Afghanistan, Taliban | featured news

After explosions and gun battles rock Kabul for three hours, President Karzai says order is restored. The attack is launched on the day that confirmed Cabinet members are sworn in.

KABUL — Taliban militants struck in the heart of the Afghan capital today, launching suicide attacks on key government targets in a clear sign the insurgents plan to escalate their fight as the U.S. and its allies ramp up a campaign to end the war.

The Pakistani Taliban claims they used a turncoat CIA operative for the suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan as revenge for a militant leader's death.

The year's tally was 319, compared with 155 in 2008, due mostly to the crude but ever larger and deadlier roadside bombs built by the Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban said on Friday that they had issued a new video tape of a U.S. soldier who was captured this summer, and added that in it he asks his government to take part in a prisoner exchange deal.

The top commander in Afghanistan says he could make the case in a year that the insurgency has lost momentum, though the effort will be costly and require 'steadfast commitment.'

Arguing that the next 18 months will be decisive, the top commander in Afghanistan said today that he believes the Taliban could be "rolled back."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday he's willing to talk with the Taliban chief in a bid to bring peace to the country if the move would have the backing of the United States and other international partners.

NATO and Afghan officials claimed on Monday their forces had killed at least 130 Taliban fighters in a major operation over the past week in an area of Afghanistan's north where militant activity has surged.

Pakistani forces are zeroing in on two major Taliban bases in South Waziristan region as their offensive pushes deeper into militant bastion on the Afghan border, the military said on Sunday.

The Italian government denied a newspaper report Thursday that its secret services paid the Taliban thousands of dollars to keep an area in Afghanistan controlled by the Italians safe.

Afghanistan's insurgent Taliban mark the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion saying they will continue fighting as long as America and its allies remain in the troubled nation.