Afghanistan war

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Trump Begins Strategy Talks on Leaving Afghanistan

President huddling with top advisers Friday to review talks with Taliban

(Newser) - Last month, President Trump raised eyebrows with the claim that he could win the Afghanistan war in 10 days by wiping the nation "off the face of the Earth." On Friday, Trump begins a more measured approach to ending American's nearly two-decade military involvement in the country....

Afghanistan Civilians See Grim, New Low

July has worst civilian casualties since 2017

(Newser) - July saw the highest number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in a single month since 2017, the UN mission said Saturday, per the AP . Its preliminary findings indicate more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded, mainly due to a spike in casualties from insurgent attacks. It did not...

US, Taliban Close In on Deal That Would Cut US Force

Troop levels would fall below 9,000

(Newser) - The US is nearing an agreement under which it would remove thousands of troops from Afghanistan, and the Taliban would denounce al-Qaeda and agree to a cease-fire. That would take US troop levels from about 14,000 to fewer than 9,000, roughly the number there when President Trump took...

Trump: Afghanistan Could Be 'Wiped Off' the Planet in Days

Says he could 'win that war' in 10 days

(Newser) - The commander-in-chief made a bold pronouncement Monday: "If I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. It would be gone. It would be over in, literally in 10 days ... I don’t want to go that route." The comments came...

Watchdog: Americans 'Don't Know What's Going On' in Afghanistan

US military no longer releasing district control data

(Newser) - Amid a battlefield stalemate in Afghanistan, the US military has stopped releasing information often cited to measure progress in America's longest war, calling it of little value in fighting the Taliban insurgency, reports the AP . A government watchdog agency that monitors the US war effort, now in its 18th...

4 Americans Killed in Afghanistan Attack

Taliban claim responsibility for roadside bomb

(Newser) - Three American service members and a US contractor were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb on Monday near the main US base in Afghanistan, the AP reports. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The US and NATO Resolute Support mission said in a statement that the four...

One-Eyed Leader Was Hiding Under Our Noses: Report

Mullah Mohammad Omar may have been smoking his local tobacco near a US base

(Newser) - The Taliban's founder may have been hiding in plain sight—or at least near a US base—when America thought he was really in Pakistan, the Wall Street Journal reports. A new research-based report says Mullah Mohammad Omar spent his final years in Afghanistan, partly with his driver, and...

2 US Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
2 US Soldiers
Killed in Afghanistan

2 US Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

NATO says they died during operation Friday

(Newser) - Two American service members were killed during an operation in Afghanistan on Friday, US and NATO forces said, providing no other details on the combat deaths. The fatalities, which bring to four the number of US soldiers killed so far this year in Afghanistan, underscore the difficulties in bringing peace...

Trump Responds to Senate Rebuke on Troop Withdrawals

He defends plan to get US military out of Syria and Afghanistan

(Newser) - On Thursday, senators sent a clear message to President Trump: They think his plan to pull US troops out of Syria and Afghanistan is dangerously hasty. On Friday, Trump pushed back with a pair of tweets, reports Politico . "I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the '...

Deal Reportedly Close to End Long US War in Afghanistan

'We have a draft of the framework,' US envoy tells 'New York Times' after Taliban talks

(Newser) - The wording is couched to be sure, but the New York Times reports that a deal is in the works to end America's nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan. Here is how the chief US negotiator in talks between the US and the Taliban puts it to the newspaper: "...

100 Feared Dead in Taliban Attack on Military Base

Group says peace talks with US are ongoing

(Newser) - A Taliban assault on a military base and police training center in a province just outside the Afghan capital on Monday killed at least 45 people, most of them military personnel, Afghan officials say. There are fears, however, that the death toll is even higher. Some government officials estimate the...

Report: Trump Plans to Pull Troops From Afghanistan

Sources say this played a big role in Mattis resignation

(Newser) - President Trump's Syria decision wasn't the only reason behind the abrupt resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, insiders say. The New York Times reports that defense officials say Trump has ordered the military to begin pulling 7,000 troops from Afghanistan, about half the current US forces there....

3 US Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Blast

3 others wounded, along with an American contractor

(Newser) - The US military says three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province. Three other service members were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on Tuesday near the city of Ghazni, the provincial capital, per the AP . One American contractor was...

Utah Mayor Killed on Deployment in Afghanistan
Utah Mayor Killed on
Deployment in Afghanistan
OBITUARY

Utah Mayor Killed on Deployment in Afghanistan

39-year-old Brent Taylor, mayor of North Ogden, killed on 4th deployment with Utah National Guard

(Newser) - The mayor of a Utah city was killed during an attack in Afghanistan while he was serving with the state's National Guard, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor died Saturday in an apparent "insider attack" in Kabul. Another US service member is being treated...

Unit of Soldier Who Died Had Been Denied Better Equipment

Bomb disposal tech was killed earlier this month in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Sgt. James Slape, 23, was killed by an IED in Afghanistan Oct. 4—and in a new report, the New York Times says his Army National Guard unit had requested better equipment and training, but had been denied both because funds were not available. In addition, a "series of...

US Afghan Commander Escapes Assassination Attempt

Gen. Scott Miller lives, but Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq is killed

(Newser) - The top US commander in Afghanistan survived an assassination attempt Thursday, but a high-ranking Afghan official was killed. US Army Gen. Scott Miller was not injured in the attack in Kandahar City, which took place after a meeting to discuss security ahead of Saturday's national elections, reports the Wall ...

They Inspected an Odd Object. Now 4 Are Dead, 7 Lost Limbs

The 'New York Times' looks at a particularly awful day in Afghanistan

(Newser) - On one awful April day in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 10 children and one adult—all members of the same extended family—looked at an item on the ground near their home that they didn't recognize. It turned out to be an unexploded rocket, and as soon as a 16-year-old realized...

They Weathered War, PTSD, and Prison. Love Prevailed

The 'New York Times' has the story of Samuel Siatta and Ashley Volk

(Newser) - A loop of blue dental floss is one of Ashley Volk's treasured possessions, and it's introduced at the start of a New York Times article on a moving story of a modern love that overcame great obstacles. The Chicago woman first spotted it on the ring finger of...

Pentagon Admits True Number of Troops in Afghanistan

Troop total had been understated by thousands

(Newser) - Pentagon officials have finally acknowledged the actual number of American forces in Afghanistan after long camouflaging the total in misleading accounting measures and red tape. Senior Defense Department officials said Wednesday there are about 11,000 US forces currently deployed to Afghanistan—thousands more than the 8,400 that were...

Generals Persuaded Trump to Change Mind on Afghanistan
Breitbart Slams
Trump 'Flip-Flop'
on Afghanistan
THE RUNDOWN

Breitbart Slams Trump 'Flip-Flop' on Afghanistan

Generals talked Trump into changing mind

(Newser) - In what some of his critics on the right saw as a decision as bad as looking at the eclipse without glasses , President Trump announced Monday night that he is going against his "original instinct" and reaffirming the US commitment in Afghanistan instead of pulling troops out. Trump had...

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