ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At the urging of the Afghan Taliban, four major Pakistani insurgent factions have joined the Afghan guerrilla group known as the Haqqani network in a council aimed at resolving infighting and ending militant violence against civilians in Pakistan. The council’s formation was announced in a leaflet distributed in recent days in North Waziristan, a remote Pakistani tribal area that is the base of the Haqqani network, a cross-border group that NATO forces in next-door Afghanistan call their most lethal foe. In the pamphlet, the Shura-i-Muraqba said it had formed in consultation with the Afghan Taliban and called on “all holy warriors” to avoid criminal activities or face punishment under Islamic law. Read full article > >

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Militant groups in Pakistan form united front

The Afghan Taliban said they have reached a preliminary deal to open a liaison office in Qatar in what could be the first step toward peace talks in a decade.

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Taliban Strike Deal With Qatar on Office

At the end of the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal this weekend, the leadership of the Afghan Taliban issued a statement characterizing the alliance’s adoption of a loose timeline for a 2014 end to combat operations as “good news” for Afghans and “a sign of failure for the American government.” At the summit, President Barack Obama said that 2011 will begin “a transition to full Afghan lead” in security operations, while the Taliban declared: read more

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America’s Failed War of Attrition in Afghanistan

Linda Norgrove was killed Friday night when rescuers attempted to save her from the Afghan Taliban captors who kidnapped her September 26. Norgrove, 36, worked for DAI, an organization that helps developing nations deliver services to citizens. For…

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British Aid Worker Killed by Captors