Pakistani authorities are reported to have arrested nearly half of the Afghan Taliban's top leadership in recent days, in what is being portrayed as a crucial blow to the insurgent movement. In total, seven of the insurgent group's 15-member leadership council, thought to be based in Quetta, have been apprehended in the past week, unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials told the Christian Science Monitor.

The Netherlands' coalition government collapsed Feb. 19 after the two largest parties failed to agree on whether to withdraw Dutch troops from Afghanistan later this year, as had been planned. The cabinet of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende fell apart following 16 hours of talks in The Hague. Balkenende's Christian Democrat Appeal (CDA) had pushed for keeping a reduced force in Afghanistan for a year past the August 2010 deadline. This was met with opposition from the Labour Party of deputy prime minister Wouter Bos, the deputy prime minister. "A plan was agreed to when our soldiers went to Afghanistan. Our partners in the government didn't want to stick to that plan, and on the basis of their refusal we have decided to resign from this government," Bos said.

An Afghan Taliban spokesman denied reports that the organization's military commander had been arrested by US and Pakistani forces in a secret operation. "The rumors reported today on the arrest of Mullah Baradar are all untrue. It is a big lie," Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. "He is currently in Afghanistan, where he is leading all jihad activities... He is here with us and is in contact with us."

Two NATO rockets aimed at Taliban insurgents in Helmand province missed their target Feb. 14, killing 12 civilians sheltering in their home. The incident occurred in Nad Ali, where British troops are operating. A UK Ministry of Defence representative said the rockets were a "US responsibility." The new anti-Taliban offensive Operation Moshtarak (meaning "together" in the Dari language) involves 15,000 troops, mostly US, British and Afghan, targeting the areas of Nad Ali and Marjah. (The Guardian, AOL News, BBC News, Feb. 14)

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.