DefenceTalkEfforts to repeal a 2002 US authorization for use of military force against Iraq got a boost Monday when the White House backed the idea, saying ending the AUMF would have “minimal impact” on current operations. The development comes as the House of Representatives prepares to vote this week on bipartisan legislation that would repeal […]

WASHINGTON: The chief Taliban negotiator has been recalled to Washington and the US is not withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, announced the Trump administration on Monday amid threats by the Taliban to inflict more losses. However, there was also an indication from the US government that the process of reconciliation with the Taliban would continue. […]

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday expressed concern about the “safety and security of India’s nuclear arsenal” and urged the international community to take notice. In a series of tweets, the premier said that the fact that India’s nuclear weapons are in the control of “the fascist, racist Hindu supremacist Modi government […] impacts not […]

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon pledged Monday to be as transparent as possible about how many troops are deployed overseas, after an agency published figures that diverge significantly from official counts. According to a quarterly report from the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center, as of September 30 the US military had 15,298 troops in Afghanistan, 8,892 in Iraq […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-report-shows-thousands-more-us-troops-deployed-overseas-70866/

DefenceTalkDefense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. is sending another 3,000 troops to Afghanistan, an increase of over 25 percent in the number of American forces there. Mattis told reporters Monday at the Pentagon that the boost in U.S. troop strength would be “over 3,000,” but he declined to name a specific number. “Frankly, I […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-sending-3000-more-troops-to-afghanistan-70498/

DefenceTalkThe Pentagon sharply raised its estimate of the number of US troops currently in Afghanistan Wednesday, ahead of a decision on adding thousands more under President Donald Trump’s new strategy for the war-ridden country. Pentagon Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said a comprehensive review showed there were approximately 11,000 uniformed US servicemen and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-has-11000-troops-in-afghanistan-more-than-previous-count-pentagon-70405/

DefenceTalkThe United States on Monday (Jun 5) gave the Philippines hundreds of machine guns, pistols and grenade launchers, which a local commander said would be used against militants battling troops in a southern city. The weapons, including machine guns capable of firing thousands of rounds a minute, were handed over at a ceremony in Manila […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-gives-philippines-anti-terror-weapons-70116/

DefenceTalkUS Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday urged France to continue its African anti-terror operations under its new presidency, as he visited strategic Djibouti on the day of France’s first-round election. “I have no doubt that the French will continue to make their own decisions in their own best interest and that the terrorists will […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-counting-on-french-anti-terror-ops-in-africa-mattis-69796/

DefenceTalkAfghanistan on Saturday welcomed the Pentagon’s decision to deploy some 300 US Marines to the volatile province of Helmand, where American forces engaged in heated combat until their mission ended in 2014. The Marines will head to the poppy-growing southern province this spring to assist a NATO-led mission to train Afghan forces, in the latest […]https://www.defencetalk.com/afghanistan-welcomes-return-of-us-marines-to-helmand-68767/

DefenceTalkPakistan military courts have sentenced nine men to death for terrorism-related offenses or attacks on minority Shiites, the army said Friday. Pakistan has hanged more than 300 people since lifting a moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014, many of them convicted in closed military courts which critics say fail to meet fair trial […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-army-courts-sentence-nine-militants-to-death-66228/