Facing Afghan Mistrust, Al-Qaeda Fighters Take Limited Role in Insurgency, The Washington Post, 23 August 2010
EXCERPT: "On Aug. 14, a U.S. airstrike in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz killed a Taliban commander known as Abu Baqir. In a country where insurgents are killed daily, this attack was notable for one unusual detail: Abu Baqir, the military said afterward, was also a member of al-Qaeda. Although U.S. officials have often said that al-Qaeda is a marginal player on the Afghan battlefield, an analysis of 76,000 classified U.S. military reports posted by the Web site WikiLeaks underscores the extent to which Osama bin Laden and his network have become an afterthought in the war. The reports, which cover the escalation of the insurgency between 2004 and the end of 2009, mention al-Qaeda only a few dozen times and even then just in passing. Most are vague references to people with unspecified al-Qaeda contacts or sympathies, or as shorthand for an amorphous ideological enemy."
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Related articles:
US looks to Iraq strategy for Afghanistan, AFP, 22 August 2010
Taliban commander linked to Iran, al Qaeda targeted in western Afghanistan, The Long War Journal, 21 August 2010
The incredible shrinking al Qaeda, Strategy Page, 20 August 2010
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