Tim Craig
Monday, June 20, 2016 - 06:40
At a NATO summit in Warsaw that begins July 8, the United States and its allies will try to raise $15 billion to fund Afghan security forces through 2020. About $10.5 billion of that is expected to come from the United States, a continuation of commitments to pay and clothe Afghan security forces while supplying them with fuel, weapons and ammunition to fight Taliban insurgents.
Monday, June 6, 2016 - 06:24
Five years after most senior al-Qaeda leaders are thought to have fled this port city, officials in Karachi worry that the organization is regrouping and finding new support here and in neighboring Afghanistan. They are especially concerned about the recruitment of potential foot soldiers for the next major terrorist attack.
Monday, May 23, 2016 - 06:37
The U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour represents another escalation in U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan by trying to cripple an insurgent group that has for years found refuge on Pakistani soil.
Thursday, May 5, 2016 - 06:22
If first impressions really can be gleaned from footwear, Afghan security forces may be about as disjointed and ragged as a state-run military can get.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 - 06:34
Despite more than $35 billion in U.S. support since the Taliban was driven from power here in 2001, the regular Afghan army is still broadly criticized as ineffective. But officials believe the army’s commando and Special Forces units can fill the void and should be sufficient to reassure nervous Afghans that the Taliban won’t be able to fight its way back into power.
Friday, August 21, 2015 - 07:14
The Pentagon could withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from Pakistan’s military over concerns that it is not doing enough to combat insurgent groups that plan and coordinate attacks from its soil on neighboring Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.
Friday, July 10, 2015 - 06:59
A key leader of the Islamic State and another top commander were killed in recent U.S drone strikes in eastern Afghanistan, according to intelligence officials here, the latest sign that the radical Islamist group is considered a growing threat in the country.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015 - 05:49
The leaders of the United States and other NATO nations are intensifying discussions about future support for Afghanistan, probably meaning at least some American troops will remain here well after President Obama leaves office.
Thursday, April 9, 2015 - 06:53
Over the past four decades, the 550,000-member Pakistani army has repeatedly dispatched forces to Saudi Arabia to back a strategic alliance between the two Sunni-dominated nations. But the latest request from Saudi Arabia is prompting strong opposition from several major Pakistani political parties, reflecting the country’s fatigue with armed conflict as well as unease over whether events in Yemen could further inflame sectarian tensions in the Muslim world.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - 06:33
Pakistan on Monday test-fired a ballistic missile that appears capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to every part of India, another escalation in Islamabad’s effort to keep pace with its neighboring rival’s formidable military advancements.