U.S.: McChrystal Looks to Spin Afghan Civilian Deaths Problem

At his confirmation hearings two weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said reducing civilian deaths from air strikes in Afghanistan was "strategically decisive" and declared his "willingness to operate in ways that minimise casualties or damage, even when it makes our task more difficult."

MIGRATION: Pakistan Refugee Crisis Worst in a Decade, U.N. Says

Forty-two million people were forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide in 2008, said a new report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released Tuesday.

US-PAKISTAN: CIA Secrecy on Drone Attacks Data Hides Abuses

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s refusal to share with other agencies even the most basic data on the bombing attacks by remote-controlled unmanned predator drones in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region, combined with recent revelations that CIA operatives have been paying Pakistanis to identify the targets, suggests that managers of the drone attacks programmes have been using the total secrecy surrounding the programme to hide abuses and high civilian casualties.

U.S.: Congress Reviews Military Contracts, Kabul Embassy Scandal

Private security guards abandoning their posts at the U.S. embassy in Kabul for up to three and a half hours.

PAKISTAN: IDPs from NWFP Revive ‘Outsider’ Fears in Karachi

"Isn’t this our country? Are we not Pakistanis? When people from Karachi came to Swat as tourists we welcomed them with open arms," fumes Mirza Khan, 39.

U.S.: Obama Appeals to Muslim World for "New Beginning"

In what was perhaps the most widely anticipated speech delivered by a U.S. president abroad in recent memory, Barack Obama Thursday extended a hand to the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims, receiving repeated applause and a standing ovation from the audience at Cairo University in the Egyptian capital.

GERMANY: Conflict Builds Up With Obama Over Afghanistan

When U.S. President Barack Obama visits Germany this Thursday and Friday, he is likely to get a reception as warm as the demonstration of sympathy he enjoyed in July last year. And yet, Obama's high standing among Germans is likely to fall if he asks the German government to send more military personnel to Afghanistan.

US-MIDEAST: Obama Overture Fraught With Stumbling Blocks

In his most widely anticipated speech to date, U.S. President Barack Obama will reach out directly to the Muslim world Thursday morning at Cairo University.

POLITICS-US: Implementing Af-Pak Strategy Is the Hard Part

With the strategic review for U.S. goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan now complete, the administration of President Barack Obama must shift to the more difficult task of choosing and – even more daunting – implementing policies that seek to quell the militant insurgencies in both countries, says a new report from a think tank here known to be close to the administration.

U.S.: "There's No Way I'm Going to Deploy to Afghanistan"

"It’s a matter of what I’m willing to live with," Specialist Victor Agosto of the U.S. Army, who is refusing orders to deploy to Afghanistan, explained to IPS. "I’m not willing to participate in this occupation, knowing it is completely wrong."

PAKISTAN: Pakhtuns Open Their Doors to Uprooted Civilians

For Pakistan’s Pakhtuns, hospitality is part of an old tradition that assures even strangers a warm welcome into their homes.

AFGHANISTAN: Finding a Way Out of the Crossfire

The people of Afghanistan are increasingly caught in the cross-fire between a violent insurgency and a violent counter insurgency but does this mean the entire country is unravelling?

PAKISTAN: U.S. to Aid Civilians Fleeing Embattled Swat Valley

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the provision Tuesday of 110 million dollars in humanitarian aid to assist the mounting number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan.

POLITICS: What Happened to the Afghan Elections?

After a series of well-known Afghan politicians announced their candidacy, the up-coming presidential election was widely believed to be a turning-point in the country’s history. But most of the big names declined to register, leaving what critics allege is a weak opposition to President Hamid Karzai.

POLITICS-US: Rights Groups Slam Bid to Suppress Abuse Pics

President Barack Obama’s decision Wednesday to object to the planned release of photos showing abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan has drawn quiet praise from the military and some in Congress – and outspoken scorn from human rights advocates, a number of legal scholars and religious leaders, and many on the left of his Democratic Party.

DEVELOPMENT-AFGHANISTAN: ‘We Need a Fundamental Change Here’

The U.S. administration has pledged to increase aid and reconstruction as a central part of President Barack Obama’s new strategy. But critics charge that the new policy contains very little specifics on how to bring development and jobs to the country.

AFGHANISTAN-US: More Troops, Humvees, and Dollars

Life in the quaint, muddied town of Maydan Shahr appears to be going on as it has for years. Wrinkled, wizened men manage under-stocked shops in the sleepy central bazaar, while jobless youths idle nearby.

PAKISTAN: Exodus From Swat as 'War' Breaks Out

"It’s an all out war now," said 45-year old Zubair Khan. He was talking to IPS over the phone from Swat Valley, in the North West Frontier Province on May 6, the day after the Pakistan military began its operation to weed out militants.

U.S.: McChrystal Choice Suggests Special Ops Strikes to Continue

The choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal to become the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been hailed by Defence Secretary Robert Gates and national news media as ushering in a new unconventional approach to counterinsurgency.

U.S.: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Greatest Threat of All?

A potentially major clash appears to be developing between powerful factions inside and outside the U.S. government, pitting those who see the Afghanistan/Pakistan ("AfPak") theatre as the greatest potential threat to U.S. national security against those who believe that the danger posed by a nuclear Iran must be given priority.

Q&A: ‘We will not leave you alone’

U.S. President Barack Obama has made Afghanistan and Pakistan his number one foreign policy priority. As acting U.S. Ambassador, Francis J. Ricciardone, outlined his country's strategy for long-term peace, justice and prosperity in the region in an exclusive hour-long interview. Excerpts: