Afghanistan

We had to build everything from scratch, and nothing was easy. Our infiltration to the site took over ten hours, during which we traveled just over six miles, because of the snow and the mountainous terrain. But a senior officer briefed General David Petraeus, who had assumed command of the Afghanistan theatre, that we would be in place before the snow thawed and the Taliban, who were likely living it up on vacation in Pakistan, re-entered.

After increased rules of engagement for U.S. forces, the U.S. strategic bomber returns to Afghanistan.

Taliban militants have captured a key district in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz, officials say. The fighters attacked from several directions and government troops were forced to retreat to Kunduz city, which briefly fell to the Taliban last year. A lack of ammunition and reinforcements contributed to the fall of Khanabad district, the local authorities […]

Defense Department records show the majority of their contractors in Afghanistan today (more than 12,00) are providing logistics and maintenance services, to both American and Afghan troops.

Now to be fair, to those that haven’t been there, parts of Afghanistan are truly beautiful. The rugged landscape changes from flat desert to snow-capped mountain ranges and back again, with a few poppy fields sprinkled in for good measure.

Even more troubling: Most of those fighting for the United States abroad aren’t even Americans. Private military companies are multinational corporations that recruit globally.

KABUL, Afghanistan –  An Afghan official says at least two people have been wounded in a bombing that targeted the Afghan military in the capital, Kabul. Monday’s attack took place at a main square near the U.S. Embassy and the country’s Supreme Court. Faredoon Obiadi, chief of the police’s criminal investigations department, says an army […]

The well-educated, 20-year-old woman did not want to leave Afghanistan, but she said she had no choice. After receiving death threats because of her work on women’s rights, she feared for her life and left in 2013 — feeling guilty, but intending to return after a few months when the security situation at home improved. […]

Important but overlooked news this week: the U.S. command in Afghanistan has asked India to step up military aid to Afghan forces. India provided four attack helicopters to the Afghan military in Dec. 2015; the U.S. and the Afghans want more, as well as spare parts for Russian-made military equipment, to be used in part against the Islamist network built up […]

The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a US drone strike on July 26, US and Afghan officials have confirmed. Hafiz Saeed Khan, ISIL’s Khorasan Province leader, was killed in Kot district of Afghanistan’s Nangharhar province, according to Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, the top Afghan diplomat in […]

The leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed by a U.S. drone last month, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News Friday. Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said that Hafiz Saeed Khan died July 26 from an airstrike in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. “Khan was known to […]

The most important thing is to be able to laugh at yourself and accept your new position as the lowest of the low. The guys barking orders at you? They’ve been in your shoes.