Afghanistan

Only 115 enlisted personnel and military officers were caught and convicted since 2005. These service members committed bribery, contract-rigging, embezzlement, and theft valued at $52 million during their deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

BRUSSELS — The war in Afghanistan — America’s longest conflict — will grind on for at least another four years as NATO allies are prepared to commit $5 billion through 2020 to train, equip and pay Afghan security forces, according to a senior NATO diplomat. Last week, President Obama granted U.S. troops in Afghanistan expanded authority to attack […]

The CIA black site prison had 20 cells. Described as “stand-alone concrete boxes,” the cell block was outfitted with stereo speakers that played music 24 hours a day to prevent captives from communicating with each other. Captives, who first arrived there in September 2002, were often held in total darkness. Some were subjected to mock […]

Afghans took news that the gunman in the Orlando nightclub shooting was of Afghan descent in relative stride, as politicians in the country had little to say on the matter amid sparse news coverage. The Washington Post reported that the reaction of many Afghans were relatively muted. Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 at […]

On 6 June, 2011, the men from Bravo Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion were patrolling near a village in Afghanistan’s Sangin Valley. That morning, all women, children, and livestock could be observed quickly evacuating the village, an occurrence termed “mass exodus,” which preceded all significant attacks against the Marines. This was observed by three surveillance aircraft, two […]

In a remote area of Afghanistan, where thousands of years of hardscrabble tribal culture increasingly mixes with a resurgent Taliban militancy, this is how Fazl Ahmad allegedly died. Local officials in Ghor province said one of Ahmad’s distant relatives was suspected of killing a former Taliban commander. In December, militants dragged Ahmad from his house […]

After months of debate, the White House has approved plans to expand the military‘s authority to conduct airstrikes against the 1 when necessary, as the violence in Afghanistan escalates, senior U.S. and defense officials said Thursday. Several officials said the decision was made in recent days to expand the authority of U.S. commanders to strike […]

This logic is “absolutely insane,” said Joe Kasper, the chief of staff of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the Congressman who has lobbied for reconsideration for Plumlee to earn the MoH.

American and Afghan officials heralded new prospects for peace after the Taliban‘s leader died in an airstrike — but signs suggest strife in the region is bound to get worse. In wake of Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s death on May 21, Secretary of State John Kerry said: “Peace is what we want. Mansour was a threat […]

The US government continues to underestimate al Qaeda’s strength in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US Department of State noted that a “severely degraded” al Qaeda was able to operate “a large training camp” inside Afghanistan, one of three that were known to be in operation inside the terrorist hotbed over the past year. State noted the al Qaeda […]

Taliban gunmen disguised in women’s burqas and wearing military uniforms underneath stormed a court building in an eastern Afghan province on Wednesday, killing five civilians and a policeman, Afghan officials said. A statement from the Interior Ministry said “four terrorists” were involved in the attack in the city of Ghazni, the capital of the eastern […]

Thirteen retired U.S. generals and senior diplomats urged President Barack Obama on Friday to maintain the current U.S. troop level in Afghanistan, saying a reduction would undercut the morale of Afghan government forces and bolster the Taliban. The 13 men oversaw U.S. military operations and policy in Afghanistan during the administrations of Obama and former […]