Afghanistan

A suicide bombing at a crowded Shiite mosque south of Pakistan’s capital killed 26 people, the latest evidence of how security in the U.S.-allied nation is crumbling well beyond the Afghan border region where al-Qaida and Taliban fighters thrive. The violence came Sunday as a senior Pakistani Taliban commander said …

President Barack Obama hailed “strong and unanimous support” from NATO allies on Saturday for his stepped-up anti-terror strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and welcomed their “down payment” promises of 5,000 fresh forces. The allies rebuffed U.S. appeals for more combat forces to join the war, but the backing Obama did …

European leaders enthusiastically praised President Barack Obama‘s new Afghan strategy at a NATO summit Saturday but held their ground on a central disagreement and offered only military trainers and extra security forces for upcoming elections. Violent anti-war protests that marred the alliance’s 60th anniversary celebrations were a stark reminder that …

President Barack Obama on Friday will present his new strategy for Afghanistan to NATO allies who are increasingly reluctant to commit more ground troops to the escalating war effort. The military alliance‘s annual summit this year coincides with NATO’s 60th anniversary. While NATO leaders have emphasized that the meeting Friday …

A joint team of Afghan and U.S. coalition forces battled a large group of suspected Taliban militants in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province before calling in an air strike that killed 20 insurgents, the coalition said in a statement Thursday. The coalition said dozens of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and …

Kabul – Eight members of the Afghan security forces and 15 Taliban militants including two rebel commanders were killed in separate clashes and a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. Taliban militants ambushed a police vehicle in Pashtun Zarghoon district of western Herat province on Sunday morning, killing …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday praised U.S. President Barack Obama’s new plan for the war in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai says Obama’s plan has Afghanistan’s full support. “He has our full support,” Karzai told a news conference. “This was better than what we expected.” Obama unveiled …

WASHINGTON – U.S. intelligence suggests that violence in Afghanistan will rise through 2009 despite the Obama administration’s new strategy for combatting the Taliban and shoring up the Afghan government, a top intelligence official said Friday. Violence in Afghanistan has steadily risen for the past three years as the ousted Taliban …

WASHINGTON – More troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise highlight President Obama’s strategy to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama on Friday announced his plan to tackle what he called an “international security challenge of the highest order.” Stressing soberly that “the safety of people …

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 27 – Taliban leaders in Pakistan have united with their Afghan comrades to launch a new offensive in Afghanistan, Taliban fighters say. Word of the move comes as the United States prepares to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan this year, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported …