THE FORGOTTEN WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

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10/13/13 Reuters: U.S., Afghans agree most of pact, elders to make final decision U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have reached preliminary agreement on a bilateral security pact that now depends on the approval of Afghanistan's tribal leaders. The pact, announced jointly by Kerry and Karzai late on Saturday after two days of talks in the capital, Kabul, would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of next year.

10/13/13 KP: Taliban kill 2 children over espionage charges in Kunar According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants killed two children over espionage charges to the Afghan government. Provincial governor, Shuja-ul-Malik confirming the report said the two children aged between 8 to 10-year-old were killed by Taliban militants on Saturday night.

10/13/13 AFP: Suicide bomber kills two Afghan policemen A suicide bomber killed two policemen Saturday when he slammed an explosives-laden car into a police headquarters in east Afghanistan, underlining the country's instability as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul. "The bomber drove the car into the gates of the police headquarters in Jalalabad city," Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, told AFP.

10/13/13 Reuters: Afghan in uniform shoots at U.S. soldiers in country's east An Afghan man wearing an Afghan army uniform shot at U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least one serviceman on Sunday, local officials and the NATO-led coalition said. The so-called "insider attack" in Paktika province is the fourth in less than a month and is likely to strain already tense ties between coalition troops and their allies, with most foreign troops scheduled to withdraw by the end of next year. A Reuters tally shows Sunday's incident was the tenth this year, and took the death toll of foreign personnel to 15.

10/12/13 BNA: Suicide Attack In Front of Nangarhar Security Commandment Two policemen and two civilians martyred and five policemen with two others civilians wounded in a suicide attack took place in front of Nnagarhar security commandment. The attack occurred at 7:30am when a terrorist after passing three preventing walls blew up his packed explosive car near the gate of commandment in Jalalabad city.

10/12/13 RT: US arrest of Taliban leader ‘enrages’ Afghan president Karzai US forces detained Taliban commander Latif Mehsud, the US State Department said Friday, an announcement that has reportedly infuriated Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who hoped to use Mehsud as interlocutor for peace talks.

10/11/13 NYTimes: Kerry Arrives in Kabul Amid Security Deal Impass With talks on keeping American forces here beyond next year deadlocked, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kabul on Friday to try to break the impasse and head off a full American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Mr. Kerry, whose visit was previously unannounced, was counting on his relatively good relationship with President Hamid Karzai to push through the two remaining sticking points in the talks on a long-term security deal that would allow American forces to remain here after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014.

10/11/13 WaPo: Afghan officials accuse U.S. of snatching Pakistani Taliban leader from their custody The United States recently seized a senior Pakistani Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan, snatching him from the custody of Afghan intelligence operatives who had spent months trying to recruit him as an interlocutor for peace talks, Afghan government officials charged Thursday. Latif Mehsud, an influential commander in the Pakistani Taliban, was taken into custody by U.S. personnel, who intercepted an Afghan government convoy in Logar province, Afghan officials said.

10/11/13 CNN: 2 New York residents charged with aiding terrorists in Afghanistan Two New York residents have been arrested on charges of conspiring to send aid to terrorist groups in Afghanistan, New York City officials said Thursday. Humayoun Ghoulan Nabi, 27, and Ismail Alsarabbi, 32, are charged with conspiring to solicit aid in support of terrorist organizations -- including the Taliban and al Qaeda -- fighting American troops in Afghanistan.

10/11/13 Xinhua: Afghan police kill 28 Taliban fighters in 24 hours Afghan national police backed by the army have killed 28 Taliban militants and wounded over a dozen others across the militancy-plagued country over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement released here Friday. During the operations which carried out in Nangarhar, Daikundi, Logar, Wardak, Baghlan and Helmand provinces, 15 more Taliban fighters sustained injuries and another was captured, the statement said.