Afghan firefight shows challenge for US troops

Missiles, machine guns and strafing runs from fighter jets destroyed much of a Taliban compound, but the insurgents had a final surprise for a pair of U.S. Marines who pushed into the smoldering building just before nightfall.

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Fear of Taliban influx in largest Pakistani city

Taliban fighters seeking money, rest and refuge from U.S. missile strikes are turning up in increasing numbers in Pakistan's largest city and economic hub, Karachi, according to militants, police officials and an intelligence memo.

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Hamid Karzai once was called "the chic-est man on the planet" and hailed as Afghanistan's leader. Now, about to start a second term, the president is beset by insurgency and western criticism.

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The jet called in by the U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines but was in line with new orders by a U.S. commander to protect civilians.

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The footage was chilling - a woman crying out in pain, held face-down on the ground, as a man with a long beard flogged her in front of a crowd.

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Al-Qaida wants to choose the next Pakistani Taliban leader to replace Baitullah Mehsud, a top Pakistani official claimed Monday.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that if he wins re-election this month he will invite Taliban and other militants to a grand tribal council if they lay down their weapons first.

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An American apologized for his actions before being sentenced Friday to 4 1/2 years in prison for conspiring to join the Taliban and fight against U.S. forces.

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared Monday that a mission to oust Taliban fighters from Afghanistan has been a major success, despite a mounting death toll and public skepticism.

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Police arrested an influential pro-Taliban cleric on Sunday who had brokered a failed peace deal in northern Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley, an indication the government will no longer negotiate with militants.

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Militants attacked several government centers in an eastern Afghan city Tuesday. Police shot and killed two militant suicide bombers hiding under women's burqas, officials said.

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A terror suspect who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide support to al-Qaida will serve about a year in prison and then be deported to Canada.

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Pakistan will allow some 2 million people who fled an army offensive against the Taliban in Swat Valley to return home next week, the prime minister says.

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U.S. missiles struck a training facility allegedly operated by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a militant hide-out Friday, killing 15 people and wounding 27 others, officials said.

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An explosion in southern Afghanistan Wednesday killed two NATO troops and wounded six others, the military alliance said.

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Pakistani jets bombed suspected Taliban hideouts after a stray mortar shell crashed into a mosque during prayers, part of a wave of violence that claimed nearly 70 lives in 24 hours in northwest region.

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Warplanes and helicopter gunships pounded suspected militant positions in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Sunday, killing 11 Taliban fighters, intelligence officials said.

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Newly arrived U.S. Marines are taking on well dug-in Taliban fighters in what is likely to be a bloody summer as Washington tries to turn around a bogged-down, eight-year-old war with a surge of 21,000 troops.

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Military jets and artillery pounded suspected militant hide-outs in two towns in Pakistan's northwest on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, officials said.

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The violence that has surged for two years in Afghanistan reached a new high last week, and more difficulty lies ahead, the United States' top war zone commander says.

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The footage was chilling - a woman crying out in pain, held face-down on the ground, as a man with a long beard flogged her in front of a crowd.

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Pakistani officials moved swiftly Wednesday to use the suicide bombing of a luxury hotel in their campaign to build public support for military offensives against the Taliban, saying the country is at war.

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Newly arrived U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan will target insurgents crossing into the country from Pakistan and will be a "game changer" in the region, a top commander says.

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Some 7,000 of the new U.S. troops ordered to Afghanistan are fanning out across the dangerous south this week on a mission to defeat the Taliban insurgency and to change the course of the war.

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The Defense Department said Monday that U.S. troops did not follow proper tactics and procedures during an air assault on Taliban fighters last month.

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British forces killed an alleged Taliban leader in southern Afghanistan, U.K. and Afghan officials said Tuesday, in what they claimed was a major victory against the insurgency there.

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Pakistan is denying U.S. claims that it's expanding its nuclear arsenal.

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