30 November 2010

Counterinsurgency on the Ground in Afghanistan [pdf], CNA // CNA Center for Naval Analyses // CNA Strategic Studies, 15 November 2010

EXCERPT: "This book provides a glimpse into what relatively small military units?teams, platoons, companies, and highly dispersed battalions?have done to roll back the insurgency in some of the more remote areas of Afghanistan. The focus is on counterinsurgency at the tactical and local levels. The...

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30 November 2010

Exclusive: Afghan Officials Free Top Taliban Fighters, Reuters, 30 November 2010

EXCERPT: "Afghan security forces are freeing captured senior Taliban for payment or political motives, with President Hamid Karzai and his powerful brother among those authorizing and requesting releases. The practice is so systemic that the Taliban have a committee focused on getting their fighters out of jail. It undermines the deterrent effect of arrest...

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30 November 2010

Tajikistan: The Next Jihadi Stronghold [by Ahmed Rashid], The New York Review of Books, 29 November 2010

EXCERPT: "[...] The key issue today is the extent to which the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and its splinter, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), are returning to Tajikistan and Central Asia. The much-feared IMU  has a long history here: the group's fighters wrought...

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30 November 2010

Afghanistan: Huge Rise in War Wounded Civilians, Channel4 News, 30 November 2010

EXCERPT: "The number of war wounded civilians in southern Afghanistan has increased dramatically this year following the military troop surge, an exclusive Channel 4 News investigation has found. Thousands more patients are being admitted at one hospital in Kandahar alone - a threefold increase on the previous year in an area which has seen vicious fighting....

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30 November 2010

Nine Afghan Security Guards Kidnapped, AFP, 30 November 2010

EXCERPT: "Nine Afghan private security guards from a construction company have been attacked and kidnapped by unknown militants in eastern Kabul province, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The guards were taken on Monday in the Tizin area of Surobi district, a known hotspot for insurgents 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of the Afghan capital, the ministry said in a statement....

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30 November 2010

Building Police Capacity in Afghanistan: The Challenges of a Multilateral Approach, National Defence University // Center for Complext Operations // PRISM, December 2010

EXCERPT: "An effective police force is critical to achieving Afghan aspirations for stability and U.S. strategic objectives in Afghanistan. As the most visible representation of the government in towns and villages across the country, police capacity must be the highest...

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