obama announced the mobilization of 17,000 new troops to Afghanistan, bringing total US troop levels there to 55,000—as a UN report finds that Afghan civilian casualties rose by 40% last year.
A US drone again struck Pakistan’s Tribal Areas, killing some 30—as Pakistan’s government accepted an offer from tribal leaders to instate sharia law in the borderlands in exchange for a pledge to lay down arms.
As Russia marks the 20th anniversary of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the BBC spoke with veterans of the Soviet military campaign, who have grim words of warning for Washington.
Two missiles fired from a US drone killed more than 30, reportedly including al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, in three compounds in near the Afghan border in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas.
Taliban suicide attacks struck government buildings in Kabul, killing at least 20, on the eve of a scheduled visit by Richard Holbrooke, President Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Village elders in Afghanistan’s Mehtar Lam district say 22 noncombatants were killed in a US air-raid—the fist controversy over civilian casualties since Barack Obama took office.
Reports from Pakistan indicate that pro-government tribal elder Malik Deen Faraz, his three sons and a grandson were killed in Friday’s US drone strikes in the South Waziristan border region.
Two missile attacks launched from a US drone killed at least 15 in Pakistan, indicating that the strategy of using remote air-strikes to target militants within Pakistan’s borders will continue under President Obama.
CIA director Michael Hayden said Pakistan’s border zone is “no longer a safe haven for al-Qaeda”—days after hundreds of militants attacked a Frontier Corps base, sparking a fierce gun battle that left many dead.
A suspected US drone fired two missiles in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region Jan. 2, killing four fighters, Pakistani intelligence sources said. The strike targeted an area believed as a stronghold of militant leader Baitullah Mehsud. It was the second missile… Read moreUS bombs Pakistan —again
Five people were killed and nearly 40 wounded in two bomb blasts in Afghanistan Dec. 29. Two US soldiers and their interpreter were among about 20 people wounded in a suicide car bombing in the small town of Charikar, 50… Read moreAfghanistan: wave of suicide bombings
A deadly US military raid on an Afghan house Dec. 25 sparked protests and produced conflicting reports over who was killed. The US said the dead were 11 armed Taliban militants, part of a bomb-making cell in the Maiwand district… Read moreAfghanistan: US air-strike sparks protests —as White House escalates
