U.S. soldiers from the 22nd Infantry Regiment Division at Fort Benning, Georgia, boarded a plane to Afghanistan from the U.S. transit center in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on Friday. U.S. troops resumed full-scale use of the Kyrgyzstan transit center for Afghan war operations following a brief slowdown due to ethnic violence there. The transit center in Manas was opened in 2001, when U.S. military operations in Afghanistan began.
Six insurgents, among them two Taliban commanders, have been captured in eastern Afghanistan, the military said Friday. FULL POST
Islamabad, Pakistan — The Pakistani government has extended by three years the tenure of the national army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, who has overseen anti-terrorism efforts against the Taliban. FULL POST
[Update] At his retirement ceremony, Gen. Stanley McChrystal says his career didn't end as he'd wished. Watch part of McChrystal's speech
[Original post] A ceremony honoring retiring Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal is scheduled for Friday in Washington.
McChrystal's illustrious career came to an abrupt end when he resigned as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan after he and his staff were quoted in a Rolling Stone magazine article criticizing and mocking key administration officials. FULL POST