Just weeks after trumpeting the results of a military offensive in the Swat Valley, the Pakistan army suddenly finds itself under attack on multiple fronts. A day after an elite unit of army commandos secured the release of 39 hostages, bringing to an end a 22-hour siege of its military headquarters that left 25 people dead over the weekend, the Taliban struck again. In the fourth major attack in eight days, a suicide bomber killed 41 people in a ...

Turkey urged Israeli officials to use "common sense" Monday as it tried to play down diplomatic tensions between the two countries over joint military exercises. "It is wrong to derive a political meaning or conclusion from the postponing of the international part of the exercise," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Israel said Sunday that air force exercises known as "Anatolian Eagle" were being postponed because Turkey was excluding Israel. The NATO exercises were also scheduled to include ...

After 16 hours of debate, Argentina's Senate passed a controversial reform law Saturday that critics say targets media outlets critical of the government. The 44-24 vote is a victory for Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who had pushed to change the way the media operates in the South American nation after her party suffered devastating political losses earlier this year. Kirchner blamed media coverage, especially by conglomerate Grupo Clarin, for her party's defeats. The law approved by the Senate ...

Camouflaged gunmen in a white minivan opened fire with assault weapons Saturday at a Pakistani army headquarters checkpoint in Rawalpindi, a top military spokesman said. What followed was a raging gunbattle that left all four gunmen and all four guards dead, said army Gen. Athar Abbas, speaking on CNN affiliate Geo TV. The standoff was over and the militants failed to enter the army compound, he said. It was the third major attack in Pakistan this week. A suicide car ...

After decades of coddling military dictators in Pakistan, Washington wants a different relationship with its key partner in the war against al-Qaeda. The Kerry-Lugar Act which has passed the Senate, after a similar bill passed in the House last month, would provide $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid over the next five years, in an ambitious plan to counter widespread anti-American sentiment there by helping Pakistan's civilian government deliver essential services to its population. Unlike previous no-strings aid packages, Kerry-Lugar ...

All 11 people aboard a U.N. plane carrying military personnel died Friday afternoon when the aircraft crashed into a mountainside in Haiti, a spokeswoman said.

Gary McKinnon, the hacker who broke into Pentagon and NASA computers, was at risk of suicide Friday after losing an effort to fight extradition to the United States, his attorney said. "This is the wholesale destruction and bullying of a small individual by the United States and now our own government," attorney Karen Todner said in a statement. McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp described her son as "suicidal." The British government did not respond. McKinnon, a British citizen, has admitted breaking ...

He's already served the time, but lawyers Thursday argued to clear his name as onetime U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Smith appeals a conviction for the torture of detainees once held at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Disturbing snapshots and video portraying sexual humiliation and physical intimidation against the detainees tarnished the image of the United States as it fought to stabilize Iraq after the American overthrow of Saddam Hussein. A military panel found Smith guilty in March ...

An activist exiled from Myanmar called for the government to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and urged the U.S. to continue sanctions against it. Thaung Htun, Myanmar's government-in-exile's unofficial representative to the United Nations, on Wednesday told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that "it is not the right time even to think about lifting sanctions." He wants the United States to continue to pressure Myanmar's military regime with economic sanctions as it pursues talks with the south Asian nation, also ...

Public beheadings in Afghanistan are usually associated with the Taliban, but on Monday it was Defense Secretary Robert Gates metaphorically wielding the ax from the Pentagon platform. Gates announced that he had asked for and received the resignation of his top commander in Afghanistan, Army General David McKiernan, after McKiernan spent only 11 months in that theater. The 37-year veteran will be replaced by Army Lieut. General Stanley McChrystal. Army Lieut. General David Rodriguez, the Defense Secretary's own ...