Military officials say, Iran seen providing more training and weapons to Afghan insurgents. And, report asks, are Taliban receding due to coalition efforts or winters advance?

Taliban Recede: Coalition or Winter’s Advance?

The year 2010 was the deadliest yet in the Afghan war, with one-third more coalition casualties than in the previous year, most of them Americans in combat operations in the Taliban stronghold in the south. U.S. military officials insist the coalition has made major inroads, as attested to in part by the losses.

Iran seen providing more training, weapons to Afghan insurgents

The recent arrest of a Taliban fighter suspected of trafficking weapons from Iran to Afghanistan comes at the end of a year in which Iran greatly increased its efforts to disrupt the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, military and intelligence officials say.
NATO, Afghan officials offer conflicting accounts of deadly raid in Kabul

KABUL – NATO commanders and Afghans on Monday provided starkly different accounts of a pre-dawn Christmas Day raid in Kabul that left two civilians dead and further strained the international coalition’s uneasy relationship with the Afghan government.

High Court Won’t Hear Ex-Cadet’s Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of the conviction of Webster Smith, the only Coast Guard Academy cadet ever court-martialed.

Suspected U.S. Drone Strike Kills 18 In Pakistan

Suspected U.S. missiles struck two vehicles in a Taliban stronghold on Pakistan’s side of the border with Afghanistan on Monday, killing 18 alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Investigator: Drop charge in Afghan civilian death

SEATTLE (AP) — An Army investigator looking into the case of Washington state-based soldiers who are accused of killing three Afghan civilians has recommended dropping a murder charge against the alleged ringleader.

U.S. troops battle to hand off a valley resistant to Afghan governance

No helicopters were flying in fresh ammunition, food and water to the Taliban fighters. His intelligence officer was reporting that the enemy had fled to Gambir, about one mile north of Broyles’s position. Beyond the tiny village there were only more mountains. The Taliban had no place to go.

GI Gets Silver Star for Insurgent Attack

It was a typical morning in Afghanistan, and Spc. Nicholas Robinson was just about finished with a six-hour guard duty shift at an Afghan police compound near his combat outpost.