Making moves
Senior Afghan defense officials said yesterday — and U.S. Gen. John Allen confirmed — that Afghan and NATO forces began an operation on Sunday aimed at rooting out fighters belonging to the Haqqani Network along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border (AFP,AP,McClatchy). A senior NATO official said yesterday that coalition troops in Afghanistan have noticed a significant increase in the number of militants coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan, using the provinces of Khost, Paktia, Logar, and Wardak as a route to the capital city of Kabul (CNN).
An Afghan government spokesman said today that five Afghan soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in the western province of Herat (AP,AFP). And the first 200 of some 4,000 French troops currently deployed in Afghanistan are scheduled to leave today as part of NATO’s gradual troop drawdown ahead of the 2014 deadline (AFP).
Not it
Pakistani Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani told two parli