A pact signed between the US and Afghanistan on the future of their relationship could leave the door open for continued drone strikes against insurgent targets in Pakistan after 2014, according to US Ambassador Ryan Crocker. "There is nothing in this agreement that precludes the right of self-defence for either party and if there are attacks from the territory of any state aimed at us we have the inherent ...

By Greg Jaffe A new Pentagon report paints a mixed picture of the war in Afghanistan, describing the insurgency as capable of replacing battlefield losses and launching high-profile attacks, even as it has lost territory to U.S. and Afghan forces. The report, released Tuesday, says the Taliban has been unable to reclaim territory taken during the most recent fighting season in Kandahar and Helmand provinces ...

By Michael Gerson President Obama has been the master of mixed signals on Afghanistan. His initial policy review revealed a deeply divided administration, conducting its own internal war of leaks. Obama pursued a major surge in American forces, as well as recent reductions some military commanders viewed as premature. He has affirmed the importance of the Afghan mission when announcing new policy, but has s ...

By MARK LANDLER KABUL, Afghanistan — President Obama, speaking to an American television audience on Tuesday night from Bagram Air Base, declared that he had traveled here to herald a new era in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan, “a future in which war ends, and a new chapter begins.” Mr. Obama’s address, during an unannounced visit to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Pre ...

Amanat Ali Chaudhry At a time when the relations between Pakistan and US go from bad to worse, it is important that Pakistan formulates a comprehensive national policy to deal with the security challenge. As the anti-Pakistan cacophony by the top American administration officials reached frenzied pitch accusing Pakistan of supporting the Haqqani network, Pakistan bounced back with a vengeance. Both politica ...

By Sajjad Shaukat While the United States had already been playing a double game with Pakistan as paradoxical approach of American high officials coupled with their media displayed from time to time, the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a covert military operation by the US commandos in Pakistan’s city, Abbottabad on May 2, 2011 clearly proved this duplicity. In the aftermath of Osama’s death, US ...

There is  no "convincing evidence" that long-term use of mobile phones causes cancer, says a new report, although it still advises caution. Although the report from government scientists said overall the results have not indicated that mobile phone usage causes brain tumours or any other type of cancer, it conceded that they could not be entirely sure. This is because there was "little information beyond 15 ...

Colombo: Sri Lanka will host Pakistan for a Test match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium for the first time during a major Test, ODI and T-20 cricket series starting next month. Pallekele has hosted just one Test after it was commissioned in preparation for the 2011 World Cup and the match, which was against the West Indies, was a washout in November 2010. The Pakistanis are scheduled to arrive ...