Najib Manalai, an adviser to Afghanistan’s minister of culture and youth affairs, has described the Taliban [in an interview] as a composite of different elements, "hijacked by Pakistani intelligence services and by international terrorist groups." While there exists de facto leadership, its interest is with international terrorism, rather than a national agenda. [EurasiaNet, June 6]

Mansour Dadullah, new Taliban military commander since the death of his brother Mullah Dadullah in combat last month, told AlJazeera in an exclusive interview: "Sheikh Osama bin Laden is alive and active. He's carrying out his duties. The latest proof that he is alive is that he sent me a letter of condolences after the martyrdom of my brother. He advised me to follow my brother's path... Sheikh Osama prefers not to be seen or meet anyone because if he makes himself available to the media maybe he will be facing danger."

Two women journalists, Zakia Zaki and Sanga Amach, have been killed by gunmen in Afghanistan in the past week. Zaki, who was killed in an attack at her home late June 5, ran a private radio station, partially funded by a Western media group, and was headmistress of a school in Parwan province. She was recently warned by some local commanders to shut the station or face death, the head of Afghanistan's Independent Journalist Association said. "She believed in freedom of expression, that's why she was killed," Rahimullah Samander told Reuters. Amach, a news presenter on a private television station in Kabul, was killed at her home on June 1. She had also received threats from unidentified persons. Some arrests have been reported in her case. (Reuters, June 6)

The US military said coalition and Afghan troops killed six Taliban fighters and arrested four in eastern Afghanistan May 30, but a provincial official and residents said the casualties were villagers. The coalition statement did not mention the location in Nangarhar province, but Dadak Zalmai, the chief of Khogiani district, said there was a pre-dawn raid on a house in his district. "The troops killed three civilians and took four with them," Zalmai said. Several residents said seven civilians, including women and children, were killed and eight wounded in the raid. (Reuters, May 30) NATO forces also acknowledged that a Chinook transport helicopter went down in southern Afghanistan May 30. (Reuters, May 30)

At least 13 people were killed and more than 32 wounded in Shiberghan, capital of Afghanistan's northern Jowzjan province, when police opened fire to break up a protest against governor Juma Khan Hamdard on May 28. Provincial spokesmen said protesters hurled stones and police fired to stop them from raiding government offices. Provincial authorities also said the casualties were caused by the protesters, who were armed supporters of supporters of northern warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum. (AlJazeera, May 28)

A US delegation is headed for Kabul to persuade President Hamid Karzai to approve a program of glyphosate spraying over the opium-producing lands of southeast Afghanistan. The private contractor Dyncorp is to carry out the spraying in cooperation with a specially-trained Afghan force. The US is willing to negotiate, but makes clear it will not take glyphosate off the table. "There has to be a stick that goes with the carrot," said Thomas Schweich, State Department co-ordinator for counter-narcotics in Afghanistan. Eradication had to be a component of US policy, he emphasized.

Pakistani security forces clashed with militants at an al-Qaeda camp near the Afghan border May 22, leaving at least three dead. Maj.-Gen. Waheed Arshad, an army spokesman, said that after receiving reports about the training camp in North Waziristan, tribal elders were sent in to tell its leaders to shut it down. They came under fire, triggering a gun battle. "Security forces returned the fire and are in the process of clearing the miscreants' training facility," the military said in a statement. (AlJazeera, May 22)

Taliban leader Mullah Omar has formally confirmed the death of top commander Mullah Dadullah, through a spokesman, and nominated Mullah Bakht Mohammad as his replacement. The elusive Mullah Omar also claimed there are thousands of fighters ready to avenge Dadullah's death and called for an immediate return of Dadullah's corpse to his family. Dadullah's brother, Shah Mansoor, and two other senior Taliban officials released from prison in exchange for the safe release of a foreign journalist in March have also been killed, according to Afghan intelligence officials. The trio, including commanders Mullah Ghaffar and Mullah Hamdullah, were killed hours before US forces killed Mullah Dadullah in Helmand province on May 12. (Afgha.com, May 16)