Heavy Fighting Reported Between Pakistan Troops And Afghan Militants

Afghans Linked to Fatal Raid Into Pakistan -- New York Times

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed Saturday from an area of eastern Afghanistan largely abandoned by American troops and killed more than two dozen soldiers and police officers in northwest Pakistan, officials in Pakistan said.

It was the latest in a series of attacks that have raised tensions among Pakistani, Afghan and United States officials. Afghan officials said that the raids did not come from their side of the border.

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More News On The Latest Clashes Between Pakistan And Afghan Taliban Forces

36 Pakistani troops, cops killed in cross-border raid -- Arab News
Militants From Afghanistan Kill Dozens in Pakistan -- ABC News/AP
Militants from Afghanistan attack Pakistani posts -- Reuters
36 Pakistani soldiers killed -- Times of India
Pakistan Protest After 25 Killed In Raid -- Radio Free Europe
Cross-border attack: 26 security personnel killed in Chitral -- Express Tribune
50 dead in Pak-Afghan border attack -- Hindustan Times

Pakistan's ISI Support For The Taliban Is Widespread And Is Official Policy

Pakistan's links with the Taliban could go much deeper than thought.

Pakistani Agents 'Funding And Training Afghan Taliban' -- BBC

Pakistani intelligence gives funding, training and sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban on a scale much larger than previously thought, a report says.

Taliban field commanders interviewed for the report suggested that ISI intelligence agents even attend Taliban supreme council meetings.

Support for the Afghan Taliban was "official ISI policy", the London School of Economics (LSE) authors suggest.

Pakistan's military denied the claims.

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More News On The Support Of the Taliban From Pakistan's ISI

Pakistan puppet masters guide the Taliban killers -- Times Online
Report slams Pakistan for meddling in Afghanistan -- Reuters
Zardari met Taliban leaders in prison: Report -- Sify News
Report: Pakistani spy agency supports Taliban -- AP
US intelligence zeroes-in on Afghan 'corruption' -- AFP
Report slams Pakistan for meddling in Afghanistan -- Dawn
Pak ISI training Taliban: Reports -- One India

Updates On The War In Afghanistan And Pakistan

A must read piece from Strata-Sphere:

Some interesting news on the war front in Pakistan and Afghanistan. One piece that caught my eye was an LA Times article that claims this is the year to finally get Bin Laden. It notes the drop in support for al-Qaeda and their ilk in Pakistan and Afghanistan as the key change that could expose Bin Laden:

This welcome change in probabilities has almost nothing to do with the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism strategy, which remains rudderless and starved of resources because of the war in Iraq. It is a consequence, instead, of dramatic political changes in Pakistan, where Bin Laden is believed to be hiding and where Al Qaeda’s local mistakes and the restoration of civilian democracy have combined to make him considerably less safe.

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My Comment: For the West to succeed in this part of the world, we will require the assistance and support of our allies in the region. NATO is not capable to finish this job (Captain's Journal gives a perfect example of why). Failure of our allies will then open a Pandora's box of more involvement of NATO and U.S. forces .... a situation that all parties clearly do not want.

Having said all of this, Strata-Sphere's article does give a bit of hope that everything in this part of the world is not that bleak.

Update: Afghans and Pakistanis "squeezing" Taliban and al Qaeda -- Yahoo News