Afghanistan News

During a routine patrol Afghan troops found five mines and thus foiled a terrorist attack in Taliban birthplace Kandahar, south Afghanistan, a press release of the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

Gun shooting by unidentified armed men claimed the lives of four civilians including two women in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan, an official said on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

In continuation of militancy in eastern Afghanistan, three members of a family were killed and two others wounded as their car hit a roadside bomb in outskirts of Khost city, capital of Khost province, on Tuesday, police said, Xinhua reported.

President Barack Obama began a meeting on Monday night with top advisers on Afghanistan as he closes in on a decision about whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to confront a growing insurgency, Reuters reported.

The US is handing out millions of dollars in development money to provinces in Afghanistan that have eliminated or reduced the production of opium poppies.

Pakistan's army fought Islamist militants for control of a northwestern district on Monday, killing 18 of them in an escalating campaign against insurgents intent on toppling the U.S.-allied government.

Afghans await a food giveaway sponsored by a Canadian Army Provincial Reconstruction team.

Afghan government plans to massively boost army and police numbers have been greeted with scepticism by diplomats and military experts who say the figures are too ambitious.

Unknown armed men destroyed a girl school in Logar province, 60 km south of the Afghan capital Kabul, a private television channel reported Monday.

Children in Afghanistan are suffering from serious child abuse and high levels of mortality.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai could invite militants to attend a "Loya Jirga," or grand council meeting, aiming to seek peace and reconciliation with the Taliban, a spokesman said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday it was not clear if Pakistan's president was in control of the army and said Pakistan's objectives in Afghanistan were not necessarily those of the United States.

An Algerian court on Sunday acquitted two former detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who were returned home to face charges of links to terrorism, their defense lawyer said.

KHAR, Pakistan a " Pakistani troops killed nearly 40 suspected militants Sunday in a series of operations in northwestern tribal areas near the Afghan border, officials said.The army launched an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in mid-October, but many militants fled north to escape the fighting.

Canadian soldiers are pushing deeper into insurgent-controlled areas southwest of Kandahar city as their commander awaits an expected NATO request that Canada take on greater responsibilities.

ACHIN, Afghanistan a ' American and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.

Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

Khalid Khan stares through the dusty window pane, down across the rooftops of the capital, and wonders if they really know where he lives.

A town centre came to a standstill as thousands of people lined the streets to pay their respects to two soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

A rocket hit outside the luxury Serena Hotel in Afghanistan's capital late Saturday, wounding two people, the Interior Ministry said.