Afghanistan war

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Militants Launch Bold Attack on Kabul Airport

Taliban fighters seized building to fire at air traffic

(Newser) - Gunmen carried out an audacious pre-dawn rocket attack on Kabul International Airport today, temporarily shutting down the facility and setting off a gun battle with security forces in which four attackers were killed, officials say. The militants occupied two buildings which were under construction a few hundred yards north of...

Afghanistan Hit by Deadliest Blast Since 2001

Suicide car bomber kills 89 civilians

(Newser) - A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near a busy market and a mosque in a remote town in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least 89 people in the deadliest insurgent attack on civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion. The blast destroyed numerous mud-brick shops, flipped cars...

Bergdahl Shifted to Outpatient Care

'Reintegration process' continuing at Texas base

(Newser) - Bowe Bergdahl has been shifted to outpatient care at a Texas military base, the US Army said last night. He arrived at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston on June 13 after nearly two weeks recuperating at a US military hospital in Germany. He is now receiving...

Bergdahl Arrives Back in US
 Bergdahl Is Now in Texas 
Jun 13, 2014 4:13 AM CDT

Bergdahl Is Now in Texas

Recovery will continue at San Antonio base

(Newser) - Bowe Bergdahl, the Army sergeant who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, returned to the United States early today to continue his medical treatment. A Pentagon spokesman says Bergdahl flew to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from Ramstein Air Base. While at...

Taliban: We Found Bergdahl Alone, Cursing Americans

Commanders say they thought it was a trick

(Newser) - The Taliban were just as confused by Bowe Bergdahl as the Afghan villagers who first encountered him after he allegedly wandered off his base, two former commanders say. Fighters rushed to capture Bergdahl after villagers informed them of his presence, and he was found walking alone, acting strangely, and cursing...

What Bergdahl Faces: a Long, Tough Road

As platoon members say 'deserter' should face trial

(Newser) - The only American POW held in Afghanistan is now free —but experts believe it could take Bowe Bergdahl a very long time to get over the physical and psychological damage of his years in captivity. It's not clear whether he was tortured by his captors, but he is...

Looks Like a Runoff in Afghan Presidential Election

Abdullah Abdullah in the lead, according to preliminary results

(Newser) - Full preliminary results released today in Afghanistan's presidential election show former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah won the most votes but not the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Abdullah garnered 44.9% of the vote, putting him ahead of ex-Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who came in second with...

5 NATO Troops Killed in Afghan Helicopter Crash

As identities of Americans killed last week are revealed

(Newser) - Five NATO troops died in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan today, the US-led military coalition said. The coalition said in a statement it was investigating the circumstances of the crash but gave no other information. The nationalities of those killed were not released, citing its policy that home countries...

US May Leave Less Than 5K Troops in Afghanistan

US military has said 10K is the minimum needed

(Newser) - The US military has said at least 10,000 troops must remain in Afghanistan in order to continue training Afghan forces while also keeping themselves safe —but the White House is now telling Reuters that State Department and Pentagon officials are considering dropping well below that threshold, possibly leaving...

AP Photographer Killed by Afghan Cop

And AP reporter wounded in shooting

(Newser) - A veteran Associated Press photographer was killed and an AP reporter was wounded today when an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car in eastern Afghanistan. Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photographer, was killed instantly, according to an AP Television News freelancer who witnessed...

Kabul Gunmen Sit at Table, Order Juice, Attack

9 killed, including 4 foreigners, at the heavily fortified Serena Hotel

(Newser) - One of the few places in Kabul where foreign officials are still permitted to dine was the target of a ferocious Taliban attack yesterday that left nine people dead, including foreigners from Canada, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan. NBC News reports they were largely killed execution-style. Officials say four gunmen,...

After 12 Years, Canada Ends Afghanistan Mission

Last personnel depart this week

(Newser) - After 12 years and 162 deaths, Canada formally ended its involvement in Afghanistan yesterday, hauling down the Canadian flag at NATO headquarters in a low-key ceremony journalists were ordered not to report on at the time because of security concerns. Canadian soldiers joined the hunt for Osama bin Laden in...

Karzai: al-Qaeda Is a &#39;Myth&#39;
 Karzai: 
 al-Qaeda 
 Is a 'Myth' 
INTERVIEW
Mar 3, 2014 8:44 AM CST

Karzai: al-Qaeda Is a 'Myth'

Outgoing leader vents frustrations with US

(Newser) - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says he's "done enough; it’s time for me to move on." But ahead of April's elections to replace him, Karzai is reflecting on his time as president—and his anger at the US government—in a lengthy Washington Post interview. Furious...

Taliban Trick Frees Jailed Afghan Fighters

Prisoner release form was easy to alter

(Newser) - Getting out of prison was even easier than 1-2-3 for a group of Taliban fighters in Kandahar's heavily guarded Sarposa prison, embarrassed security officials say. The numbers 1 and 2 are very similar in the Pashto language, and the prisoners escaped after an official prisoner release form was altered...

US Sweetens Taliban Deal in Bid to Get POW Back

Sources say officials are willing to set 5 Gitmo prisoners free at once

(Newser) - Time is ticking away for the US to extract American POW Bowe Bergdahl before the bulk of US forces withrdraw from Afghanistan this year, and the Obama administration is now once again considering a prisoner swap. The administration is looking to re-open talks with the Taliban about trading the Army...

Afghanistan Thumbs Nose at US, Frees 65 Detainees

US fears 65 suspected militants will return to battlefield

(Newser) - Afghanistan released 65 accused militants from a former US prison today despite protests from the American military, which says the men are Taliban fighters who will likely return to the battlefield to kill coalition and Afghan forces. The release was ordered by President Hamid Karzai several weeks ago, after his...

Karzai Skirted West to Secretly Deal With Taliban

But officials say no peace deal with Taliban is forthcoming

(Newser) - The latest strain on the tenuous US-Afghanistan relationship: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been secretly negotiating with the Taliban. With no Western involvement, Karzai has been trying to hash out a peace agreement, which, officials say, explains a lot of his recent inexplicable and vexing actions (see: refusing to sign...

Afghanistan Exit Plans: Leave 10K Troops —or None

And, according to one report, pull out fast

(Newser) - The Pentagon has offered President Obama a stark choice: Leave 10,000 troops in Afghanistan at the end of the year, or yank them all. The military argues that dropping below that threshold will leave it unable to protect any remaining US personnel, the New York Times reports. The State...

Gates Book: Obama Lost Faith in Own Afghan Strategy

Ex-defense chief also admires Hillary but thinks Joe Biden is wrong, a lot

(Newser) - A memoir by former defense chief Robert Gates alleges that President Obama lost faith in his own Afghanistan mission, according to accounts in the New York Times and Washington Post . Gates recalls a meeting in 2011 in which Obama expresses frustration with Gen. David Petraeus and Hamid Karzai: “As...

US Relying on Dangerous Tunnel to Exit Afghanistan

Has put $19.5M into improving Salang Tunnel

(Newser) - How will the US military exit Afghanistan? It may rely, at least in part, on a tunnel that's been called the "world's most treacherous," NBC News reports. A few people die each year from the carbon monoxide that persists in the 1.6-mile-long Salang Tunnel in...

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