War On Terror, Afghan War | featured news

Direct U.S. talks with the Taliban had evolved to a substantive negotiation before Afghan officials, nervous that the secret and independent talks would undercut President Hamid Karzai, scuttled them, Afghan and U.S. officials told The Associated Press....

An airstrike on Sunday killed those believed responsible for downing a Chinook helicopter, a commander said.

Insurgents shot down a helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the Navy SEALs unit that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said.

For months officials in Pakistan have been demanding an end to CIA drone strikes in the country, and the brokering of a new relationship that would make them equal partners in the pursuit of terrorist groups. Now they have an unlikely ally in their demands: the former director of U.S. intelligence agencies, Dennis C. Blair.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Pakistan's capital on a trip widely believed to be aimed at seeking Islamabad's help in ending a decade-old Taliban insurgency. According to a senior Pakistani security official, Karzai has told the U.S. that "seeking a military victory in Afghanistan will remain a futile venture without a stepped-up political dialogue with the Taliban."

Afghan officials said Sunday that a NATO airstrike killed 14 civilians, all of them women and children, in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday night. Local officials said the strike was aimed at Taliban fighters and missed. NATO said it was investigating.

Pakistan's parliament joins its intelligence chief in condemning the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden and threatens to prohibit NATO convoys into Afghanistan if Washington continues its drone strikes against militants.At a marathon closed-door session, Pakistan's parliament Saturday joined the country's intelligence chief in strongly condemning the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The gathering, which drew 10,000 people, was an frontal attack on the current government’s policies, equating Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Bit by bit, new details about the audacious raid that killed the world's most wanted terrorist trickled out Tuesday: Unexpectedly high temperatures caused a lumbering helicopter carrying elite commandos to make a hard landing. A woman killed in the raid is believed to have been the wife of the courier whose trail led to Osama bin Laden.

News of Osama bin Laden's death stirred strong emotions Monday, from a profound sense of relief across much of the globe to outrage among sympathizers ...