Sunday
Feb222009
Mr Obama's World: Sunday Update on US Foreign Policy (22 February)
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 17:08
Latest Post: Mr Obama’s War - Expanding the Enemies in Pakistan
Latest Post: War on Terror Watch - British Officials “Colluded with Torture” of Detainees
7:15 p.m. Pakistani militants have released a senior Government administrator and his six guards, who were abducted earlier today in the Swat Valley.
5:30 p.m. GMT: NATO and Afghan forces have killed 14 militants in battles and airstrikes outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
In Iraq, a Sunni member of parliament has been accused of ordering an April 2007 suicide bombing in the Parliament canteen that killed eight people, including a fellow Parliamentarian.
12 p.m. GMT (7 a.m. Washington): Pakistani Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has said that his forces will only extend a 10-day cease-fire this week if the Pakistani Government introduces "practical steps". The announcement undercuts Saturday's announcement by the Government that a permanent cease-fire had been agreed.
Meanwhile, the cease-fire has been further dented by the abduction of the top government official and six of his guards in the Swat Valley.
US and Iraqi troops have launched a new offensive against insurgents in Nineveh province. The province includes Mosul, where bombings and shootings have continued despite the general downward trend in violence in Iraq.
A US soldier has died in a combat patrol near Baghdad.
The US military has belatedly admitted that 13 civilians died last week in Herat province in Afghanistan in an attack which also killed three militants. US spokesmen held out against any admission until video of a dead child prompted an investigation.
Al Shahab insurgents in Somalia have attacked African Union peacekeepers. Al Shahab claimed that two suicide bombers had been sent; African Union spokesman said there was mortar fire but no suicide bombing.
Latest Post: War on Terror Watch - British Officials “Colluded with Torture” of Detainees
7:15 p.m. Pakistani militants have released a senior Government administrator and his six guards, who were abducted earlier today in the Swat Valley.
5:30 p.m. GMT: NATO and Afghan forces have killed 14 militants in battles and airstrikes outside Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.
In Iraq, a Sunni member of parliament has been accused of ordering an April 2007 suicide bombing in the Parliament canteen that killed eight people, including a fellow Parliamentarian.
12 p.m. GMT (7 a.m. Washington): Pakistani Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has said that his forces will only extend a 10-day cease-fire this week if the Pakistani Government introduces "practical steps". The announcement undercuts Saturday's announcement by the Government that a permanent cease-fire had been agreed.
Meanwhile, the cease-fire has been further dented by the abduction of the top government official and six of his guards in the Swat Valley.
US and Iraqi troops have launched a new offensive against insurgents in Nineveh province. The province includes Mosul, where bombings and shootings have continued despite the general downward trend in violence in Iraq.
A US soldier has died in a combat patrol near Baghdad.
The US military has belatedly admitted that 13 civilians died last week in Herat province in Afghanistan in an attack which also killed three militants. US spokesmen held out against any admission until video of a dead child prompted an investigation.
Al Shahab insurgents in Somalia have attacked African Union peacekeepers. Al Shahab claimed that two suicide bombers had been sent; African Union spokesman said there was mortar fire but no suicide bombing.