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

President Hamid Karzai's Kabul government - strongly backed by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad - is struggling to smooth the road to successful general elections this September. There appears to be two obstacles. One is whittling the power of warlords so that they cannot influence the... MORE

Recent news reports from Afghanistan indicate that the Taliban are very active this spring. The Kabul government says that the Taliban goal is to disrupt the upcoming elections in September. Taliban resurgence is largely evident in the Pashtun-dominated provinces of southern and eastern Afghanistan. But... MORE