Word: quetta
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Taliban's fall has been a long time coming. After U.S. forces took Afghanistan in December 2001, many Taliban simply melted away into their villages. But plenty chose to fight on. Using Pakistan as a sanctuary, and recruiting fresh volunteers from seminaries around the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, die-hard Taliban commanders led by Omar conducted a jihad against American forces. By late 2002, say Afghan officials in Kabul, nearly half the country was out of bounds to foreign relief missions. And without the lifeline of aid, Afghans saw no point in supporting the U.S.-backed government...
...That may be partly because the Taliban's paymasters are losing interest. Al-Qaeda's rich backers have "focused their attention elsewhere," says Olsen-by which he means Iraq. Without al-Qaeda's funds to support them, groups of Taliban can now be seen roaming the streets of Quetta begging for food. Khaled Pashtun, the Kandahar security chief, says the Taliban still get a cut of the opium trade and receive donations from sympathizers in Pakistan and the Gulf. But for Islamists wanting to fund jihad, Iraq has become a bigger game than Afghanistan...
...forsaken us?'" one U.S. officer recounts. And the Taliban's sanctuary in Pakistan may no longer be safe. Under pressure from the Bush administration, Islamabad has begun to crack down on its former protégés. Last month, 18 middle-ranked Taliban commanders were arrested in Quetta and Karachi, including Akbar Agha, leader of a Taliban splinter group named Jaish-al Muslimeen, which kidnapped three foreign aid workers in Kabul last October...
...province, rich with natural gas fields, up in arms?literally. Baluch tribesmen have attacked a refinery and pumping station at the Sui gas fields, have sabotaged the pipeline that sends the natural gas to the rest of Pakistan, have blown up railway lines, and have rocketed the provincial capital, Quetta. In response, President Pervez Musharraf has sent 4,500 paramilitary troops, backed by 20 tanks and nine helicopter gunships, to Baluchistan to try to restore order. It will be a tricky mission. "This could be our last battle," Baluch tribal chieftain Attaullah Khan Mengal told Time...
...their impact on the various segments of our society. You can't judge a book by its cover. Olivia Koppell New York City Pakistan Responds Your report "Hiding In Plain Sight" [Nov. 29] claimed Pakistani authorities were ignoring Taliban fugitives who have taken refuge in our southern city of Quetta. No Taliban member is welcome in Pakistan. Our country is a key, vital partner of the U.S. in the war on terrorism. President Pervez Musharraf has ordered more than 70,000 troops to police Pakistan's southwestern border with Afghanistan. The President has repeatedly made it clear that he will...