U.S. Marines in Helmand Province
CNN's David Ariosto talks with U.S. Marines in Helmand Province about the future of the fight, the drawdown and where they were September 11, 2001.
Dozens of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan copter crash
More than two dozen American troops are believed to have died in a deadly Chinook helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan overnight, a U.S. military official told CNN on Saturday.
Among those killed were a mix of special forces from different services, the official said. If the numbers are confirmed, the incident would be the most deadly for coalition forces in the Afghan war, according to a CNN count of international troop deaths.
FULL STORYU.S. welcomes decision to remove ex-Taliban from sanctions list
Kabul, Afghanistan - The United States on Thursday said it welcomes a U.N. decision to remove sanctions against 14 former Taliban leaders in what is perhaps the latest signal of its willingness to reconcile with militants who break ties with al Qaeda.
"We recognize and welcome the efforts made by the High Peace Council to work towards peace, stability and reconciliation generally and its contributions to the July 15 decision," the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a written statement.
Huge poppy seed cache confiscated in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan - Nearly half a million of pounds of opium poppy seeds have been confiscated in southwestern Afghanistan during a joint raid by NATO and Afghan National Security forces, officials said.
The operation took place Wednesday in the Delaram district of Nimroz province, which borders Iran.
The find represents the largest uncovered by Afghan and coalition forces this year, according to Ministry of Interior spokesman Sediq Seddiqi.
The opium poppy can be used to make heroin and other drugs, and is considered a staple of insurgent funding. FULL POST
First U.S. troops in drawdown depart Afghanistan
The first batch of U.S. soldiers set to leave Afghanistan left earlier this week, beginning a drawdown of 10,000 U.S. troops scheduled to depart by year's end.
Some 650 U.S. Army soldiers left the northeastern province of Parwan on Wednesday, according to Lt. Commander Colette Murphy, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Military officials say this is the first group of soldiers whose redeployment will not be replaced by a new rotation of fresh troops. FULL POST
