Eight years ago this week [9 October], just 25 days after the vicious attacks of 9/11, the U.S. struck back at the Taliban and al Qaida in Afghanistan. Thirty-three days later, U.S.-supported Northern Alliance troops were in Kabul, and the remnants of al Qaida and its Taliban hosts were in retreat to Kandahar and mountain redoubts along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border.

Pakistani police say a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the entrance of the country's navy headquarters in Islamabad Wednesday, killing one security guard and wounding three others. Officials say the attacker walked up to a checkpoint at the entrance of the heavily-guarded complex and detonated his explosives when security forces stopped him. Insurgents in Pakistan have killed hundreds in bombings since military forces launched a major offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region two months ago. Pakistani officials said Tuesday a teenage suicide bomber killed a provincial pol

In Somalia, an Islamist faction says it considers its former ally, al-Shabab, to be the greatest threat to the country.  A spokesman for the leader of the Ras Kamboni faction of Hizbul Islam says Hizbul Islam fighters are preparing to challenge al-Shabab in all areas of southern and central Somalia. The spokesman for the leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigade tells VOA the fight against al-Shabab militants, which began in late September in the southern port city of Kismayo, is expected to continue until al-Shabab is ousted from Somalia.  Abdinasir Seraar is the spokesman for Ahmed Madobe, the m

World piracy stretches far back through the millennia of world history. It has inspired art and romantic literature over the centuries, to include the earliest forms of theater and cinema. For those who believe everything we buy and sell in America is produced in the U.S. they may be surprised to learn that 90-percent of American commerce comes here via the sea. This clearly defines the United States as a maritime nation. This has been true for over 200 years.

As U.S.

International forces conducted an air strike against a Taliban commander in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan yesterday. The Taliban commander was the target of the precision strike in Kunar province's Dara Noor District, which occurred in an open area away from civilian compounds or infrastructure.

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- Members of the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here, recently reached 1,000 combat sorties in the MC-12W aircraft only five months after arriving in-theater. Currently operating only at Joint Base Balad, the MC-12 is one of the Air Force's newest platforms for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.