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Karzai’s brother shot dead by bodyguard - (Read Full Story)

Ahmed Wali Karzai, a younger brother of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, and one of the country’s most powerful men, has been shot dead by one of his bodyguards, according to a provincial official.

Mr Karzai was head of the provincial council in the southern Kandahar province, focus of last year’s US troop surge, and widely regarded as among the key-power brokers in southern Afghanistan.

One of his bodyguards shot him on Tuesday at his house, a heavily-fortified compound in Kandahar city, Zalmay Ayoubi, spokesperson for the governor of Kandahar province said.

“A guard of Ahmed Wali Karzai named Sardar Mohammad opened fire and killed him. The other guards shot and killed Sardar Mohammad,” Mr Ayoubi said. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear.

10 Pakistani troops killed in gun battle at naval base - (Read Full Story)

At least 10 members of Pakistan's military were killed in a gun battle with Taliban militants at a naval base in the coastal city of Karachi, authorities said Monday.

The clashes raged for hours after attackers with guns and grenades stormed the compound Sunday night. By Monday afternoon, the base had "been cleared from the terrorists," a Pakistani navy spokesman said.

In addition to the 10 dead, at least 15 other Pakistani troops were wounded in the fighting, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

Investigators have found the bodies of three attackers and believe a fourth is buried in debris, he said. They suspect two militants escaped, he said, citing witness reports.

U.S. Intel Reports Doubt Afghan War Success

Two new classified U.S. intelligence assessments on the war in Afghanistan reportedly say there is a limited chance of success unless Pakistan hunts down insurgents operating from havens on its Afghan border.

The National Intelligence Estimates offer a more negative assessment than a review of the U.S. war strategy that the Obama administration is set to unveil on Thursday.

The intelligence reports -- one on Afghanistan and one on Pakistan -- say that although there has been progress in the war, Pakistan's unwillingness to shut down militant sanctuaries in its lawless tribal region remains a serious obstacle, The New York Times reported late Tuesday.

Gitmo transfers return to terrorism

Nearly one in four terrorists released from the detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, resumed terrorist activities against the United States and the number is expected to rise, according to a report to Congress by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

The report, made public Tuesday, stated that out of a total of 598 detainees released as of October, 150 were confirmed or suspected of "reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer," the two-page unclassified summary said.

Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was an Impostor

For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement.

But now, it turns out, Mr. Mansour was apparently not Mr. Mansour at all. In an episode that could have been lifted from a spy novel, United States and Afghan officials now say the Afghan man was an impostor, and high-level discussions conducted with the assistance of NATO appear to have achieved little.

Up to $1 Billion in U.S. Aid Winds Up In Taliban Coffers

As much as $1 billion in U.S. aid has been diverted from programs meant to stabilize Afghanistan and has wound up in the hands of the Taliban and other insurgency groups, war analysts and government auditors say.

In fact, they say, graft has gotten so bad that the U.S. government estimates that only about 10 percent of the aid budget actually reaches the people in Afghanistan who need it.