Latest Taliban Stories

A U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan has become a media sensation after he was photographed fighting Taliban forces while stripped down to his skivvies. Army Spc. Zachary Boyd, 19, who hails from Fort Worth, Texas, said he was in his sleeping quarters at Firebase Restrepo in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province when the Taliban attacked, forcing him to take up a defensive position while clad only in his helmet, protective vest, a T-shirt and his pink I Love NY boxer shorts,...

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In celebration of International Earth Day, the Director General of Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) declared Band-e-Amir as Afghanistan's first national park. This official designation affords legal protection to the lakes and surrounding landscape, and will ensure sustainable environmental management for this area of great natural beauty. Since 2006, the United States Agency for International Development...

USAID funding of Wildlife Conservation Society research helped drive park's creationThe United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) applauded Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), which announced today the establishment of the country's first internationally recognized national park.USAID provided key funding that led to the park's creation, including support of WCS to conduct preliminary wildlife surveys,...

ST. LOUIS, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- He was assassinated by Al-Qaeda operatives 48 hours before the attacks of 9/11, but few Americans even know his name. Ahmad Shah Massoud's life as a hero to the people of Afghanistan, a progressive advocate of women's rights and an ally to the U.S. and the West are chronicled in the latest Webster University Press book, Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader, by Webster University alumnae Marcela Grad (B.A. Spanish, 1993)....

Fareed Zakaria Writes, "It is crucial that we adopt a more sophisticated strategy toward radical Islam" Not All Islamic Fundamentalists Support Jihad or are Potential Terrorists NEW YORK, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In the March 9 Newsweek cover, "Radical Islam Is a Fact of Life. How to Live With It" (on newsstands Monday, March 2), Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria argues that radical Islam is a fact of life, which we must learn to deal with. He emphatically does not say that we...

KABUL, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. power engineering company Symbion Power, in collaboration with Hart Security and AREVA Transmission and Distribution, announced today the final phase of their OPERATION WARM TOES initiative. At its completion, OWT will provide more than 3200 pairs of winter boots and shoes, as well as more than 2500 pairs of socks, to needy children in Afghanistan. The first distribution took place at a school in Kabul on December 25, 2008, where nearly 800 children...

TROY, Mich., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A former decorated U.S. Marine Sergeant filed a 10 million dollar claim against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Friday, February 6, 2009 for being harassed and targeted because of his faith as a Muslim. Sgt. Affraz Mohammed was falsely accused, prosecuted, and later acquitted during court martial proceedings for allegedly attempting to purchase an unlicensed firearm. During his wrongful prosecution, and...

KABUL, Afghanistan and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Asia Foundation released "State Building, Security, and Social Change in Afghanistan: Reflections on a Survey of the Afghan People," a collection of six essays that analyze in-depth the findings of the largest public opinion survey ever conducted in Afghanistan. The survey, "Afghanistan in 2008: A Survey of the Afghan People," was preceded by similar surveys in 2004, 2006, and 2007. All essays in this analytical...

A CIA officer gave an Afghan chieftain Viagra in an attempt to obtain information about Taliban movements.The bearded Afghan, looking to be in his late 60s, returned enthusiastically with information and asking for more pills, after receiving the four blue Viagra pills from a CIA officer earlier.According to officials involved in Afghanistan, this is how some battles are won, through novel incentives and creative bargaining in some of the country's roughest neighborhoods.  The officials...

The Pakistani military, claiming a major victory in the violence-wracked northwest region, said its security forces killed 25 militants and arrested 40 more. The security forces also seized large quantities of arms and ammunition during their operation in the Michini area, Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday. One policeman and two paramilitary soldiers died in the fighting, police said. Malik Naveed, the provincial police chief, said the security forces control most of the insurgency-hit areas...