Mar 19th, 2010 · Western nations have long criticized Afghanistan's failure to curtail opium production, a main source of income for the Taliban. But counterterrorism officials say the problem is far more complex than just drug money, including diverted charity payments and "protection money" from convoys seeking to resupply U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Mar 17th, 2010 · The opium trade in Afghanistan is a key source of income for the Taliban. The group uses the money to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks. But a team of Afghan police commandos is working around the clock to cut off this dangerous funding source.
Mar 17th, 2010 · U.S. military officials are preparing to attempt to take control of Kandahar away from the Taliban later this year. Two young Western residents of the city, Felix Kuehn and Alex Strick van Linschoten, describe what it's like to live and work under Taliban rule.
Mar 15th, 2010 · U.S. and Afghan forces are continuing an offensive to clear insurgents from Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. But the most difficult part of the operation — paving the way for Afghans to take the reins and establish effective local governance — has only begun.
Mar 14th, 2010 · Deadly bomb attacks in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar were a warning to NATO's top general that the Taliban are ready for a coming offensive in their heartland, the insurgents said Sunday.
Mar 14th, 2010 · Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's supply of opium poppies, the plant used to make heroin. About half of that supply comes from the Helmand province. Earlier efforts by NATO forces to destroy the poppy crops were unsuccessful; when the Taliban came back, so did the farmer's poppies. In the most recent offensive, NATO took a mostly hands-off approach, leaving the farmers and their crops alone. Guest host Audie Cornish speaks with author and journalist Gretchen Peters about the effects of the NATO offensive around Marjah on the poppy trade in Afghanistan.
Mar 13th, 2010 · A suicide squad detonated bombs at a newly fortified prison, police headquarters and two other locations in Kandahar, killing at least 30 people in the largest city of Afghanistan's southern Taliban heartland.
Mar 11th, 2010 · Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that Pakistan has a key role to play in peace talks with the Taliban, a possible attempt to quash speculation that his government was trying to sideline its neighbor.