Afghanistan War (2001- )
How the C.I.A. Tracked the Leader of Al Qaeda
WASHINGTON — Intelligence officers made a crucial discovery this spring after tracking Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, to Kabul, Afghanistan: He liked to read alone on the balcony of his safe house early in the morning. Analysts search for that kind of pattern-of-life intelligence, any habit the C.I.A. can exploit. In al-Zawahri’s case, […]
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For the Taliban, a New Era of Isolation Has Arrived
Hours after an American drone strike killed the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, in downtown Kabul, Taliban security forces rushed to seal off the site. Green tarps were thrown over destroyed windows. Checkpoints were put up, and shops were closed. But there was no hiding the damage that had been done to the Taliban’s […]
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What We Know About the Killing of Ayman al-Zawahri
The United States announced on Monday that it had killed Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike in Afghanistan, ending a 21-year-manhunt for the terrorist leader, who was instrumental in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and who took command of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death. The killing of al-Zawahri, who was one of […]
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On U.S. Foreign Policy, the New Boss Acts a Lot Like the Old One
WASHINGTON — A fist bump and meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Tariffs and export controls on China. Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. American troops out of Afghanistan. More than a year and a half into the tenure of President Biden, his administration’s approach to strategic priorities is surprisingly consistent with the […]
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House Passes Bill to Expand Health Benefits for Burn Pit Exposure
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would make millions of veterans who were exposed to trash burn pits on U.S. military bases around the world eligible for medical care, the most sweeping action by the federal government to recognize that the sites may have caused a range of diseases. The legislation […]
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Far From Kabul, Building a New Life, With Music and Hope
LISBON — On some nights, when her dorm room here turns dark and the church bells stop ringing, the young trumpet player thinks about the distant afternoon when her uncle took her to the graveyard to gather stones. That was in Afghanistan, in the chaotic days after the United States withdrew last year and the […]
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U.S. Repatriates Afghan Whose Guantánamo Detention Was Unlawful
The United States on Friday complied with a federal court order and released a former Afghan militiaman from detention in Guantánamo Bay, in a case that reflects the changing political realities of Afghanistan. Assadullah Haroon Gul, who is in his 40s, was held for 15 years at the military prison under the name Haroon al-Afghani […]
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Attack at Sikh Temple in Afghanistan Kills Several People
KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants stormed a Sikh temple in Afghanistan’s capital on Saturday, leaving several people dead and others wounded, and stoking already heightened concerns among the country’s religious minorities about whether the new Taliban government will be able to protect them from rising violence by extremist groups. The assault, which lasted over an hour, […]
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The Corpse of a Russian Soldier, and the Cold but Human Urge to Look
HUSARIVKA, Ukraine — There’s a dead guy in there. He is charred black, almost like he had been welded inside the Russian military vehicle as it exploded. How long had this Russian soldier been on display? Long enough to become a monument in this tiny eastern Ukraine village, Husarivka, where some people walked by in […]
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