Calif. wildfires force residents to evacuate
State of emergency declared for Santa Cruz County
Associated Press
DAVENPORT, Calif. – Fire crews fanned out Friday across a parched California where wind-whipped wildfires have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes and led to an emergency declaration in Santa Cruz County.In the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Lockheed Fire has blackened 6.5 square miles of remote wilderness and prompted mandatory evacuations of the mountain communities of Swanton and Bonny Doon, which have about 2,400 residents and several wineries.
Inside the Taliban: ‘The more troops they send, the more targets we have’
In the first of a series of exclusive reports in the run-up to next week’s Afghan elections, award-winning correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad meets a group of Taliban in their mountain stronghold
In the first of a series of exclusive reports in the run-up to next week’s Afghan elections, award-winning correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad meets a group of Taliban in their mountain stronghold
The Guardian, Saturday 15 August 2009
The provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in south-eastern Afghanistan are dominated by one name: Jalaluddin Haqqani. A famous commander, tribal chief and cleric, Haqqani came to prominence during the war against the Soviets. In more than 20 years of fighting, he built an extensive network of influence that covered eastern Afghanistan and the tribal area of Waziristan in Pakistan, and reached as far abroad as the Gulf states, which he visited often.Once a minister in the Taliban government, he is now aligned with their leader, Mullah Omar, but has retained independence and control over his men. His operations have struck deep into the territory controlled by Hamid Karzai’s government, reaching targets in Kabul. The movement’s signature attack is well co-ordinated and includes several suicide bombers, who storm into buildings before detonating their bombs.