“Large areas of Uruzgan remain Taliban havens. The local government, plagued by corruption, remains so weak that it does not yet have a significant program against soaring poppy production, which helps underwrite the insurgency.”
-from the New York Times, emphasis mine.
Groan. If you think you can fight the war on the Taliban and the war on [...]
Archive for the 'Afghanistan' Category
Poppy Don’t Preach
April 6, 2007Troubles in Quetta
March 2, 2007There is news out of Islamabad that the former Taliban defense minister has been arrested by Pakistani forces. According to The New York Times account, he is the most important Taliban member to be captured since the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
The arrest comes on the heels of a visit to Pakistan by Dick [...]
A Reminder
December 11, 2006Making my way through the Sunday papers I was floored by a small article buried on page A33 of The Washington Post. The article is an Associated Press dispatch from Kabul that reports that 20 teachers that have been murdered by the resurgent Taliban this year. (198 schools have been burned down as well). Apparently [...]
Gunned Down in Kandahar
September 25, 2006Safia Ama Jan, the southern provincial head of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs, was gunned down at the front gate of her Kandahar home today by two assassins riding on a motorbike. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. Ama Jan was a forceful proponent for women’s rights in what was once a Taliban stronghold, establishing vocational [...]
