Word: taliban
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Laghmani's killing, which occurred in his own province, where he is a respected tribal elder, shows the alarming ease with which the Taliban is now punching through government's defenses despite intense efforts by NATO to train Afghan troops and police. The bombing that killed him horrified many Afghans; not only did it claim 21 other lives and leave more than 65 wounded, it occurred outside a mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. Taliban terrorism tactics kept many Afghan voters in the militants' southern strongholds away from the Aug. 20 elections, and the bombings continue across Afghanistan. With...
Laghmani started his career in the dreaded secret police of the former pro-Soviet regime. Then he switched sides, grew a beard and joined the Islamic warriors of the mujahedin. When the Americans chased out the Taliban, the ever adaptable Laghmani volunteered his unique set of skills to the new rulers of Kabul. His credentials as a new breed of Afghan democrat may have been questionable, as were a few of his interrogation techniques, but Laghmani's death is a severe blow to U.S.-led efforts to quell the rising Taliban and dismember al-Qaeda. (See pictures of fighting...
...post. Most are Tajiks from northern Afghanistan who know as little about the troubled Pashtun regions of southern and eastern Afghanistan as an Indiana farm boy would about gangs in the Bronx. Posted in Kandahar and then in Kabul, Laghmani had the contacts and the cunning to catch many Taliban involved in kidnappings, bomb attacks and drug-trafficking. Laghmani also was the CIA's most reliable Afghan expert on al-Qaeda. A former Afghan security adviser told TIME that Laghmani had knowledge of who within the Taliban were sheltering Osama bin Laden's band. It was his sleuthing that...
Apart from the frustrations heightened by the election, the war continues to fray Afghanistan's polity. NATO aircraft reportedly killed more than 90 Afghans on Thursday with the bombing of two fuel tankers that had been hijacked by the Taliban. The tankers were stuck in a river, and villagers who swarmed down to load up free fuel were reportedly killed in the attack...
...Afghanistan experts worry that Karzai will be passive-aggressive: not openly opposing the U.S. but deliberately dragging his heels when it comes to cleaning up corruption and reforming his administration. U.S. officials say rampant corruption has contributed to the resurgence of the Taliban in the past two years. "If Karzai continues down the same path, it will be hard to fight the insurgency," says Tellis...