Pentagon sees Taliban on defensive in Afghanistan
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Western forces in Afghanistan have the Taliban on the defensive after a series of spring battles that have also been blamed for a rising civilian death toll, a senior U.S. military officer said on Wednesday.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 22 -- Afghan security forces on Sunday surrounded the suspected location where Taliban fighters are holding 23 South Korean hostages and were prepared to launch an operation if negotiations broke down, Afghan officials said.
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Afghanistan's defense minister said Tuesday his government had contacts with the Taliban to try to persuade them to lay down their arms and return to normal life, but vowed no let-up in the military campaign against them.
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A classified Pentagon assessment concludes that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with persistent terrorist activity and other threats, have prevented the U.S. military from improving its ability to respond to any new crisis, The Associated Press has learned.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 3 -- The arrest of a senior Taliban leader in a Pakistani city long reputed to be a haven for the group kindled guarded hope among Western and Afghan security officials Friday that the government here plans to move more aggressively against insurgents taking refuge on its...
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NATO-led forces will face "hard fighting" this spring in Afghanistan's volatile south and west, where the Taliban is gearing up for increased suicide and roadside bomb attacks, an alliance spokesman said Wednesday.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 22 -- Afghan security forces on Sunday surrounded the location where Taliban fighters are suspected to be holding 23 South Korean hostages and were prepared to launch an operation if negotiations broke down, Afghan officials said.
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The Pentagon is preparing to send at least 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan in April to bolster efforts to hold off another expected Taliban offensive in the spring, military officials said Wednesday.
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Pentagon Chief Robert Gates, in his push for a coordinated assault against the Taliban in Afghanistan this spring, is enlisting Pakistan's help and vowing better military coordination along the troubled border between the two countries.
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A rocket attack aimed at Kabul's international airport showed the Taliban have the ability to target anywhere in Afghanistan, the group said on Friday, warning the Americans the country would become their "burial ground."
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The Pentagon announced it will keep its force levels in Afghanistan stable with deployments late this year of 11,000 fresh troops.
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The United States is worried about weakening Italian and German military commitments in Afghanistan as casualties increase in the fight to stem the bloody Taliban insurgency, officials said.
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The Taliban vowed to intensify their attacks on American and coalition forces in Afghanistan, a day after a car bomb ripped through the offices of a US security company in Kabul, killing 10 people.
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The Taliban remain a serious threat even though they were defeated in a major ground offensive in southern Afghanistan and promising full security would be &quot;foolish,&quot; NATO said.
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The Pentagon may send 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan in the coming weeks to reinforce the country's British-led sector ahead of an expected spring offensive by the Taliban and al Qaeda.
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The Pentagon does not have a clear picture about the state of the war in Afghanistan, with U.S. commanders on the ground offering positive assessments while intelligence reports are more negative, the U.S. Marine Corps chief said on Friday.
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RAWALPINDI, Pakistan  - Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Pakistan for talks on how to defeat the Taliban, said on Monday the United States would not repeat the mistake of letting extremists take control of Afghanistan.