Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - The first wave of President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan surge will add about 16,000 U.S. troops who got their orders over the past few days, the Pentagon announced Monday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States hopes the 7,000 additional troops promised by NATO allies will arrive in Afghanistan by the first half of 2010, a top defense official said on Monday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to get all new troops pledged by allies into Afghanistan in the first half of 2010 and wants the Netherlands and Canada to "stay with us" despite withdrawal plans, a Pentagon official said on Monday. Full Story »

Army Spc. Aaron S. Aamot Full Story »

Unofficial tally of pledges to the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan, made in response to the planned deployment of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements by President Barack Obama. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has failed to persuade the prime minister of Turkey of the need for sanctions against Iran. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Setting a date for the start of a US withdrawal from Afghanistan conveys "a sense of urgency" to Kabul that American forces would not stay indefinitely, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - A leading rights group Monday accused the Afghan government of failing to protect women from endemic violence such as rape and murder and from discrimination, warning that their plight risks getting worse. Full Story »

ASADABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) - NATO warplanes pounded a Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing more than 20 insurgents and destroying a bunker complex, military officials said. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will launch a new effort to track down Osama bin Laden who is believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Afghan-Pakistan border, a senior US official said. Full Story »

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan women are among the worst off in the world, violence against them is "endemic" and Afghanistan's government fails to protect them from crimes such as rape and murder, a rights group said on Monday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for patience on Sunday if his government could not meet a 2011 deadline for assuming responsibility for Afghan security while pledging to meet demands to fight corruption in Kabul. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's order to surge 30,000 troops into Afghanistan presents the US military with a giant logistical challenge as it faces some of the most forbidding terrain in the world. Full Story »

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFP) - When US Captain Andy Gray and his specialist rescue team heard a helicopter was missing in the Afghan mountains, adrenaline kicked in and the pilots raced into action. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain says President Barack Obama's announcement that U.S. troops will begin to leave Afghanistan in July 2011 sends the wrong message to the Taliban and has confused countries in the region. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's national security adviser says the July 2011 date for the beginning of a U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan is "not a cliff." Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates rejects any suggestion that setting a transition date for withdrawing U.S. forces in Afghanistan will embolden the Taliban. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Americans should expect a significant U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for another two to four years. Full Story »