There are fears that tribal insurgency in South Waziristan is connected to wider terrorist activity elsewhere in Pakistan. The June 17 killing of pro-Taliban tribal leader Nek Mohammad, presumably with US technical help, has added more fuel to the fire of extremist Islamic militancy in... MORE

On June 17, Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor province in northwestern Afghanistan fell to the hands of a renegade commander Abdul Salam. The governor appointed by the central government has fled for his life. This is the third time in as many months that an... MORE

The sudden and unexpected killing of 29-year old pro-Taliban tribal leader Nek Mohammad by a laser-guided missile on the night of June 17 is fueling speculation about a broader "secret" cooperation between US forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistani military operating in the tribal territory... MORE

The June 15 meeting between US President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed to seriously address the upsurge in opium cultivation in Afghanistan and its role in fuelling insurgency and instability in that country. Discussing that meeting, Robert Weiner, the former Clinton... MORE

For the second time this year, the Pakistani military has begun another massive foray into the Waziristan tribal belt on Afghanistan's southeastern border to capture elusive pro-al Qaeda foreign militants sheltered by the tribesmen. After its humiliating failure in March during a similar operation, the... MORE

The spreading insurgency in Afghanistan has slowed down voter registration to such an extent that election officials are talking about postponing the polling from September to October. "The election cannot happen in September," electoral commission spokeswoman Ghutai Khawrai said on June 12. Khawrai explained that... MORE

The US-led coalition is obsessed with establishing a corridor sanitaire along the Afghanistan border with Pakistan, creating other security holes inside Afghanistan. Most notably, suspected Taliban insurgents are now operating in districts well inside the border and are blatantly attacking foreign aid workers and their... MORE

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a rare news conference broadcast by Afghanistan Television from his Golkhana Palace in Kabul on June 3, defended the steps he has taken so far to ensure that the September national elections are fair and free. Karzai also used the... MORE

Insurgency has intensified in Afghanistan, giving rise to speculation as to whether it is a Taliban resurgence or broader Pashtun rebellion against non-Pashtun Kabul government. US-led coalition forces are girding for more difficult battles ahead. Suspected Taliban attacks against US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan are... MORE

As summer approaches in Afghanistan and the peak fighting season lies ahead, the 20,000-strong U.S. military is making increasing contact with the enemy. But the enemy is no longer limited to pockets of suspected al-Qaeda fugitives and their Taliban allies in the mountains near the... MORE