Taliban Hint At Softer Line In Talks With Afghan Leaders

After years of deriding Afghanistan’s government and army as corrupt tools of Western occupiers, the Taliban have begun publicly airing a softer vision for the country’s future, with senior insurgent leaders saying the militants are willing to govern alongside other Afghan factions and even to adopt the current American-financed army as their own.
That message was delivered over the past few days by Taliban envoys during private meetings with Afghan officials and opposition politicians near Paris, according to officials close to the talks, and the softer approach has been echoed in recent interviews with Taliban figures loyal to the group’s nominal leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar. Together, it is the furthest that the Taliban’s senior leadership has gone to express in some official way that the group would be willing to operate as a mainstream Afghan political faction rather than aiming to return as conquering rulers after the end of the NATO combat mission in 2014.
But with the Taliban there are always questions.
The group is increasingly divided by power struggles, according to some Western officials and Afghans close to the Taliban, and there has sometimes seemed to be a disconnect between conciliatory statements from the top and the aggression of field commanders. As well, Afghan and American officials trying to open peace talks with the Taliban have long struggled with whether any offer of compromise could be seen as legitimate or just tactical maneuvering to gain public support.

Security forces kill 5 Uzbek terrorist in encounter in Peshawar

Terrorists hid in a newly constructed house in Pawka village where police found 7 bombs, after 6 hour encounter police & security forces killed 7 terrorists . Two terrorist died after using explosive suicide jackets.

Tattoo seen on back of a terrorist killed today in Peshawar. TTP had accepted the responsibility for the attack.

Time to identify the real enimies.

Taliban Says Bombers And Spies Forced French Retreat

A network of informers, exploitation of popular dissent and the ability to strike at vulnerable moments helped hasten the end of France's combat mission in Afghanistan, according to a Taliban commander.
French troops rolled out of Kapisa province on Tuesday, ending one of the largest NATO combat missions in Afghanistan two years early, 10 months to the day since Afghan soldier Abdul Sabor shot dead five French colleagues.
The Taliban regularly take credit for "green-on-blue" attacks, but while Sabor's links to insurgents have never been confirmed, his actions left a profound impact on French troops on the ground and political will at home.
France entered Kapisa province and its neighbouring Surobi district in Afghanistan's northeast in 2007. Home to mafia, Taliban, and Hezb-e-Islami fighters with a toxic hatred of "invaders", they were in for a rough welcome.
"(The French) were not aware of the ground conditions. When there is a direct fight, we know exactly how to trap our enemies in the mountains, just like we did with the Soviets," says Bilal, a Taliban commander in Kapisa.
In August 2008, shortly after arriving in Surobi, 10 soldiers were killed in an ambush. At the time, it was the deadliest ground attack suffered by NATO in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Taliban to target media organisations: Report

Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud has issued special directives to operatives for taking action against international and national media organizations in different cities of Pakistan, reports BBC Urdu.
An official of the interior ministry, on the condition of anonymity told BBC that agencies recorded a telephonic conversation between Mehsud and a Taliban operative Nadeem Abbas alias Intiqami where the former was giving directives to the latter on taking action against media organizations.
Mehsud, according to the interior ministry, was directing Abbas to target media organizations and personnel  in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi and other cities who were criticizing the Taliban for attacking Malala Yousufzai.
The Taliban have been targeted with severe criticism and condemnation for attacking the 14-year-old child activist by Pakistan and other countries.
After listening to the conversation the government has directed all media organizations, especially international media organizations to tighten security around their offices and has directed concerned authorities to do the same for these organizations.

Taliban Will Face a Very Strong Afghan Force in 2014: NATO

Undeterred by the recent spurt in insiders attacks in Afghanistan, NATO has said Taliban will miscalculate the situation if they think their situation will be better by the end of 2014, because they will be faced with a very strong and capable Afghan security force.

"They will not be in a stronger position. When we (will) stop our combat mission, a very capable Afghan security force will take over. We are building up the number of Afghan security forces and by 2014, we will have 352,000 Afghan forces. And more importantly, quality-wise they will be very capable," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

In an interview to popular Charlie Rose show of PBS News, Rasmussen said he was very "impressed" by seeing Afghan forces in action during his last visit to the country.

Asserting that NATO's security transition in Afghanistan remains on track and there is no change in its strategy, Rasmussen said NATO has outlined a clear roadmap for a gradual handover of responsibility to the Afghan security forces.

"We have 50 countries in our ISAF coalition -- 28 NATO allies and 22 partners -- and we have agreed on a roadmap according to which we will gradually hand over lead responsibility to the Afghans," he said.

He stressed that the attacks will not derail its strategy in Afghanistan, but termed them as matter of "great concern."

The United States lost hope of reaching an agreement with the Taliban

American civilian and military leaders say they have almost abandoned the idea to get one day a peace agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The New York Times reports that world leaders will work to prepare the ground for Afghans to reach a peace agreement between them after the bulk of coalition forces have left the country in 2014.

"I do not see it happen in the next two years (peace agreement). This is a very strong enemy, and I will not tell you it is not. It is a constant battle, and it will be for many years to come. "Said a senior officer of the coalition.

The inability to properly negotiate with the Taliban leadership emphasizes the low gains of the coalition, and especially during the upsurge in the number of U.S. troops arrived in 2009. While additional troops were able to reclaim several territories occupied by the Taliban, they failed to launch the coup de grace.

The Obama administration, however, consider a prisoner exchange to reopen negotiations which stopped abruptly in March.

Afghanistan bans Pakistan newspapers over Taliban support

Afghanistan has moved to block the entry of all newspapers from Pakistan, saying they serve Taliban militants.

In its order, the interior ministry said the newspapers "are a propaganda resource of the Taliban spokesmen" and has ordered police forces in east Afghanistan to confiscate all copies.
The latest move comes amid increasing tension between the two countries.
Afghanistan has urged Pakistan to immediately stop shelling in the border province of Kunar.
The Afghan interior ministry order focuses specifically on blocking entry of the papers at Torkham, a busy border crossing.
It authorises police to impound Pakistani newspapers in the three eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan.
Referring to the reasons for the move, the ministry said news in the Pakistani newspapers "is not based in reality and it is creating concerns for our countrymen in the eastern provinces Afghanistan".
'Sensitive issue'

Taliban Shifts To High-Profile Strikes, Killings

As U.S. and NATO forces have evicted insurgents from a broad swath of southern Afghanistan, senior Taliban commanders have shifted toward a new battlefield strategy, one less focused on reclaiming lost territory and more on winning the next phase of the 11-year-old war.

U.S. military and intelligence officials believe that Taliban commanders, driven by a combination of desperation and savvy, have started assigning more of their suicide fighters to conduct audacious attacks against prominent targets across the country, including the U.S. Embassy and well-fortified NATO bases.

Insurgent leaders, they say, have redoubled a campaign to assassinate key Afghan government and security officials who are likely to play leadership roles in the country once foreign troops depart. And by happenstance or meticulous planning - U.S. military officials are not sure which - the Taliban has managed to kill numerous Western troops by joining the ranks of the Afghan army.

"The Taliban are fighting a political war while the United States and its allies are still fighting a tactical military war," said Joshua Foust, a former U.S. intelligence analyst who has worked in Afghanistan and is now a fellow with the American Security Project. "We remain focused on terrain. They are focused on attacking the transition process and seizing the narrative of victory."

Insurgents Posed as U.S. Troops to Strike at NATO Air Base

Insurgent fighters wearing U.S. Army uniforms breached the defenses of the main British-run air base in southern Afghanistan on Friday. Firing guns and rockets and apparently triggering suicide vests, the attackers killed two U.S. Marines and damaged or destroyed several hangars and fueling facilities. Before they were all killed or captured, the insurgents also managed to destroy six U.S. Marine Corps jet fighters and “significantly” damage two others, landing a shocking blow against NATO air power in the region.

The attack on Camp Bastion, in restive Helmand province, came after the Taliban vowed to take revenge for the release by a mysterious U.S. filmmaker of an inflammatory, albeit amateurish, movie mocking the Muslim prophet Muhammad. The insurgent group had also threatened to kill or capture the U.K.’s Prince Harry, who recently deployed to Camp Bastion as an Apache helicopter pilot. The prince “was never in any danger,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force stated.

The assailants’ true motives are impossible to verify. In any event, the attack underscores the Afghan insurgency’s boldness and striking power in the waning years of the U.S.-led NATO intervention.

U.N. Says Taliban Raised $400 Million Last Year

The Taliban raised about $400 million last year from sources that included donations, taxing local economies and extorting money from such targets as drug dealers, cellphone operators and aid projects, a U.N. report on the militant Islamist group said.

Sharifs on TTP hit list, says secret report

Several leading politicians, including Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, are on the potential hit-list of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to an intelligence report circulated among law enforcement agencies.

Also appearing on the list are Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Fakhar Imam and the head of the Shia Ulema Council Pakistan Allama Sajid Naqvi. The report, citing plans of TTP Punjab’s commander Matiur Rehman and his associates, also spoke of terror plots being hatched by the group in Punjab. For instance, it warned of a possible suicide attack on the police force in order to free their jailed comrades who were implicated in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009.

US puts Haqqanis on terrorists list, no impact on Pakistan

The United States on Friday designated the Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organisation but said the action will have no impact on Pakistan.
The State Department also said that they have “no plan, whatsoever, to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.”
State Department officials told a briefing in Washington that Pakistan had been informed of the intended move “at least weeks before the decision was announced, if not more.”
And the Pakistani government expressed no reservations or objection to the US decision, the officials said.
In a statement issued by her office, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:
“Today, I have sent a report to Congress saying that the Haqqani Network meets the statutory criteria of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). This action meets the requirements of the Haqqani Network Terrorist Designation Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-168). Based on that assessment, I notified Congress of my intent to designate the Haqqani Network as an FTO under the INA. I also intend to designate the organization as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under Executive Order 13224.

Foreign intelligence services bankrolling terror: Report

                       CIA, RAW and Afghan agencies’ hand seen in funding banned outfits in the country.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have alleged that their American, Indian and Afghan counterparts are financially supporting banned militant outfits in the country.
The contents of a circular issued to law enforcement agencies by the interior ministry’s National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) revealed the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) are funding Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) Punjabi,  Asmatullah Moavia, Ghulam Rabbani and Qari Kamran factions through Afganistan’s Riyast-i-Amoor-o-Amanat-i-Milliyah (RAAM) and National Directorate of Security (NDS).
The banned outfits are planning attacks on sensitive installments across the country, including Police Elite Force and Counterterrorism Department Headquarters in Lahore, the circular further revealed. Reconnaissance of potential targets is already being conducted and potential suicide attackers have been earmarked by the groups, it added.
Following the reopening of Nato supply lines in Pakistan and reports of a planned military operation in North Waziristan, TTP commanders Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah Mehsud have joined hands to mount an intense retaliation, the circular stated.
Possible terrorist attacks
According to an intelligence report, the terrorists, in collaboration with NDS, have planned attacks on the Allama Iqbal International Airport and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Base in Lahore, and the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad using explosives-laden trucks.

Afghan Human Rights Commission Defends Khalid Appointment

The Afghan government-linked Independent Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said Saturday that it was confident of Asadullah Khalid's appointment as the country's next intelligence chief after an international human rights organisation called for him to be dropped because of his history of using torture.

The IHRC commissioner, himself appointed by President Hamid Karzai, said Khalid's past had already been investigated, but he did not discuss what the findings were.
"Regarding Mr Khalid, there were complaints about him when he was the governor of Kandahar, but the Independent Human Rights Commission reviewed the complaints in coordination with Khalid himself," IHRC commissioner told TOLOnews.
"For the time being, the Human Rights Commission urges Mr Khalid or anyone else who will hold this position to stay committed to upholding human rights and the law, to consider all the national and international human rights regulations, and avoid any kind of violation."

Khalid, currently Minister for Border and Tribal Affairs, is expected to be appointed head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) after Rahumatullah Nabil was stood down by President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement Friday urging the Afghan government to drop Khalid and instead appoint someone with a more exemplary record.
"The NDS is desperately in need of reform to end its use of torture," HRW Asia director Brad Adams said in the statement. "President Karzai should use the appointment of a new NDS chief to demonstrate his commitment to ending torture by choosing someone whose integrity and commitment to human rights is above reproach."
Khalid has previously held positions as provincial gover

Officials Split Over Haqqani Network

Some say terrorist label could be a hurdle to new peace talks with Taliban

Just days before a congressional deadline, the Obama administration is deeply divided over whether to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist group, with some officials worried that doing so could complicate efforts to restart peace talks with the Taliban and undermine already-fraught relations with Pakistan.

In early August, Congress gave Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 30 days to determine whether the Haqqani group, considered the most lethal opponent of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, meets the criteria for designation — a foreign organization engaging in terrorist activity that threatens U.S. citizens or national security.

If she says it does not, Clinton must explain her rationale in a report that is due to Congress on Sept. 9. Acknowledgment that the group meets the criteria, however, would probably force the administration to take action, which is strongly advocated by the military but has been resisted by the White House and some in the State Department.

Twin suicide attack on Nato Afghan base kills 12

Ten civilians and two police were killed and dozens more were wounded Saturday in a Taliban twin suicide attack targeting a US-run military base in central Afghanistan, officials said.
The first bombing was carried out by a militant on foot, followed by a huge blast from a truck bomb that destroyed much of a local bazaar near the military outpost in Wardak province’s Sayedabad district, police said.
“The number of wounded is so high that it can hardly be counted. Lots of people have been wounded and much of the Sayedabad bazaar has been destroyed,” Wardak police spokesman Abdul Wali told AFP.
Ghulam Farouq Mukhlis, the provincial public health director, told AFP that at least 43 civilians were admitted to local hospitals. Ten people were evacuated to the capital Kabul for “serious injuries”, Mukhlis added.
A Western military official close to the Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) who spoke anonymously told AFP that two Isaf soldiers were wounded in the blasts.
“There were no Isaf fatalities,” an Isaf spokesman told AFP separately, confirming the twin blast.
Shahidullah Shahid a spokesman for the provincial administration confirmed the attack, describing the truck-bombing as “massive”.

Obama administration divided over designating Haqqani network as terrorist group

Just days before a congressional deadline, the Obama administration is deeply divided over whether to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist group, with some officials worried that doing so could complicate efforts to restart peace talks with the Taliban and undermine already-fraught relations with Pakistan.
In early August, Congress gave Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton 30 days to determine whether the Haqqani group, considered the most lethal opponent of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, meets the criteria for designation — a foreign organization engaging in terrorist activity that threatens U.S. citizens or national security.

If she says it does not, Clinton must explain her rationale in a report that is due to Congress on Sept. 9. Acknowledgment that the group meets the criteria, however, would probably force the administration to take action, which is strongly advocated by the military but has been resisted by the White House and some in the State Department.
Senior officials have repeatedly called the Haqqani network the most significant threat to the U.S. goal of exiting a relatively peaceful Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and have accused Pakistan of direct support for its leadership. The network has conducted a series of lethal, high-profile attacks against U.S. targets.

Pakistan army kills 18 militants as fighting rages

Pakistani security forces killed 18 Taliban militants on Thursday in Bajaur region, a military official said, in the fourth straight day of fighting which has cast doubt on the effectiveness of crackdowns on militant groups.
Pakistan’s military, one of the largest in the world, has launched a series of offensives against the Taliban over the past few years in Bajaur and other parts of the ethnic Pashtun tribal belt in the northwest near the Afghan border.
On Wednesday, Taliban militants attacked an army post and killed eight soldiers in the South Waziristan tribal region.
Military sources said four soldiers have been killed in the Bajaur fighting and several went missing.
Pakistan has said military operations have severely weakened the militants, and their fighters have been cleared out of Bajaur and other regions along the porous border.

500lb bomb Dropped To Wipe out Taliban - Kunar Afghanistan

500lb  bomb Dropped To Wipe out  Taliban - Kunar Afghanistan

Double 500 lb JDAM used to wipe out a Taliban Bunker by US Air Force. Really close ones.
HUGE EXPLOSION- debris hit troops from miles away The Whole Valley was Shakin

US troops escape criminal charges for incidents that outraged Afghanistan

Burning of Qur'ans and urinating on corpses in Afghanistan led to allegations against six US army soldiers and three marines

Six US army soldiers and three marines escaped criminal charges but received administrative punishments for mistakenly burning Qur'ans and urinating on the corpses of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, US military officials said Monday.


US military leaders widely condemned the incident revealed earlier this year. The Qur'an burning triggered riots and retribution killings: two US troops were shot by an Afghan soldier and two US military advisers were gunned down at their desks at the interior ministry.
The soldiers were disciplined for the burning of Qur'ans earlier this year at a US base in Afghanistan, and the marines were punished for their participation in a video that showed them urinating on Taliban corpses.