Topic: Khost Province

Even if NATO rushes to the exits, Afghan collapse is not inevitable (+video)

As French President Hollande promises troop withdrawal this year, and the rest of NATO plans to exit by 2014, Afghanistan's best hope may be the disunity and ill-discipline of the Taliban.

What the death of Osama bin Laden means for Afghanistan

The killing of bin Laden did not end the Afghan war. But it did highlight for the US the usefulness of using military bases there for striking jihadi leaders in Pakistan.

When US troops leave Afghanistan, an American university will remain

US military withdrawal from Afghanistan won't necessarily spell the end of US commitments to Afghanistan, says president of American University of Afghanistan.

US colonel: Don't believe US statements on progress in Afghanistan

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis just finished a year in Afghanistan and says don't believe claims of progress.

Top Taliban leader quits the Pakistan Taliban

A top Taliban commander says he is quitting the Pakistan Taliban because of a spate of suicide bombings. It's the first sign of fracture in Pakistan's Taliban and could benefit both Pakistan and the US, say experts.

Deadly attack on police compound adds to 'drumbeat' of violence in Afghanistan

Attackers stormed a police compound in Afghanistan's Khost province, killing at least three police officers Sunday. It's latest in a series of insurgent attacks on government, military, or police compounds.

Pentagon's quiet shift on Afghanistan war: Maybe safe havens aren't crucial

For years, the Pentagon has stressed the importance to the Afghanistan war of eradicating safe havens for the Taliban and other insurgents in Pakistan. Now, it's easing off those claims.

Arrested US official Raymond Allen Davis is actually CIA contractor

American Raymond Allen Davis, jailed in Pakistan for the fatal shooting of two armed men, was secretly working for the CIA, a disclosure likely to further frustrate US efforts to free the man and strain relations between two countries partnered in a fragile alliance in the war on terror.

Afghanistan war: how a model province tumbled into violence

Khost Province had been a US success story in the Afghanistan war. But poor local leadership, an influx of insurgents fleeing US pressure elsewhere, and the proximity to Pakistan are stubborn challenges.

How Afghanistan views the NATO summit

As NATO officials prepare to meet in Lisbon on Friday, Afghans are watching. Many would like to see NATO forces here take Karzai more seriously.

'Child soldier' pleads guilty at Guantánamo, averting a trial

A Guantánamo detainee who was 15 when he was captured, pleads guilty to five charges, including murder. The plea allows US prosecutors to avoid a trial, and offers the 'child soldier' an endpoint for his incarceration.

CIA ignored Jordanian intelligence before suicide bombing in Khost, Afghanistan

Jordanian intelligence has been crucial in the past, but its warnings were ignored before an Al Qaeda attack on a CIA base last year, according to the US spy agency.

CIA admits 'missteps' in handling double agent in Afghanistan

The Chapman military base incident, where a double agent killed seven CIA agents, calls into question the wisdom of turning the Afghan conflict over to the CIA.

Thousands fled India-controlled Kashmir. Are they better off in Pakistan?

Some 35,000 Kashmiris fled from Indian-controlled Kashmir during the 1990s to settle in Pakistan, a country that has not yet granted citizenship to up to 40 percent of the migrants.

NATO attack in Pakistan was 'self-defense,' says US

The Pakistani government strongly condemned a series of manned airstrikes on Pakistani soil, including two NATO attacks that officials say killed about 55 suspected insurgents over the weekend.

5 key players in Pakistan's tribal belt

Pakistan’s security forces have conducted military operations in many of the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, except North Waziristan, causing the area to become something of a haven for militants.

Tribal and local intelligence sources say some 15,000 militants take shelter in this semiautonomous tribal belt.

“It’s a cobweb,” says former Pakistani diplomat Ayaz Wazir.

Based on interviews with local tribesmen and intelligence sources, here’s a list of the five biggest players in the region:

US drone attacks bombard Haqqani network in Pakistan

The latest US drone attack killed 14 suspected militants in Pakistan, bringing the number of people killed by drones in September alone to 75 as the US targets the Haqqani network.

Pakistani Taliban designated a terrorist group by US

Listing the Pakistani Taliban as a terrorist group lets the US expand its campaign against the organization, which said it trained the attempted Times Square bomber and has vowed more attacks in the US.

Afghanistan war: US troops, Afghan politician targeted in deadly weekend

Seven US soldiers were killed amid rising violence in the Afghanistan war, as well as a parliamentary candidate and five campaign workers. President Karzai's chief of staff also said the US must alter its strategy to defeat the Taliban.

First Guantánamo military tribunal under Obama gears up

A military judge ruled Monday that statements made by Omar Khadr, who is charged of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan, can be used in the trial, which is set to start Tuesday. Mr. Khadr's lawyers say the statements were coerced.

Relief in Swat Valley over reported death of Taliban Maulana Fazlullah

The reported death of Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Maulana Fazlullah brought relief to family members of his victims in Pakistan's Swat Valley, which he once ruled with an iron hand. But the Taliban deny he's dead.

Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive: spy agency

While presumed killed in a drone strike in January, Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is in fact alive, according to a senior intelligence official in Islamabad. It may set back the US drone program.

No military push against Taliban in 2010, says Pakistan

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrives in Pakistan to hear that Pakistan military plans no new offensives against the Taliban for six to 12 months. Will this undermine US efforts in Afghanistan?