Around the Web: al Qaeda ‘on the run,’ Panetta says
CIA Director Leon Panetta told the Washington Post that the recent attacks in Pakistan have al Qaeda “on the run.”
"Those operations are seriously disrupting al-Qaeda," Panetta said. "It's pretty clear from all the intelligence we are getting that they are having a very difficult time putting together any kind of command and control, that they are scrambling. And that we really do have them on the run." FULL POST
More than $1B in Afghanistan debt cancelled
PARIS, France - Rich countries are canceling more than $1 billion in debt that Afghanistan owes them, the Paris Club of creditor nations announced Wednesday.
The debt relief comes partly in response to Afghanistan's participating in program for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, the Paris Club said in a statement. Some $441 million is being canceled as part of the HIPC Initiative, while creditors are voluntarily writing off another $585 million, the group said. FULL POST
Attackers, dressed as women, killed by police
KABUL, Afghanistan - Two would-be suicide attackers, dressed as women, stormed a relief agency in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday and were killed by police before they could detonate their explosives. FULL POST
Officials: 35 killed in bus crash
KABUL, Afghanistan - A crash between a bus and a truck killed 35 people in northern Afghanistan Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said. The bus was traveling north from Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, when the crash occurred, officials said. FULL POST
Drone strikes kill 5 suspected militants in Pakistan
Militants kill 5 security personnel in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) - Dozens of armed militants attacked a joint police and military checkpoint in Pakistan's troubled northwest early Wednesday, killing five security personnel, police said.
Three soldiers and two police officers were killed, and another security personnel member was injured, said Muhammad Karim Khan, a senior police official in Peshawar. FULL POST
Pentagon probes alleged ad hoc spy ring
Washington - The Department of Defense has launched an investigation into whether a $24 million contract to gather information about developments in towns and villages in Afghanistan and Pakistan may have been inappropriately used instead to run an ad hoc spy ring, according to U.S. military officials.
Read the full story from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr
Ex-CIA spy speaks out in new book
In his new book, "The Reluctant Spy," John Kiriakou gives an insider's view of his secret life as a spy and his role in fighting the war on terror.
Read the full story and watch video of the interview from CNN National Security Producer Pam Benson
