Kerry arrives for Afghanistan visit, will skip Pakistan for now

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In his debut diplomatic swing, Secretary of State John F. Kerry is sidestepping Pakistan for fear that Pakistanis...

Pervez Musharraf returns to a changed Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan — When he left power in 2008, he was seen as a dictator who shunned democracy in a country that wanted to embrace...

Excavating a future in Afghanistan

TAGHAR, Afghanistan — In a rugged valley outside Kabul, where mud-walled villages blend into bare scrubland, a team of international...

Pakistan arrests suspect in Daniel Pearl case

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A man arrested in Karachi on suspicion of helping in the 2002 kidnapping of American journalist Daniel Pearl...

A healing bond: Sisters open hearts, home to burned Afghan girl

Two sisters open their home and hearts, agreeing to care for Arefa, an Afghan child who was sent to Los Angeles for medical care after being...

Pakistan leader's legacy: The art of political survival

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Throughout his presidency, Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari has looked over his shoulder. Would the military bounce...

Swiss tourist gang raped in India

NEW DELHI, India — The gang rape of a 39-year-old Swiss tourist while on a camping trip with her husband has further ratcheted up...

2 U.S. troops slain in apparent Afghan insider attack

KABUL, Afghanistan — A man in a police uniform opened fire on U.S. and Afghan soldiers Monday at a base in eastern Afghanistan,...

New Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel tries to find his balance

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — On his way home from Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had planned to stop Monday at the...

Afghan president lashes out at U.S., straining Hagel visit

KABUL, Afghanistan — The often-volatile U.S. relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai grew increasingly strained Sunday as...

Afghan suicide attacks mar U.S. Defense secretary's visit

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two deadly suicide bombings minutes apart Saturday morning marred Chuck Hagel's maiden visit to Afghanistan as...

Amid Pakistan sectarian violence, Sunnis saved Shiites

ASTORE, Pakistan — The caravan pulled away, leaving behind 19 bullet-riddled bodies in a muddy ditch. Inside the three buses, those...

Afghan dynamics altering U.S. efforts to wind down war

MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — The story was gruesome: A university student, captured in a U.S. special forces raid, was found...

U.S., Afghan officials at odds over fate of military bases

KABUL, Afghanistan — Late last year, before leaving Forward Operating Base Tillman for the last time, U.S. troops took apart every...

Afghan support staffers for NATO seeking a lifeline

KABUL, Afghanistan — The two bullet-riddled bodies were found splayed on the road near a car. Both men — one an interpreter...

Afghanistan leader accuses U.S. special forces of torture

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday ordered U.S. special forces troops to cease operations in a strategic...

United Arab Emirates set to buy U.S. Predator drones

The United Arab Emirates is close to purchasing Predator drones from a San Diego County defense contractor, sparking concern among arms...

U.S. drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — One morning recently, a teenager named Bacha Zarina was collecting firewood on her family's small farm in eastern...

Afghanistan civilian deaths decreased for first time in six years

KABUL, Afghanistan — Civilian deaths in the war in Afghanistan dropped in 2012 for the first time in six years, a sign of lessening...

New U.S. combat policy affirms role women already play

FORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB, Afghanistan — They fly troops into combat, drive convoys down mine-riddled roads and take part in foot...

U.S.-led forces prepared to comply with Afghan airstrike limits

KABUL, Afghanistan — The commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said Sunday that his forces were prepared to comply with...

U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan declining

KABUL, Afghanistan — Over the last 25 days, something unusual has happened in Afghanistan: Not one U.S. service member has been...

Pakistan's once-posh ski resort awaits a post-Taliban lift

MALAM JABBA, Pakistan — Boys in tattered coats schuss down Malam Jabba's powdery slope on homemade pine skis. Galoshes nailed to the...

Obama plans steep drawdown in Afghanistan in coming year

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon will withdraw about half the 66,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan over the coming year, a steep reduction...

Obama to halve U.S. force in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON -- In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President...

Rural Afghanistan force with shady reputation may grow

WASHINGTON — In an effort to fight the insurgency after U.S. troops leave Afghanistan by the end of next year, officials in Washington...

Gen. Joseph Dunford becomes U.S. commander in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. took over Sunday as the newest and probably last U.S. commander in Afghanistan,...

U.S. rejects U.N. report on children killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military Friday strongly rejected reports cited by a United Nations committee indicating that American...

Obama agrees to release legal memos on Awlaki drone strike

WASHINGTON — President Obama, who has championed lethal drone strikes as a major part of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, bowed to...

Memo gives U.S. broad powers to kill Al Qaeda targets

WASHINGTON — In a newly revealed memo, the Obama administration claims authority to target and kill overseas Al Qaeda members, even...

America's go-to man in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province

TARIN KOWT, Afghanistan — A shy boy with filthy hands and a shabby tunic approached the great man, bowed and tried to kiss his hand.

Fereshta Kazemi takes a risky stand for acting in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Coarse mud was clinging to Fereshta Kazemi's high-heeled boots as she tottered on a slippery footpath. No one...

Afghanistan Taliban appears to be softening stance

KABUL, Afghanistan — Recent pronouncements by the Taliban have raised the possibility that the insurgents may be softening their...

On Location: 'Zero Dark Thirty's' compound challenges

First-time feature production designer Jeremy Hindle admits to some dicey feelings while taking director Kathryn Bigelow on an initial walk-...

Afghanistan's displaced dread the coming winter

PARWAN-A-DUH CAMP, Afghanistan — Winter is descending on the Shakur clan.

Review: 'The Black Tulip' shows Afghanistan's triumphs, tragedies

Made under challenging circumstances, "The Black Tulip" is an earnest melodrama about Afghanistan's tumultuous recent past, told through the...

Pakistanis fear becoming isolated

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — As U.S. frustration with Pakistan's six-month blockade of Afghanistan-bound supplies became painfully apparent...

Kandahar shootings: Youngest survivors recall night of terror

Looking gravely across a courtroom in Afghanistan, 7-year-old Zardana raised her hand Saturday and swore to testify truthfully about the...

Osama bin Laden, born to privilege, dies a pariah

Osama bin Laden, a scion of one of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest families, became the grim apostle of a strain of Islamic radicalism that...

U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers

The paratroopers had their assignment: Check out reports that Afghan police had recovered the mangled remains of an insurgent suicide...