The deaths of three elite US soldiers in a Taliban suicide attack in Pakistan Feb. 3 revealed the existence of military assistance program that authorities have sought to keep quiet. The soldiers were among some 100 members of a Special Forces team that trains Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in counterinsurgency techniques.

The leaders of one of the largest Pashtun tribes in the Taliban stronghold of eastern Afghanistan announced Jan. 27 that they had agreed to support the US-backed government, battle insurgents, and burn down the home of anyone who harbored insurgents. Elders from the Shinwari tribe, which represents about 400,000 people, also pledged to send at least one military-age male in each family to the Afghan army or the police in the event of a Taliban attack. In exchange for their support, US commanders agreed to channel $1 million in development projects directly to the tribal leaders and bypass the local Afghan government, widely viewed as corrupt. (NYT, Jan. 27)

Thousands of fresh foreign troops arrive in Afghanistan this year, but some prominent aid agencies are voicing concerns that this could lead to the intensification of the conflict, with dire humanitarian consequences. The civilian death toll has been mounting, and insecurity, attacks on, and intimidation of, aid agencies have also squeezed humanitarian space across the country, thus reducing or denying essential services to many vulnerable communities.

The Taliban carried out a daylight terror assault Jan. 18 on government centers and civilian targets in Kabul, creating panic and sparking gun battles in the heart of the city. Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launched an attack outside a central square where the presidential palace, Justice Ministry, and Central Bank are located. Fighting spread to the Serena Hotel, the Grand Afghan shopping center, and a movie theater.

US Department of Defense officials Jan. 15 released the names of prisoners held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, in response to a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last year. The list, containing the names of 645 prisoners, several of whose last names were listed as unknown, was heavily redacted, omitting some requested information about the prisoners, such as citizenship, date of capture, and circumstances of capture. US law allows withholding of information in compliance with an executive order or because requested information details the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.

The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose dramatically last year according to the latest annual survey by the United Nations. The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) found that 2,412 civilians were killed last year—67% by the Taliban, 25% in operations by Afghan government and international forces, in particular air raids. For the remaining 8%, responsibility could not be determined.

Afghan officials Jan. 9 signed a memorandum of understanding to delineate the process through which the Kabul government will take over the US military's Parwan Detention Center that was formerly housed at Bagram Air Base. The transfer of responsibilities may take place within six months, and the Afghan Ministry of Defense will initially run the facility. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will determine the timing of the eventual transfer of complete responsibility for the Parwan Detention Center to the Central Prisons Directorate in the Ministry of Justice. Afghan and US officials say that the move will strengthen security and the rule of law in Afghanistan.

Four were killed Jan. 9 in a presumed US drone strike on the village of Ismail Khan in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan. (CNN, Jan. 9) The attack came hours after Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani again voiced official objection to the ongoing US drone strikes on Pakistan's territory. (Reuters, Jan. 9)