Contents: State Dept. issues alarming Afghanistan travel warning; Afghan militia strategy revives hostility and conflicts of 1990s crisis civil war; Hackers obtain IRS tax filings for 104,000 taxpayers
In an effort that is being seen as undermining U.S. officials’ assurances that security forces were holding their own, Afghanistan is forming local militias and urging old warlords to provide military assistance in response to a fierce Taliban offensive in the northern part of the country, The New York Times reports.
During Memorial Day Services Monday, President Obama reminded everyone present that he had successfully ended the war in Afghanistan.
There is no commitment to America’s fighting men and women that President Barack Obama has not broken. When he ran for office in 2008, he promised to leave a residual force in Iraq to secure that country against external meddling and internal collapse. When he took office, President George W. Bush handed over a relatively stable and secure Iraq, thanks to the “surge” Obama opposed, and thanks to the sacrifices made by thousands of Americans, killed and wounded in battle.
Contents: ISIS claims responsibility for major terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia; As ISIS grows, Saudis face conflict between stability and reforms
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A delegation from Afghanistan’s Taliban has arrived in Iran to discuss the situation of Afghan migrants and issues in the Islamic world, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday. The report said the delegation arrived in
The Taliban is expanding across Afghanistan, raising widespread concern about whether the Afghan government and its forces are capable of dealing with the worsening security crisis afflicting the country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It remains uncertain whether the Afghan security forces will be able to carry out essential functions by the time the U.S. draws down to a small military presence at the end of 2016, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
The Associated Press is reporting that a six-hour siege of the Park Palace Guest House hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan has ended, after gunmen stormed the foreigner-friendly locale on a night in which a popular concert had been scheduled. One American citizen is believed dead, the AP reports.
Iran forces Afghans to fight in Syrian regime’s collapsing army; Debate over the number of European jihadists in Syria; Greece makes debt payment as even leftists lose sympathy
The five senior Taliban Commanders released from Guantanamo (GITMO) in exchange for the return of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl are set to be freed from their “luxurious” confinement in Qatar effective June 1. These five hard-core terrorists are Mullah Norullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mohammend Nabi Omari. They were classified as some of the most dangerous Taliban commanders held at GITMO, according to Thomas Joscelyn of The Long War Journal.
Anti-government riots and violence increase in Burundi; Concerns over an all-out crisis civil war in Burundi are misplaced; Fears grow in Central Asia of an ISIS-Taliban alliance in Afghanistan
The Taliban, after waging a war on the Afghan government for more than a decade, causing thousands of Americans and Afghans to lose their lives, signaled a willingness to engage in peace negotiations, even as insurgents launched their annual warm-weather offensive across Afghanistan.
SIMI VALLEY, California — Two noted veterans took to the stage on Monday evening at the Ronald Reagan Library. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is likely gearing up for a presidential announcement, arrived to introduce former Navy SEAL and author of Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell.
On Thursday, the White House announced the previously classified deaths of two hostages and two al-Qaeda leaders of American extraction, including the infamous Adam Gadahn, the terror gang’s roly-poly American propagandist.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and the Taliban are denying involvement in a terrorist attack that left many poor civilians dead in Eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, according to media reports.
The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) took credit for the suicide attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on Saturday, which killed 35 people and wounded 125. If the claim is true, it is the first appearance on this scale of the terrorist group in Afghanistan.
ISIS claims responsibility of major terrorist attack in east Afghanistan; Afghanistan becomes more ungovernable as US-led coalition withdraws; Greece scrapes the bottom of the barrel as bankruptcy talk increases
A U.S.-trained member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) opened fire on American troops in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing one U.S. service member and wounding at least two others, local and foreign news agencies report.
The number of foreign fighters who have traveled to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and al Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and other countries has reached a historic level, exceeding 25,000 from over 100 countries, reveals a new U.N. report.
ISIS captures Yarmouk refugee camp, closes in on Damascus; Hezbollah trapped by a sense of collapse in al-Assad’s army; Turkmenistan fears jihadist invasion from Afghanistan; Palestinian Authority joins International Criminal Court
At least three of five Taliban fighters swapped for the freedom of Bowe Bergdahl, a Taliban captive now being charged with desertion, are reportedly actively making efforts to join the terrorist cause once again.
Massive protests broke out in Afghanistan after a woman was wrongly killed for burning the Koran. The protesters demanded those responsible be prosecuted for the murder.
Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier who has long been suspected of abandoning his Afghanistan outpost in 2009, has been charged with desertion, Bergdahl’s attorney has told the media.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani gave an hour-long address to Congress on Wednesday, in which he mused that his country’s longstanding position as the graveyard of empires is quite exhausting to the Afghan people. Having established their reputation as fierce, stubborn fighters, they would really like to move on to a more productive future. “‘Ordinary’ is what has escaped us, and what we’d really like is to lead totally ordinary lives,” he said.
