Airborne Combat Engineer

Hey, what's that sound? Paranoia runs deep in the Taliban

Taliban insurgents fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been hit by a wave of defections and betrayals that has resulted in a witch-hunt within the militant movement.

... two of the Taliban’s most senior commanders have now been killed after being betrayed by close associates. Up to a dozen middle-ranking commanders have died in airstrikes or other operations by Afghan, Nato or Pakistani forces based on precise details of their movements received from informers.

HotAir

Lyrics  to "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield:

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

It's like killing rats

KABUL, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition troops have killed scores of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan over the past several days, the coalition said on Monday.

Backed by air support, the Taliban were killed in two separate battles in the western province of Herat, which lies near the border with Iran and has been relatively safer until recently compared to the southern and eastern areas where the Taliban are largely active, it said in a statement.

Reuters

No matter how many are killed/captured, there are always more where they came from.

Hot Air links to a video clip (of stills) showing what we do to them when we find them.

AEY to provide ammo for Afganistan Security Forces

Small business qualifier AEY Inc. in Miami Beach, FL received a delivery order amount of $48.7 million as part of a $298 million firm-fixed-price contract for various ammunition for the Afghanistan Security Forces.

Ammunition and weapon shortages been an reported issue in Afghanistan, where police and other security forces trainees have been forced to use fake wooden rifles at times.

[DID]

Major operation against Taliban

NATO and Afghan forces have begun what they say is their largest offensive against the Taliban in the south.

Operation Achilles will eventually involve more than 4,500 NATO troops and nearly 1,000 Afghan soldiers in Helmand province, the alliance says.

Most of the NATO troops will be British, with US, Dutch and Canadian troops also taking part.

[BBC]

and, in related news ...

KANDAHAR: Afghan troops captured a senior Taliban commander who tried to escape a manhunt disguised as a woman wearing an all-covering burqa, the NATO force said on Wednesday.   [DNA]

Brits to send more troops to the 'Stan

The British Ministry of Defense announced today (February 26, 2007) that the UK will deploy an additional force of approximately 1,400 troops to southern Afghanistan at NATO's request. This will       bring the total number of UK forces in Afghanistan to around 7,700 personnel.

[Defense Update]

So much for talk from the Left about the Brits bailing out on the War on Terror.

al Qaeda is winning studio battles

Supposedly a new Al Qaeda tape shows American forces being routed from a heavily defended base in Zabul region, Afghanistan.  Fat Boy Gadahn narrates the English version. And it’s all true, except for the part about the American forces being routed from a heavily defended base in Zabul region, Afghanistan, which appears to have been filmed elsewhere.

See the video clip at Hot Air.

Operation Mountain Lion in Afganistan

[LINK] ARNEWS

Coalition forces, in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, began "Operation Mountain Lion" yesterday to establish security, deter the re-emergence of terrorism and enhance the sovereignty of Afghanistan, military officials reported today.

"Together, with our ANA brothers-in-arms, we're eliminating the enemy's remaining sanctuaries in Kunar province," added Army Col. John Nicholson, Task Force Spartan's commander.

Hooah! Keep 'em running like rabbits!

Beautiful scenes from the 'Stan

Argghhh! features some awesome photos of the Panjshir Valley in the 'Stan (a great place for a training center - except for the uphill forced marches, maybe), as well as some kewl shots of choppers.

one of the great photos by MSG Keith

The reaction to the view reminds me of the first time I saw the Swiss Alps. From many places, every way you look is beautiful as any scene from The Sound of Music.

Maybe we'll be able to vacation there some year in the not-to-distant future.

Taliban giving up

Rahman Akhund has been battling US and Afghan government troops for three long, hard years. He misses raising his kids among the quiet pomegranate orchards he used to tend at home. With another frigid winter setting in, and a new US offensive being launched this week, this weary Taliban fighter says he's ready to come in from the cold:

"If the government will let us peacefully return to our villages and our children, we will come," he says. "We are tired living on the run in these snowy mountains."

The war in Afghanistan has really gone INCREDIBLY well! Remember when it was described as "Russia's Vietnam?"  Remember how many predicted a quagmire for the US as well?

We're told the radical Islamics in Iraq are fighting a religious war and will never give up. We'll see about that in the months (and years if necessary) to come. Yes, attacks and deaths are up of late. This shows how desperate they are to stop the elections and the development of effective Iraqi military and police forces.  But, we're moving ahead despite all that.

1312Z TUE 14DEC04. Christian Science Monitor.

Also mentioned at Alpha Patriot, who reminds us of W's words, which the ragtags will come to realize he means:

"We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."

Head of kidnapping group captured

Pakistani security forces have arrested the head of a militant Islamic group suspected in the kidnapping of three U.N. workers in Afghanistan in October, a senior Cabinet minister said Saturday.

Syed Akbar Agha, chief of Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, was captured in the southern city of Karachi this week, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press.

1153Z SAT 11DEC04. ABC News.