Afghanistan News Center

Afghanistan News February 7, 2010: Today's headlines.....

Taliban, NATO prepare for big Helmand offensive
By Abdul Malek – Sun Feb 7, 12:16 pm ET
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban militants are digging in ahead of a major NATO operation in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, in one of the biggest offensives in the eight-year-old war.

Planned Afghan Assault To Send 'Strong Signal'
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty February 7, 2010
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says a major military offensive about to start will "send a strong signal" to Taliban insurgents that the Afghan government is expanding its security control.

Afghans flee ahead of major anti-Taliban offensive
AFP By Nasrat Shoib 07/02/2010
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Thousands of people are leaving their homes on the Marjah plain in southern Afghanistan ahead of a massive military operation to clear Taliban militants from their last stronghold.

NATO arrests Afghan cop accused in roadside bombs
By Rahim Faiez, Associated Press Writer – Sun Feb 7, 4:53 am ET
KABUL – NATO-led forces arrested a deputy provincial police chief they accused of helping place roadside bombs north of Kabul, officials said, in the latest sign of concerns about weaknesses in Afghan security forces.

U.S. not in direct talks with Taliban: Holbrooke
Sun Feb 7, 9:08 am ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – The United States is not in direct talks with the Afghan Taliban, and any eventual discussions would have to go hand in hand with military success, U.S. Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said on Sunday.

US opposes peace talks, delisting Taliban names
Pajhwok By Lalit K Jha 02/06/2010
WASHINGTON (PAN) - Ruling out any talks with the Taliban leadership, a top Obama Administration official has expressed opposition to the demands including removal of Mullah Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar names from the United Nations black list.

Karzai considers introducing Afghan conscription
Sunday, 7 February 2010 BBC News
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told a conference of the world's top defence officials in Germany that he is considering introducing conscription.

NATO forces attacked in N Afghan province
KABUL, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Anti-government militants attacked a convoy of NATO-led troops in Baghlan province north of Afghanistan Sunday, provincial police chief Mohammad Kabir Andarabi said.

2 foreign troops killed in N. Afghanistan
KABUL, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Two service men with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died following a small-arms fire attack in northern Afghanistan Sunday.

NATO chief seeks broader ties with China, India
by Lorne Cook Sun Feb 7, 8:18 am ET
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – The head of NATO said Sunday its troubles in Afghanistan showed it was vital to boost ties with nations like China, India and Pakistan and transform the alliance into a global security hub.

Revenge on the Taliban, from 10,000 feet
The Washington Post By David Ignatius 02/06/2010
In their joint operations against Taliban militants hiding in the tribal areas, the United States and Pakistan seem to have embraced a classic bit of battlefield advice: Don't get mad, get even.

A compelling way to build Afghanistan ties
Gulf Times - Opinion By Trudy Rubin/Washington Sunday7/2/2010
Readers often ask me if I ve read Three Cups of Tea, the best-seller by a self-styled crazy American named Greg Mortenson. The book describes how he came to build girls schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistan Army Recaptures NW Militant Stronghold
Pakistan's military says its troops killed some 60 militants in the new offensive
VOA News February 7, 2010
Pakistan's army says its forces have recaptured a key Taliban stronghold in a region near the Afghan border.

Helmand Heroin Menace Grows
Poppy producing area diversifies into heroin as crop price falls.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting By Aziz Ahmad Tassal in Helmand (ARR No. 351, 04-Feb-10)
Helmand, the Afghan province that alone produces more than half of the world’s opium poppy, now presents another menace. As the price of the raw opium from the poppy plant has declined precipitously, local businessmen have branched out by refining it into heroin.