Wars, Terrorist | featured news

At least 53 people were killed and 90 others wounded Wednesday in an insurgent attack on an Afghanistan governor's compound where Taliban fighters were facing trial, local officials said. Nine insurgents with explosives strapped to their bodies stormed the compound in Farah province, bordering Iran, Reuters reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama's "secret wars" against al-Qaida are steadily widening, most notably in Africa, with the U.S. military's Special Forces Operation Command doubling in size and the CIA's strike capabilities undergoing a radical expansion, international analysts said.

Most Americans applauded the Sept. 30 strike that killed U.S.-born al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, but some analysts continue to question the legal reasoning behind an attack on someone who, after all, was an American citizen. There are also questions about the special, secret panel that authorizes kill operations against any terrorist.

The Taliban hit back with a vengeance following the US-led invasion of 2001.

Military officials in Pakistan announced the arrest of three men on Monday they said were senior Al Qaeda operatives who had been planning attacks on Western targets.

The CIA worked closely with Moammar Gadhafi’s intelligence services in the rendition of terror suspects to Libya for interrogation, according to documents seen Saturday by the AP, cooperation that could spark tensions between Washington and Libya’s new rulers. The CIA was among a number of foreign intelligence services that worked with Libya’s agencies, according to documents found at a Libyan security agency building in Tripoli.

Direct U.S. talks with the Taliban had evolved to a substantive negotiation before Afghan officials, nervous that the secret and independent talks would undercut President Hamid Karzai, scuttled them, Afghan and U.S. officials told The Associated Press....

The number two leader of al Qaeda, Atiyah abd al-Rahman, was killed on August 22 in Pakistan, a senior U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday.

Taliban bombers attacked offices belonging to the British Council and the United Nations in the center of the Afghan capital Friday. At least three people were killed, police said.

News of Osama bin Laden's death stirred strong emotions Monday, from a profound sense of relief across much of the globe to outrage among sympathizers ...