CNN does a special on the deserter, Bowe Bergdahl

Top intelligence official claims: Obama admin. funded terror network ‘for the next ten years’

A senior intelligence official with intimate knowledge of the years-long effort to locate and rescue Bergdahl told the Washington Free Beacon that the details of that exchange do not add up.

The official, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, speculated that a cash ransom was paid to the Haqqani Network to get the group to free the prisoner.

The Obama administration taliban-bergdahl-trade-officials-say/” target=”_blank”>reportedly considered offering cash for his release as late as December 2013. The State Department has repeatedly refused to say whether the deal that released Bergdahl involved any cash payment.

The ransom plan was reportedly abandoned, but the intelligence official insisted that there is reason to believe that cash changed hands as part of the deal.

H/T Richard and M

Afghan special forces commander defects with guns to insurgents

Reuters: 

By Mohammad Anwar

KUNAR, Afghanistan | Sun Oct 20, 2013 11:49am EDT

(Reuters) – An Afghan army special forces commander has defected to an insurgent group allied with the Taliban in a Humvee truck packed with his team’s guns and high-tech equipment, officials in the eastern Kunar province said on Sunday.

Monsif Khan, who raided the supplies of his 20-man team in Kunar’s capital Asadabad over the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, is the first special forces commander to switch sides, joining the Hezb-e-Islami organization.

“He sent some of his comrades on leave and paid others to go out sightseeing, and then escaped with up to 30 guns, night-vision goggles, binoculars and a Humvee,”

[…]

A record number of insider attacks – accounting for about one in every five coalition combat deaths – last year prompted the coalition to briefly suspend all joint activities and take steps to curb interaction between foreign and Afghan troops.

Afghan Insider Attack Kills Three US Soldiers

H/T Softly Bob

Sky News:

Nato says a man wearing an Afghan army uniform turned his gun on his trainers in the latest green-on-blue attack in the country.

AfghanistanThe attack took place in the east of AfghanistanThree American soldiers have been killed in an apparent insider attack in eastern Afghanistan.In a statement, Nato said a man in an Afghan army uniform turned his weapon on the international trainers.

The shooting is the latest in a string of attacks in which infiltrators or disgruntled Afghan police or soldiers have killed international troops working with them.

The killings threaten to shake the confidence and trust of the two sides as withdrawal of most international troops approaches in 2014.

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CNN covers attempted honour killing in Afghanistan

When CNN tells the truth one has to wonder exactly the purpose of it. I suppose its to make the American people OK with the total withdrawal of US forces from the area. ‘These people here are barbarians. Nothing to do with islam, its just Afghans, and this is why we can’t stay’ or something like that perhaps.

In any case I always worry when the legacy media appears to be on our side. Even so, this is a worthy report on a horrible Islamic-inspired practice.

Afghans develop LARP similar to Donkey Kong. Only it’s Donkey Bomb

H/T EDL Buck:

Daily Mail:

Donkey bomb explodes killing policeman in Afghanistan as Taliban turn live animals into explosives

  • Device explodes as animal walks near checkpoint in Laghman province
  • Taliban have been blamed for bomb – which was remotely detonated
  • Militants finding increasingly bizarre ways to get devices close to targets

By Sam Adams

PUBLISHED: 11:26 GMT, 5 April 2013 | UPDATED: 12:47 GMT, 5 April 2013

A policeman has been killed and three civilians were injured after a bomb strapped to a donkey exploded at a police post in Afghanistan.

Local government spokesman Sarhadi Zwak says the animal blew up in front of the checkpoint in the Alingar district of Laghman province.

Mr Zwak said Taliban militants were responsible for the bomb, which was remotely detonated. Insurgents are finding new ways to thwart stepped up security measures in their bid to undermine confidence in the Afghan government.

Horror: A policeman died when the donkey bomb exploded in Laghman province. This picture shows the aftermath of another attack yesterday in Farah province, where nine suicide bombers blew themselves upHorror: A policeman died when a bomb strapped to a donkey exploded in Laghman province. This picture shows the aftermath of another Taliban bomb attack yesterday in Farah province

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Over 50 dead in Taliban attack to release prisoners

H/T Magic Martin

Taliban attack courthouse in failed bid to free inmates, leaving 53 people dead in Afghanistan

KABUL – Insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms launched a suicide attack and stormed a courthouse Wednesday in a failed bid to free Taliban inmates, killing at least 44 people, half of them shot in the basement.

The attack — one of the deadliest in the more than 11-year-old war — began about 8:30 a.m. when nine men wearing suicide vests drove into the capital of Farah province in western Afghanistan, evading checkpoints by using army vehicles, according to the provincial police chief. The standoff ended some eight hours later when the last gunman was killed.

Insurgents have stepped up assaults targeting the Farah provincial government in recent months as they vie for control of an area bordering Iran to the west and Helmand province to the east. Farah has become increasingly volatile as the site of a growing drug trade after military offensives in neighbouring areas.

More info at the youtube pages where the videos live

Afghan teenager fatally stabs US soldier

H/T Bear

Yahoo News

  • FILE - In this March 28, 2013 file photo, U.S. Army carry team move a transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Michael Cable, 26, of Philpot, Ky., at Dover Air Force Base, Del. An Afghan teenager killed Cable in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials said Monday, April 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
  • View PhotoAssociated Press/Cliff Owen – FILE – In this March 28, 2013 file photo, U.S. Army carry team move a transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Michael Cable, 26, of Philpot, Ky., at Dover Air Force Base, …more 
  • KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan teenager killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials said Monday.

    The killing comes as the monthly U.S. death toll rose sharply in March to 14 with the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks.

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  • For those who haven’t seen it, this BBC special shows the conditions our soldiers have to endure working with our Afghan ‘allies’.