Midlevel Taliban Admit To A Rift With Top Leaders -- New York Times
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Recent defeats and general weariness after nine years of war are creating fissures between the Taliban’s top leadership based in Pakistan and midlevel field commanders, who have borne the brunt of the fighting and are reluctant to return to some battle zones, Taliban members said in interviews.
After suffering defeats with the influx of thousands of new American troops in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand last year, many Taliban fighters retreated across the border to the safety of Pakistan. They are now coming under pressure from their leaders to return to Afghanistan to step up the fight again, a Taliban commander said. Many are hesitant to do so, at least for now.
Read more ....
More News On Afghanistan
Report: Midlevel Taliban Leaders Reluctant to Fight -- Military.com/UPI
Taleban fighters 'reluctant to return to Afghanistan front' -- Scotsman
Midlevel commanders reluctant to fight -- UPI
One In Three Afghan Troops Leave Army: NATO -- Defense News/AFP
NATO: Afghan attrition remains stubbornly high -- Yahoo News/AP
Taliban's Middle Managers 'Tired of Fighting' -- Newser
Afghan security the worst in a decade: UN -- ABC news (Australia)
UN senior official in Afghanistan says security, UN access in the country sinks to low point -- Canadian Press
Mullah Omar still calls the shots -- Times Of India
Music and mafia: life under Afghanistan's neo-Taliban --AFP
Afghanistan special report: Lt Nazar Mohammed at war from age 14 -- Mirror.co.uk
Behind enemy lines in Afghanistan: Mirror reporter Chris Hughes on fighting the Taliban on their home turf -- Chris Hughes, Daily Mirror
The troops will leave Afghanistan, but our duty is still on the ground -- Alaina Podmorow, Globe And Mail
What Next? -- Nadia Jajja, DAWN
Can the Taliban be convinced to renounce al Qaeda? -- Eurasia Review
It Takes a Network: The new frontline of modern warfare. -- Stanley McChrystal, Foreign Policy