October 20th Morning Readbook

Taliban, Al-Qaeda recruiting from Europe, America
In a disturbing development, Taliban and Al-Qaeda have expanded their recruiting base from South and Central Asia to European countries and even to the US. According to reports, many recruits have been travelling to Pakistan and Afghanistan for training in their terror factories.


FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Oct 20
FALLUJA - A car bomb killed four people including two policemen and wounded nine civilians in a town outside of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded one soldier and three civilians when it struck an army patrol in northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb injured two civilians in northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb attached to a minibus wounded three civilians in northern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded three people in eastern Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded one policeman and two civilians in eastern Baghdad on Monday, police said.

MOSUL - Iraqi troops killed a gunman in a raid that wounded one soldier in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad on Monday, police said.


An insurgency swells, but Pakistan focuses on India
PAKISTAN REELS from almost daily bombings, and its cities, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Islamabad are cited in news reports as once were Ramadi, Najaf, Samarra, and Baghdad when Iraq was on the boil.


The Afghanistan problem
The huge cultural misunderstandings between Western forces and the Afghan people make it unlikely any counterinsurgency mission in the countryside will succeed.


Inside the Islamic Emirate
This is the second installment in a five-part series offering a first-person account by David Rohde of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Rohde, a New York Times reporter, was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on Nov. 10, 2008, as they traveled to an interview with a Taliban commander outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

The articles are based on Mr. Rohde’s recollections and, where possible, records kept by his family and colleagues. For safety reasons, certain names and details have been withheld.


Civilians caught up South Waziristan fighting