Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan cleared in inquiry

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No trouble here

Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. John Allen has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a Pentagon investigation into potentially inappropriate email communications with a Tampa socialite connected to the scandal surrounding Gen. David Petraeus' resignation (Reuters, Post, AP, CNN, ). The allegations against Gen. Allen caused the White House to put on hold his nomination to become supreme allied commander in Europe.

Unhappy campers

In a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson on Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar voiced her concern about reports that the U.S. drone campaign in Pakistan is to be exempt from the United States' codified rules governing targeted killing (ET).

Militants in the tribal agency of South Waziristan on Wednesday dumped the mutilated body of a purported Afghan spy, Asmatullah Kharoti, accused by the militants of helping to coordinate U.S. drone strikes (AFP). A note on the body accused Kharoti of collaborating on specific strikes, saying, "he is responsible for the killing of five of our senior members, including Mullah Nazir, in drone attacks. He confessed that he installed chips in digital Korans."

An explosion in the nearby Orakzai tribal agency on Wednesday killed five suspected militants who were believed to have been building an improvised explosive device (IED) (Dawn). And four tribesmen were gunned down in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, possibly due to their membership in an anti-militant militia (Dawn).

Not playing games

The All Pakistan DC, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association has ordered that two popular video games, "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" and "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" be removed from shelves of game stores across the country (Tel). The move was prompted when shop owners complained that the games portrayed Pakistan, and particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, as supporting al-Qaeda and other militant jihadist organizations.

-- Jennifer Rowland