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THE STANS
US drone strikes hit 'high-value' Al-Qaeda targets: report

Four US soldiers killed in Afghan bombs: ISAF
Two bomb attacks on Monday killed four US soldiers in a NATO force helping to fight a Taliban-led insurgency in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance's International Security Assistance Force said. The 40-nation force did not give the nationalities of the soldiers in a statement but an ISAF official told AFP on condition of anonymity that they were American troops who were killed in Wardak province near Kabul. "Four International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service members were killed as a result of two improvised explosive device attacks in eastern Afghanistan today," an ISAF statement said. About 3,000 US troops moved into Wardak and Logar provinces, both strategic areas which adjoin the capital, early this year to combat growing insurgent violence. Most of the soldiers in eastern Afghanistan are from the United States, which has more troops in the insurgency-hit country than any other foreign nation and led the invasion that removed the extremist Taliban regime in 2001. The Taliban were able to regroup after being driven from Kabul and are waging an insurgency that was at its deadliest last year. Before Monday's killings, 117 international soldiers had lost their lives in Afghanistan so far this year, most of them in attacks, according to a tally maintained by the icasualties.org website. Homemade bombs -- called improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- cause 70-80 percent of the casualties to foreign troops in Afghanistan, according to the military. ISAF announced separately on Monday that troops had completed their first operations with vehicles that could detect IEDs. The Mined Road Opening System and Buffalo armoured vehicles were "developed to combat mine and IED threats, while also protecting the crew-members during road clearing operations," it said in a statement.
by Staff Writers
 Washington (AFP) June 1, 2009
 US missiles from unmanned drones have eliminated about half of 20 "high-value" Al-Qaeda and other extremist targets along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Citing unnamed US military and intelligence officials, the newspaper said the strikes and Pakistan's ongoing military offensive in the Swat Valley have unsettled Al-Qaeda and its relative invulnerability in Pakistani mountain sanctuaries.

The report did not identify who or what the "high-value" targets were.

Although Al-Qaeda remains "a serious, potent threat," the paper quotes a US counterterrorism official as saying, "they've suffered some serious losses and seem to be feeling a heightened sense of anxiety -- and that's not a bad thing at all."

A senior military official said that in the current situation, Al-Qaeda will have to undertake more open communication on cellphones and computers, even if only to gather information on the situation in the region.

"Then they become more visible," the official is quoted as saying.

But it remains unclear whether US intelligence and Pakistani ground forces can capitalize on such opportunities before they vanish, The Post said.

Opportunities to intercept al-Qaeda communications or to take advantage of extremist movements are fleeting, the report points out.

The Predator attacks have also killed civilians, stoking anti-American attitudes in Pakistan that inhibit cooperation between Islamabad and Washington, the report said.

"The need to establish a trusting, mutually beneficial US-Pakistan partnership is pressing, yet the ability to do so is severely challenged by current events," Army General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, wrote in a secret assessment on May 27, the paper said.

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THE STANS
US military says 35 militants killed in Afghanistan
 Kabul (AFP) May 29, 2009
 The US military said Friday that troops killed 35 militants in clashes and air strikes in Afghanistan, the latest in a recent upsurge of heavy battles in insurgent strongholds across the war-torn country. The fighting erupted Thursday when Afghan and US-led troops came under heavy fire while on patrol in southern Zabul province, the military said. "The combined forces returned fire and ... read more






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