Afghanistan

BERLIN (AFP) - Senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke has acknowledged that institution-building in Afghanistan would have to start "from scratch" in the ninth year of engagement, in an interview published Wednesday. Full Story »

KABUL - The No. 2 commanding general in Afghanistan acknowledged Wednesday that a NATO-led attack the day before in eastern Afghanistan possibly resulted in civilian deaths. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - A senior NATO commander in Afghanistan conceded on Wednesday for the first time that civilians may have been killed during a joint military operation with Afghan forces in the east of the country this week. Full Story »

Sending more U.S. troops won't defeat the insurgency, but Western officials are hoping it could help press the Taliban into a compromise Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Killing or capturing Osama bin Laden is the key to defeating the Al-Qaeda terror network, the NATO commander in Afghanistan told US legislators in testimony on Capitol Hill. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - The mayor of Kabul, sentenced to four years in prison in a landmark corruption case, has gone back to work and said Wednesday he was innocent, branding his conviction a conspiracy. Full Story »

SHIGAL, Afghanistan (AFP) - After two hours shuddering along a tortuous road, the US reconstruction team's convoy had just caught sight of the Afghan village when a salvo of heavy gunfire devastated the rural calm. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden is an iconic figure among extremists who must be captured or killed in order to defeat al Qaeda, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said on Tuesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The State Department is cutting ties with the security contractor protecting the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan following an investigation of allegations that guards engaged in lewd behavior and sexual misconduct at their living quarters. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department will not renew the contract of a security company embroiled in a scandal involving the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, where guards were accused of drunken conduct and sexual hazing. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general in Afghanistan says the Taliban — up to 27,000 fighters in the country's south — is his main focus. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The general in charge of the war in Afghanistan is telling Congress that President Barack Obama's new war strategy is achievable and that combat force levels can be reduced starting in the summer of 2011. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Britain insisted Tuesday that progress was being made in Afghanistan despite the death of its 100th soldier there this year and the war's increasing unpopularity with the public. Full Story »

KABUL - After meeting Tuesday with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it may be five years before his army is ready to take on insurgents — a blunt warning that the planned exit strategy for U.S. troops from Afghanistan 18 months from now could grind slowly through 2014. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington's ambassador to Kabul on Tuesday said he supports a decision by President Barack Obama to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, but admitted having earlier doubts about the size of the troop surge. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A surge of US troops into Afghanistan will allow NATO-led forces to "reverse insurgent momentum" and ensure the ultimate defeat of the Taliban, the commander of the allied mission said on Tuesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has warned Pakistan that its forces will chase Taliban forces into Pakistan if the Islamabad government does not get tough with the insurgents, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Full Story »

A look at the differences expressed by the U.S. top commander and top U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan during the Obama administration's three-month review of strategy for the war: Full Story »