DefenceTalkKabul: A US soldier was killed and two wounded in an ongoing battle in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where Afghan troops are pushing back Taliban insurgents, the Pentagon said. The troops had come under fire on Tuesday while conducting a mission with Afghan special forces in Marjah, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. “This is an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/afghan-battle-ongoing-as-us-soldier-killed-pentagon-66269/

DefenceTalkQUETTA: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif said on Friday the nation would get rid of terrorism this year. He was addressing tribal elders of Gwadar, Talar and Turbat areas of Makran division. “The new year will be the year when terrorism will end,” he said. Gen Sharif, however, stressed the need for the entire nation […]https://www.defencetalk.com/terrorists-to-be-vanquished-this-year-says-pakistans-general-sharif-66193/

DefenceTalkPakistan’s military said Thursday it had killed 21 militants in air strikes in a restive northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The strikes were carried out late Thursday in the Rajgal and Tirah areas of the lawless Khyber tribal district, where Taliban militant and local Islamist groups are active. “Twenty-one terrorists were killed in precise aerial […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistani-air-strikes-kill-21-militants-in-northwest-65674/

DefenceTalkA US F-16 was struck by enemy fire in eastern Afghanistan, military officials have confirmed to AFP, in a rare instance of an advanced fighter jet coming under a Taliban-claimed attack. The multi-million dollar jet sustained significant damage, forcing it to jettison its fuel tanks and munitions before returning to base, officials said. The attack […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-f-16-struck-by-enemy-fire-in-afghanistan-in-rare-attack-65660/

DefenceTalkWASHINGTON: America’s longest war began in Afghanistan 14 years ago, sucking in hundreds of thousands of troops and costing Washington billions of dollars and huge political capital. President Barack Obama’s announcement on Thursday he was delaying the pullout of US troops beyond 2016 marks the umpteenth change of strategy aimed at stopping the Afghan quagmire […]https://www.defencetalk.com/americas-14-years-in-the-afghan-quagmire-65640/

DefenceTalkGHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN: Fighting flared in eastern Afghanistan Monday as Taliban insurgents threatened to storm another provincial capital, two weeks after their lightning capture of northern Kunduz city that marked their biggest military victory in 14 years. The attempt to seize Ghazni city was repelled by Afghan forces but it raised security alarm bells as the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/afghan-forces-repel-taliban-attack-on-provincial-capital-of-ghazni-65601/

DefenceTalkJalalabad, Afghanistan: The Taliban Friday claimed to have shot down a C-130 military transport plane in eastern Afghanistan, with NATO confirming that 11 people including six US soldiers were killed in the crash. NATO did not confirm the cause of the crash but it comes as Afghan forces — backed by NATO special forces and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taliban-shot-down-crashed-us-c-130-plane-afghanistan-65525/

DefenceTalkKABUL: The Afghan Taliban’s new leader told Kabul on Tuesday it must cancel a security deal with the United States (US) and expel all foreign troops if it wants peace in Afghanistan. Mullah Mansour made the demand in his first message marking the Muslim festival of Eidul Azha since taking charge of the insurgent movement […]https://www.defencetalk.com/no-peace-until-foreign-troops-leave-afghanistan-taliban-chief-65462/

DefenceTalkPeshawar, Pakistan: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants attacked an air force base in the country’s restive northwest Friday, killing at least 17 people in their deadliest assault in months following a major military offensive against them. The military said more than a dozen insurgents entered the residential compound at the base near Peshawar, the gateway […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taliban-gunmen-kill-17-in-pakistan-air-force-base-attack-65430/

DefenceTalkPakistan’s military on Wednesday said it had killed at least 31 militants in air strikes in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border. It said in a brief statement that militant hideouts were targeted in the Kyber and Shawal tribal districts, with 14 “terrorists” killed in Khyber and 17 killed in Shawal. The death toll could […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-air-strikes-kill-31-militants-in-tribal-areas-military-65272/