Taliban

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** FILE ** A Pakistani Taliban militant holds a rocket-propelled grenade at the Taliban stronghold of Shawal, in the Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, Pakistan, on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Ishtiaq Mahsud)

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Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, says the increase in attacks is a sign that the U.S. is defeating the Taliban. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Afghan special forces are seen June 22, 2012, outside the Spozhmai hotel at Lake Qargha, just north of Kabul, Afghanistan, where security officials say Taliban insurgents have killed at least 17 people, most of them civilians, in an attack that began before midnight. (Associated Press)

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Afghan soldiers at the Chinari outpost and elsewhere in Afghanistan are limited by a lack of equipment needed to do their jobs, yet they say they aren't afraid of the Taliban and expect the fighting to stop once U.S. and NATO forces leave in 2014. Most of the soldiers say they enlisted because they love their country and because the $250 monthly salary offers a way out of poverty. (Associated Press)

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Soldiers of different Afghan ethnic groups serve together at Chinari outpost, which was built on a hilltop after a police post at the base of the hill was destroyed by Taliban forces. (Associated Press)

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A motorcycle in the Pentagon parking lot has a sticker with the photo of PFC Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 and who is still being held by the Taliban. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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A motorcycle waiting at the Pentagon for the ride into the District features a picture of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, captured in Afghanistan in June 2009 and still being held by the Taliban. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Afghan National Army soldiers secure the gate of the military hospital after Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban official who became an Afghan peace negotiator, was killed by an unknown attacker in western Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, May 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

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** FILE ** Afghans push a damaged car from the scene of a militant attack by a suicide car bomber and Taliban militants disguised in burqas in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

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Afghan security men and NATO soldiers examine the scene of a militant attack in Kabul on Wednesday. A suicide car bomber and Taliban militants disguised in burqas attacked a compound housing hundreds of foreigners in the Afghan capital. The Taliban said the attack was a response to President Obama's surprise visit hours earlier. (Associated Press)