Tag Archives : insurgents

In Council on Foreign Relations, Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor of CFR.org, interviews Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, CFR. Boot sums up the Marjah offensive as US troops ‘trying to take out probably the biggest remaining Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province, which has been a safe haven not only [...]

A meeting between the commander of the French forces in Afghanistan and the local tribal leaders was attacked today by insurgents with rockets that claimed the lives of 12 civilians and injured 38 others. The meeting between the French Brigadier General Marcel Druart and the local tribal leaders was centered on a French military offensive in the region [...]

Upon assessing the remaining terrorist threat from Afghanistan, the US president’s national security adviser former Marine Gen. James Jones said, “The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.” If the US were to go by [...]

When it comes to Afghanistan and Pakistan, US Vice President Joe Biden enjoys the privilege of having his president’s faith in his advices and recommendations. Biden’s proposals include American forces to ‘ concentrate on eliminating the Qaeda leadership, primarily in Pakistan, using Special Operations forces, Predator missile strikes and other [...]

An American official in Afghanistan says, “We assess that the primary focus of attacks in northern provinces such as Kunduz is to create a perception that the insurgency is spreading like wildfire. But I think it’s more of an ‘information operations’ success.” Amidst Obama’s quandary of whether to approve the request of US generals for [...]

Tactical failures such as missing the target and not rounding up the enemy are generally considered “failure of intelligence.” So, the US military operations in Afghanistan, frustrated that the Taliban are even actually winning the war, want to augment the usual military espionage with CIA covert operations. Thus, the CIA will expand its undercover [...]

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which is dubbed as the Pakistani Taliban group, has reportedly been killed. His death, however, is not fundamentally crucial to the counterinsurgency campaign in the region. For starters, other deputies and heirs apparent are waiting in the wings. Such is always the case with syndicated [...]

British forces are engaged in Operation Panther’s Claw in Helmand Province of Afghanistan for more than two weeks. They are fighting with Taliban forces closely. There have been casualties too. Two more British soldiers were killed in these close encounters with Taliban. Civilians have fled the province. Meanwhile US marines are holding talks with [...]

The considerations have now become political. Today, the production is safer in the deep offshore. The ‘new frontier’ of Nigeria’s oil which is near the coast or in the Delta is a veritable war zone for oil where militants declared war against major oil players and foreign authorities. Several facilities of major oil companies have been under [...]

US and Afghan troops recently destroyed a stronghold of the drug trade in southern Afghanistan. The offensive launched in the city of Marjah was a vast military operation to gain control of a stronghold of Taliban insurgents that is also used as a hub for storage and processing of drugs. “The four-day operation has seriously disrupted one of the [...]