Our Newest Update
(1/29/08)
Since FRONTLINE's report was first broadcast (October 2006), the threat from jihadist forces inside Pakistan and its tribal areas has grown. Here's some reports and analysis on the crisis, plus the views of some of the 2008 presidential contenders on how they'd handle it.

"The Taliban's Godfather?"
(8/14/07)
A collection of newly-declassified documents obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University detail American concern over Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban during the seven years leading up to 9/11. The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also illustrate that the Taliban wa directly funded, armed and advised by Islamabad. (read more)

Editor's Note
(3/1/07)
Since "Return of the Taliban" first aired in October 2006, Pakistan has barred the release of the results of all its investigations into the death of journalist Hayat Ullah Khan. Explore his story in the section of this site called "Inside the Lawless Tribal Areas."

Bush Plans New Focus on Afghan Recovery
(1/25/07)
After the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion, the Bush administration is preparing a series of new military, economic and political initiatives aimed partly at preempting an expected offensive this spring by Taliban insurgents..." Read the full Washington Post article.

Apparent U.S. Attack on a Pakistani Post in Shawal
(1/23/07)
As reported in an Indian newspaper, the Pakistan government condemned the reported attack by U.S.-led forces on a post in the North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan that killed one Pakistani soldier and wounded two.
Pakistani Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi was quoted as saying in the Senate that a strong statement of protest would follow. "Violation of Pakistani territory from across the troubled western border must be retaliated. Such attacks should be treated just like enemy attacks," he said when pro-government senators from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas raised the matter during an evening sitting of the upper house.

Accept Defeat by Taliban, Pakistan Tells NATO
(11/30/06)
On the eve of NATO's summit in Latvia, "senior Pakistani officials are urging NATO countries to accept the Taliban and work towards a new coalition government in Kabul that might exclude the Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, has said in private briefings to foreign ministers of some NATO member states that the Taliban are winning the war in Afghanistan and NATO is bound to fail. He has advised against sending more troops.
Western ministers have been stunned. "Kasuri is basically asking NATO to surrender and to negotiate with the Taliban," said one Western official who met the minister recently." Read the full DailyTelegraph (U.K.) article.