Meanwhile, Back at the Other War

While attention is diverted to the war in Iraq, hostilities in Afghanistan are heating up. In the past three weeks, two special — forces men were killed in an ambush, three Afghan soldiers had their throats slit at a lonely checkpoint, and an international aid worker was gunned down in Uruzgan province.

A former top Taliban chief, Mullah Dadullah, told the BBC in a phone interview that the warrior clerics were coming out of hiding to renew their war against Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and the U.S.-led coalition backing him up. Dadullah claimed the clerics are taking orders directly from Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader who has been in hiding since his regime fell in December 2001. U.S. forces have struck back hard. Following a tip from a rebel captured near Kandahar, U.S. forces and their Afghan allies killed at least 20 suspected Taliban fighters at a base in the Haba Mountains, according to Gul Agha Sherzai, the Kandahar governor.

When a special — forces patrol came under fire in the Torghar Mountains, air support was called in, and an estimated 40 Taliban fighters were pounded with 16,000 kg of explosives, according to a U.S. military spokesman. In a

SIGNS OF THE TIMES Monumental Protests Waving a banner just isn't enough anymore. Protesters defaced cemeteries and statues to show opposition to war — or distaste for the British and Americans. The paint brigade was also at work in Iraq, with anti-Saddam rather than antiwar messages. ETAPLES, FRANCE: The defacement of a WW I Commonwealth cemetery drew an apology to Britons from French President Jacques Chirac ATHENS, GREECE: Antiwar protesters wrapped a statue of U.S. President Harry Truman in brown paper and marked it: "Return to sender" UMM QASR, IRAQ: Local Iraqis daubed Xs across a mural of Saddam Hussein in this port city, which is now under allied control

search-and-destroy mission afterward, American and Afghan troops found machine guns, ammo and bomb — making equipment hidden in caves. Afghan officials say many of these rebels are sneaking in from the Pakistani borderlands, which are off limits for U.S. troops. In early March, American soldiers chased suspected Taliban and al — Qaeda fighters across the border and met resistance from the Pakistani Frontier Corps. After one Pakistani militiaman was shot dead, the U.S. troops were ordered back to Afghanistan, according to an Islamabad antiterrorist official.— By Tim McGirk

Dire Straight
THE MEDITERRANEAN As terror concerns increased with the hostilities in Iraq, the 13-km-wide Strait of Gibraltar south of Spain got a new security system. NATO began quietly escorting allied civilian ships through the Strait to prevent a repeat of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in October 2000 — when 17 U.S. sailors died — on a softer, commercial target. British Lieut. Commander Harvey Burwin, a Naples — based NATO official, told Time that "a tangible threat has been identified" in the Strait. "There will always be shipping in the Strait, which can provide [terrorists] with cover or an alibi for being there," Burwin says. One or two times a day, convoys of up to 10 vessels rendezvous at either side of the Strait to be escorted across the 58-km passage by a combination of antisubmarine aircraft and gunship helicopters in the air and frigates, destroyers and fast patrol boats on the sea, according to Burwin. Some 60 ships have been escorted since the program began last month. Intelligence officials believe al-Qaeda is using the shipping business — with its lax regulations and virtually non-existent security — to transport men and materiél, and fears remain high of "the equivalent of a truck bomb at sea," a senior U.S. Navy official confirmed to Time. "Basically, look at a map, and anywhere you see the word strait is a point of concern." — By Jeff Israely

Ansar Loses Twice
ITALY Police arrested six men in three northern Italian cities on charges of running operations for Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group based in northeastern Iraq with suspected links to a-Qaeda. Ansar forces in Iraq were also routed last week in fighting with coalition-backed Kurdish troops. Italian authorities charged two Kurds from northern Iraq, two Tunisians, an Egyptian and a Somali with international terrorism, accusing them of providing false documents, financing and recruiting for Ansar, which is allegedly headed by Abu Mussab Al Zarkqawi, one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants.

According to Italian police transcripts obtained by TIME, several of those arrested made apparent references to future attacks in Europe. But in a March 30 conversation intercepted by police, the accused 31-year-old Egyptian told one of the Tunisians that it was time to leave Italy. "I spoke with the Professor and he told me to send whoever is ready." A Milan investigator told TIME that the recruits were meant to go to Iraq to fight against U.S.-led forces. — By Jeff Israely/Milan

The Limits of Free Speech
U.K. Home Secretary David Blunkett launched proceedings to strip Egyptian — born radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri of his British citizenship. The move is the first use of a new law targeted at immigrants whose actions are deemed to seriously prejudice British interests. Abu Hamza applauded the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., and was later banned by the U.K.'s Charity Commission from the Finsbury Park mosque in north London where he preached. Abu Hamza's lawyer said he would appeal, a process that must begin within 10 days. Blunkett said that evidence presented at any appeal would focus on the way Abu Hamza "encouraged people to take part in jihad."

Try, Try Again
Democratic Republic Of Congo The government, opposition and rebel factions signed a peace accord in Sun City, South Africa, though the absence of President Joseph Kabila and a top rebel leader cast doubt on whether the deal signals a real end to 41/2 years of conflict. Under the agreement, Kabila will remain President of a transitional power-sharing government that will oversee democratic elections planned for 2005.

The Underdog Wins
Zimbabwe The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), won two crucial parliamentary by-elections despite evidence of large-scale vote rigging and intimidation by supporters of President Robert Mugabe. His ruling ZANU-PF party is five seats short of the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to enact constitutional change. Opponents fear Mugabe could change the constitution to appoint his own successor, dumping requirements for an election.

Death of a Militant
Kashmir Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir shot dead Saif-u-Islam, the chief commander of the powerful Hizbul Mujahideen militant group. Supporters of Hizbul, which is waging a violent campaign against Indian rule, said Saif-ul-Islam was tortured and shot after being taken into custody; police said he died during a gun battle. Thousands of Kashmiris joined a strike in protest at the killing, as lawyers in the region called for an investigation.

Clash of Faiths
Philippines Three Muslim mosques in the city of Davao on the southern island of Mindanao were attacked soon after a bomb at a ferry terminal killed 16 people and injured more than 50. The blast followed one at Davao airport last month, which killed 23 people and was blamed by authorities on Muslim separatist guerrillas. Police threw a security cordon around the city as fears grew of a spiral of religious violence in the previously peaceful area.

meanwhile in swaziland ...
The Lights Are Out
One correspondent found a safer way to report on the war. Radio Swaziland's Pheshaya Dube gave a number of "live" reports purporting to be from Baghdad. But when he was spotted in the nation's capital, Mbabane, he admitted that he had, um, been phoning in from a broom cupboard in his house.