Taliban poised to make gains in Afghanistan

Taliban poised to make gains in Afghanistan | TheHill: Afghan National Security Forces may maintain control of most urban spots this year but it's likely they will give up rural areas, according to areportreleased Thursday by James Clapper, director of National Intelligence. The Taliban is "increasingly aggressive" and poised to "take territory in outlying areas and steadily reassert influence over significant portions of the Pashtun countryside, positioning itself for greater territorial gains in 2015," the document notes.