David Loyn
This one Toyota pickup truck is at the top of the shopping list for the Free Syrian Army — and the Taliban
The US State Department has resumed non-lethal aid to the more moderate rebel groups in Syria. Along with food, medical supplies and communications equipment, the aid includes 43 Toyota pickup trucks. The BBC’s Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn explains the value of pick-up trucks in war zones.
Ties Between US Troops and Afghan Citizens Worsening
From the aftermath of the attack in Kandahar which resulted in 17 civilian deaths, David Loyn reports that Afghan citizens appear fed up with a decade of war. The worsening ties between U.S. troops and Afghans have been exacerbated in 2012 by the U.S. troops burning of the Koran and the March 11 shooting. David Loyn is […]
Afghanistan Government Guards Take Over Jobs of Private Security Firms
Afghanistan President Karzai has railed for years against the large number of “guns-for-hire” in the country, arguing that private security companies skirt the law. Today is the deadline for foreign private security firms in Afghanistan to hand over to government forces, meaning a force of 40,000 private guards will be replaced by around 6,000 Afghan government […]
Meeting in Bonn, Germany on the Future of Afghanistan
Almost 1,000 delegates from Afghanistan, NATO, and neighboring countries met in Bonn, Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan. The talks happened in the context of the planned withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan by 2014. The meeting had a sense of deja vu; 10 years ago, in this same city, in the same hotel, Afghan […]
Pakistan Accused of Secretly Supporting Taliban
The increasingly fraught relationship between the United States and Pakistan is under even greater scrutiny after new revelations showing Pakistan has continually supported and trained the Taliban in Afghanistan for the last decade. A BBC investigation alleges that Pakistan has secretly armed and trained the enemy in Afghanistan while professing to be a U.S. ally. […]
10 Years and billions of dollars later, vets say Afghanistan not worth the cost
On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center released a poll indicating that only a third of American servicemen and women believe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been worth the costs. David Loyn and Genevieve Chase respond to the Pew poll.