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WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – More than 1,000 International Security Assistance Force troops are partnering with Afghan forces to begin a large-scale operation in northern Helmand province. About 900 U.S. Marines and sailors and British forces began partnering today with 150 Afghan soldiers and police to start Operation Khareh Cobra, or Cobra’s Anger, to clear insurgent forces in the Now Zad valley. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7 and 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion are partnered with Afghan army and police. The forces began helicopter and ground operations in the Now Zad valley early this morning. Now...

Marines are trying to make good on President Obama's promise to "reverse Taliban momentum" in southern Afghanistan, launching with the first major offensive since the president spoke about his Afghanistan plans Tuesday night. Share U.S. forces attack Taliban insurgents in Helmand Province. In the early morning hours, arriving by helicopter and V22 Osprey aircraft, approximately 300 Marines from Kilo Company of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine recon unit Task Force Raider, dropped into a strategically important area in northern Helmand Province. This is the first time the Osprey tilt-wing aircraft have been used in an offensive in...

KABUL, Afghanistan - International Security Assistance Forces have responded to false accusations that a U.S. service member burned the Quran last week in the Maydan Shar district, Wardak province. In response to accusations that international forces dishonored the Quran after striking an improvised explosive device in Wardak province Oct. 14, ISAF troops conducted an investigation in conjunction with local Afghan National Army commanders and found the claim groundless. A spokesman for the Governor of Wardak, Mohammad Alim Fadayee, and Mullah Qari of the ANA unit in Wardak, publicly stated that ISAF troops were not responsible for the desecration and found...

HALIFAX, N.S. - Canada's latest contribution to the war on terrorism and piracy slipped out of Halifax harbour in driving rain Sunday on a six-month deployment to the Middle East. Before it left, family and friends gathered on the deck and in the helicopter bay of HMCS Fredericton for a couple of hours to bid an emotional farewell to the 245 crew members who won't be returning until next spring. As Evan and Bianca Entwhistle hugged, their 20-month-old son Finn sandwiched between them, it was hard to distinguish the tears from the rain. "The sad part with this little guy...

Australia on Wednesday flagged moves to bring military operations in Afghanistan to a quick end, despite US and NATO calls for more troops to shore up the campaign against a resurgent Taliban militia. Defence Minister John Faulkner said Australia was studying how to complete the mission in the "shortest time-frame possible". Australia has about 1,550 troops in Afghanistan with no date set for their withdrawal. "I've certainly asked the Australian Defence Force for any recommendations they have about ensuring we do complete that important role and responsibility both effectively, but in the shortest time-frame possible," he told ABC radio. Faulkner...

Bomb attacks have killed three more US troops in Afghanistan, the NATO-run International Security Assistance Force said Saturday. "Two US service members were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in eastern Afghanistan October 16, and one US service member was killed in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan on the same day," it said.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2009 – NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has launched an investigation into a coalition air strike that reportedly killed civilians yesterday, military officials reported. NATO officials still are working to ascertain the facts in the incident, which occurred in Regional Command North’s area of operations in Kunduz province, according to an ISAF news release. What is known is that ISAF soldiers reported that insurgents had hijacked two fuel trucks in Kunduz yesterday. The troops located the trucks on the banks of the Kunduz River when the vehicles became stuck in the mud. The troops observed...

Human rights group Amnesty International has argued that Sweden is taking part in torture after the country handed over its first prisoner in Afghanistan to local authorities, according to a report by Sveriges Radio news programme Ekot. "There is an absolute ban on torture and thus also a ban on handing over prisoners to countries in which there is a risk of torture," Lisa Bergh, Amnesty Sweden's Secretary-General, told Ekot. "It is patently clear that prisoners risk torture if they are handed over to the authorities in Afghanistan," Bergh explained. The prisoner was captured by Swedish forces in July after...

Two Canadian soldiers killed and one injured in an explosive device strikeCEFCOM NR–09.021 - August 2, 2009OTTAWA – Two Canadian soldiers were killed and one injured when an improvised explosive device detonated near a patrol in the Zhari District. The incident occurred approximately 15 kilometres west of Kandahar City at around 3:20 p.m., Kandahar time, on 1 August, 2009. Killed in action was Corporal Christian Bobbitt from 5e Régiment du génie de combat serving as a member of the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group based in Valcartier, Quebec. The next of kin for the second soldier killed has...

Swedish military forces were involved in a battle in Aqchah in northern Afghanistan on Thursday night. No Swedish soldiers have been reported injured. The battle began around 6.30pm on Thursday night when opposition groups ambushed the Swedish troops. The Swedes were in armoured wheeled vehicles and later received reinforcements from several soldiers in a Combat Vehicle 90. “The firefights were intermittant during the evening and night,” Veronica Sandström, press officer for the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten), told the TT news agency. The Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported Friday that three members of the attacking troops were killed and an additional...

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2009 – Afghan and coalition forces killed enemy fighters, detained others and seized weapons in Afghanistan in the past four days, military officials reported. Afghan National Army and NATO International Security Assistance Force soldiers killed 10 anti-Afghan fighters in Pech district of Afghanistan’s Kunar province July 17 after receiving small-arms fire while on a routine patrol. Coalition close-air support from the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield aided the force. No ISAF soldiers were killed in the incident. This was the second time in a week that ISAF and Afghan National Army forces eliminated a significant...

Helicopter Crash - Two Canadian and one ISAF soldier have died and three others injuredCEFCOM NR–09.019 - July 7, 2009OTTAWA– Two Canadian air crew members and one ISAF soldier were killed when a Canadian CH-146 Griffon helicopter crashed during take-off. The incident occurred at a Forward Operating Base in Tarnak Va Jaldak, Zabul Province, northeast of Kandahar City at around 1:50 p.m., Kandahar time, on 6 July 2009. Killed in action were MCpl Pat Audet from 430e Escadron tactique d'hélicoptères based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier and Cpl Martin Joannette from the 3e Bataillon, Royal 22e Régiment based at Canadian...

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2009 – It would be easy to confuse Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan with the NATO International Security Assistance Force there. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal commands both organizations. The biggest difference, officials say, is the mission. Operation Enduring Freedom was the U.S.-led operation that toppled the Taliban in 2001. American and coalition servicemembers worked with the Afghan Northern Alliance soon after the terror attack in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. Part of Operation Enduring Freedom retains that mission: to find and kill or capture terrorists. Since 2001, servicemembers assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom also have...

Three German soldiers died on Tuesday amid heavy fighting in northern Afghanistan. The casualties are just the latest indication that security in the north, the region in which Germany leads the peacekeeping effort, is deteriorating. For months, attacks on German troops operating in the northern Afghanistan region around Kunduz have been increasing. On Tuesday, three Bundeswehr soldiers died in yet another Taliban offensive. According to the Defense Ministry in Berlin, Islamist insurgents attacked a patrol six kilometers southwest of Kunduz with grenade launchers and small arms fire. In the ensuing firefight, an armored personnel carrier plunged into a deep ditch...

KABUL – The top U.S. general in Afghanistan will soon formally order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding in Afghan houses so the battles do not kill civilians, a U.S. official said Monday. The order would be one of the strongest measures taken by a U.S. commander to protect Afghan civilians in battle. American commanders say such deaths hurt their mission because they turn average Afghans against the government and U.S. and NATO forces. Civilian casualties are a major source of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the U.S. The U.N. says U.S.,...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2009 – Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal assumed command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan today, vowing that the coalition will prevail despite a struggle he conceded will be “long and hard.” “2009 will be a critical year for Afghanistan, and a critical year for our coalition,” McChrystal said at a morning assumption-of-command ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul. “Although we face many challenges, with your steadfast commitment, professionalism and dedication and with the help and support of our Afghan friends and the international community, we will prevail.” McChrystal acknowledged the legacy and...

Pursuant to President Obama’s decision today, Secretary Gates ordered the deployment of two additional combat units, totaling more than 12,000 troops, to Afghanistan. The 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), from Camp Lejeune, N.C., with approximately 8,000 Marines will deploy to Afghanistan in late Spring 2009. The 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division from Ft. Lewis, Wash., will deploy approximately 4,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in mid-summer 2009. This Stryker Brigade and the MEB will deploy to increase the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Approximately 5,000 additional troops to support these combat forces will receive deployment orders at a...

Afghanistan has been a very tough endeavor.  Certainly, there have been important achievements there over the past seven years – agreement on a constitution, elections, and establishment of a government; increased access to education, health care, media, and telecommunications; construction of a significant number of infrastructure projects; development of the Afghan National Army; and others. But in recent years the resurgence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda has led to an increase in violence, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country.  Numerous other challenges have emerged as well, among them:  difficulties in the development of governmental institutions...

NATO-led soldiers have captured a Taliban commander said to have links to the most senior figures in the extremist militia that is waging an insurgency in Afghanistan, the force said Sunday. Mullah Sakhi Dad and another insurgent were captured at a compound in the southern province of Uruzgan on Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. He had been leading a "significant number of Taliban fighters" and was implicated in suicide bombings, the distribution of ammunition and the kidnapping of Afghan civilians, it said.

via translation- Pakistan: 15 people killed in a raid of international forces in Afghanistan PESHAWAR (Pakistan) - At least 15 people, including civilians, were killed Wednesday in the north-west Pakistan in an attack involving helicopters international forces based in Afghanistan, told AFP the heads of security services Pakistani. "Four helicopter gunships have crossed the border and launched the attack," assured AFP one of these sources, who requested anonymity. "Helicopters from Afghanistan were involved," confirmed to AFP Mowaz Khan, a senior official of the administration of the tribal district of South Waziristan where the raid took place in the border village...

KANDAHAR - Three Canadian soldiers have been killed in Zhari district in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device. One soldier was also seriously injured after the device detonated near their vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. One of the soldiers has been identified as Sgt. Shawn Eades, who was on his third tour in Afghanistan and is being described as a devoted father. The families have all been notified, but the Department of National Defence is not releasing the names of the other soldiers at this point. The three soldiers were combat engineers with 12 Field Squadron,...

France reacted in shock on Wednesday to the death of 10 of its soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan and questions began to be asked about the country's worst military loss in 25 years. President Nicolas Sarkozy, who flew to Kabul on Tuesday, said France was committed to its engagement in Afghanistan where it took part in the 2001 invasion to topple the Taliban. But the opposition Socialists called for a parliamentary committee to meet and doubts were expressed about the official account of the incident in which the 10 soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in a fierce mountain...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2008 – Ten French soldiers were killed in Afghanistan when their patrol was attacked by Taliban fighters in Kabul province during fighting that spanned from late yesterday until early today, U.S. officials said. Twenty-one other French troops were wounded in the engagement, which reportedly involved up to 100 insurgents, according to a NATO news release. Afghan security forces were with the French soldiers when enemy fighters attacked. “As I understand it, it was a complex attack involving multiple weapons systems, small arms, mortars, rockets, and [it] lasted for several hours,” senior Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters...

Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with the Taleban east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghan and French sources say. The deaths come amid heavy fighting near Kabul after Nato said one of its patrols was ambushed.

KABUL (AFP) - Ten French soldiers were killed in battles with the Taliban near the Afghan capital, a French presidency source said Tuesday, as troops thwarted a second attack on a key US military base in as many days. Military officials in Kabul said the fierce clashes started with an attack Monday on an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol in Sarobi district, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital Kabul. The French source, who requested anonymity, said the soldiers were killed following a "Taliban ambush". Most of the 3,000 French troops participating in the 40-nation ISAF are...

Canada A.M. Special Report on Canadian Soldiers (videos) http://www.ctv.ca/canadaam

Excerpt - KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) — Between 50 and 70 Taliban-linked militants were killed in air strikes by international forces in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, a provincial governor said. The militants had initially stormed a police post in Khost province near the border with Pakistan, killing two policemen, one of whom was beheaded, provincial governor Arsala Jamal told AFP. International military aircraft were called in to strike back, he said. ~ snip ~

Canadian Soldier Killed in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.027 - July 19, 2008OTTAWA – Yesterday, a Canadian soldier was killed just before midnight Kandahar time. The soldier was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while on a foot patrol in Panjwayi District. The fallen soldier is Corporal James (Jim) Hayward Arnal of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba. First aid was administered to Corporal Arnal immediately following the incident. He was evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field’s Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility, but sadly was pronounced dead upon arrival. All members of Task Force Kandahar are...

CNN) -- NATO-led forces in eastern Afghanistan have left a temporary combat outpost station, a site insurgents tried to overrun earlier this week in a push that led to the deaths of nine American soldiers. But a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Wednesday that ISAF troops and Afghan National Security Forces would "continue to perform regular patrols near the village of Wanat." "The citizens in Wanat and northern Kunar province can be assured that ISAF and ANSF are going to continue with a strong presence in the area,'" said spokesman Capt. Mike Finney said. "We are committed,...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 13 — Taliban insurgents mounted a large-scale attack on an American forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday, killing nine American soldiers in fierce fighting that continued through the day. Mark Laity, a spokesman for NATO, confirmed that nine soldiers had been killed and 15 more wounded, but did not give their nationality. Separately, a senior American military official confirmed that the nine soldiers killed were Americans. Four Afghan soldiers also were wounded, Mr. Laity said. The Taliban assault on the base was the deadliest single attack on the NATO security force...

KABUL (Reuters) - Insurgents killed nine U.S. soldiers in an assault on an Afghan army and NATO outpost in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, making it one of the worst days for foreign troops casualties in the country since 2001. Afghanistan is suffering from a rising tide of violence this year, with a sharp increase in Taliban attacks, especially in the east where NATO says militants have taken advantage of peace deals in Pakistan to cross the border and fight in Afghanistan. --snip-- The dead soldiers were all American, a NATO official said. Fifteen ISAF troops and four Afghan soldiers were...

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition troops killed some 55 Taliban insurgents who ambushed them in southeastern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistan border, the U.S. military said on Monday. There has been a sharp rise in violence along Afghanistan's eastern frontier in recent months. NATO generals say de-facto ceasefires between Pakistan's new government and militants in its border region free up insurgents to infiltrate into Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents ambushed the coalition forces with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in the Zerok district of Paktika province on Friday, a U.S. military statement said. Among those killed were three Taliban leaders. "Around...

The outgoing top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Friday that attacks increased 50 percent in April in the country's eastern region, where U.S. troops primarily operate, as a spreading Taliban insurgency across the border in Pakistan fueled a surge in violence. In a sober assessment, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who departed June 3 after 16 months commanding NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, said that although record levels of foreign and Afghan troops have constrained repeated Taliban offensives, stabilizing Afghanistan will be impossible without a more robust military campaign against insurgent havens in Pakistan. The Taliban is "resurgent...

OTTAWA -- Conservative and Liberal senators cast doubt Wednesday that Canada will be able to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2011 as planned. The Senate's national security and defence committee also urged the government to ease its stance against negotiating with the Taliban, warning that the war could drag on for years without diplomatic intervention, although Conservative members of the panel opposed that position. "I don't think all the troops will be out of there in 2011," said Conservative Senator Michael Meighen, vice-chair of the committee, referring to parts of Afghanistan as "medieval." "I don't think there's any chance...

KANDAHAR–Only days before his own death in a tragic accident, Capt. Jonathan (Jon) Sutherland Snyder saved the lives of Canadian and Afghan soldiers. That is but one reason that Afghan National Army troops marched with their Canadian colleagues – and mentors – in a ramp ceremony here late this evening as the platoon commander's flag-sheathed casket was loaded on to a Hercules aircraft for the long trip home. Snyder, 26, was killed Saturday night when he fell into a 20-metre deep well while leading a foot patrol in Zhari District, west of Kandahar. He was the 85th Canadian to die...

Three British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the number of dead to 100. The three soldiers from 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment were on a routine foot patrol in the Upper Sangin Valley in Helmand Province on Sunday when a suicide bomber struck. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Four soldiers were injured in the attack and were evacuated to the medical facility at Camp Bastion. "Sadly, one soldier was pronounced dead on arrival and despite the best efforts of the medical team, two of the soldiers died as a result of their wounds. "A fourth soldier is...

Missions by special forces and air strikes by unmanned drones have "decapitated" the Taliban and brought the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point", the commander of British forces has said. The new "precise, surgical" tactics have killed scores of insurgent leaders and made it extremely difficult for Pakistan-based Taliban leaders to prosecute the campaign, according to Brig Mark Carleton-Smith. In the past two years an estimated 7,000 Taliban have been killed, the majority in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But it is the "very effective targeted decapitation operations" that have removed "several echelons of commanders". A member of 2 Scots...

The son of the Netherlands’ top military officer was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan early this morning, one day after his father was made head of the Dutch armed forces. Lieutenant Dennis van Uhm, 23, was among two Dutch soldiers killed in the blast seven miles northwest of their military base, Camp Holland, in Uruzgan province, the Dutch defence ministry said. The second dead soldier was not fully identified but was said to be 22 years old. The military insisted today that there was nothing to suggest the commander’s son was deliberately targeted. However there were fears that...

KABUL (AFP) — More than 2,000 US marines recently deployed in Afghanistan to support a NATO-led military campaign against Islamic rebels have began operations in the country's restive south, the unit said Thursday. The 2,300-strong US Marine Expeditionary Unit was part of Washington's recent contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) efforts to quell a resurgent Taliban insurgency. "The last of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Marines and Sailors are arriving and the unit is beginning operations after weeks of flowing personnel and equipment here," the unit said in a statement. "The Marines have begun their operations in...

table> A Marine with the 24th MEU's KC-130 detatchment preps his bird for takeoff. The KC-130j crews have flown throughout the country in support of ISAF. Marines from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 365 (Reinforced), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, test the controls of a KC-130J prior to a flight. The KC-130J pilots and crew have been crisscrossing the country, flying cargo and passengers for ISAF. US Army soldiers catch a ride on a Marine KC-130j. HMM-365's KC-130 detatchment has been tranporting people and equipment all ove aAfghanistan in support of ISAF since their arival. Marines from...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Some of the 3,200 U.S. Marines slated for a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan's volatile south have begun arriving at the region's largest base following a call from Canada for more troops there. About 2,300 troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, will be based in Kandahar, the Taliban's former power base. A majority of those Marines arrived in the last several days. Canada has 2,500 troops in Kandahar province but has threatened to end its combat role in Afghanistan unless other NATO countries provide an additional 1,000 troops to help the...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- As the sun rose to the mournful skirl of bagpipes, Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze was given a solemn farewell by about 3,000 fellow soldiers at a grim memorial today in Afghanistan. Hayakaze died Sunday when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device on a road about 45 kilometres west of the Canadian base in Kandahar. He was part of a convoy bringing supplies forward to an Afghan army unit working with the Canadians. The 25-year-old trooper from the Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) was scheduled to return to Canada in a few...

Royal Marines from 40 Commando have destroyed a drugs factory in the Upper Sangin Valley along with 1.5 tonnes of morphine base - the precursor of heroin. The Commandos from Bravo Company discovered compounds in Sapwan Kala that contained a major drugs lab. They also uncovered evidence - some in English - of bank accounts, along with a weapons cache and identity cards. Part of Operation GHARTSE DAGGER, Bravo Company's 4 Troop began clearing through compounds in the north of Sapwan Kala at first light, talking to villagers as they went, hoping to find evidence of the heroin trade. Second...

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Canada and other allies Thursday for their combat roles in Afghanistan while saying the U.S. administration is worried NATO countries will eventually tire of the mission and leave. The two made a pitch for long-term commitments in Afghanistan on the day Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier came to Washington for a private discussion and a working lunch with Rice and other U.S. officials. Sources close to the talks say Bernier asked the United States to provide more equipment, like helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, to battle the...

The Dutch military mission in Afghanistan will be extended by two years, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has announced. Dutch troops had been scheduled to leave Afghanistan in summer 2008. The decision to extend the mission follows a call by al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden for European nations to stop helping US forces in Afghanistan. Bin Laden said that he - and not the Afghans - was the "only one responsible" for the 9/11 attacks. Dutch troops are stationed primarily in the southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan. Since the Netherlands joined the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) last...

MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan - There's nothing quite like a snappy military salute, but here in Afghanistan you don't see it very often. In fact, a sign on the boardwalk at Kandahar Air Field proclaims that the base that is home to most Canadian troops in Afghanistan is a "no hat-no salute area." With the notable exception of U.S. forces, the traditional military greeting is pretty much a non-starter in Afghanistan. The salute has always been a sign of respect. It's origin is unclear but it is believed by some to go back to the Middle Ages when a knight would...

A British soldier has died following an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has said. Shortly before 1100 local time, a patrol was caught in a blast south of the district centre of Sangin in Helmand Province, the MoD added. An Afghan interpreter was also injured and has been receiving treatment. The soldier, who had been serving with the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, was declared dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed. 'Tragic incident' The International Security Assistance Force said the blast was the result of an improvised explosive device during a routine patrol...

Visiting Sweden, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that Sweden is one of NATO’s most important partners and is welcome as a member in the rapid reaction force, should Sweden decide to join. On Friday Morning, NATO’s Secretary General met Sweden’s Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, one of the two places where Swedish troops come under NATO command as part of the ISAF force. They also discussed possible participation in NATO’s rapid reaction force (NRF), with Sweden saying a decision may be reached by the spring. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also promised to...

Taliban in retreat after Canadian offensive November 02, 2007 TALIBAN rebels were retreating overnight after Afghan and Canadian troops halted their attempt to take a district guarding the approaches to the main southern city of Kandahar, Canada's military said. Insurgents have massed in unusually large numbers to attack three district centres in the west and south in the last week and a Taliban leader threatened to extend the offensive northward and maintain its intensity through the winter. Taliban fighters attacked the Arghandab district, only 12km northwest of Kandahar, this week in what Canadian forces said was one of the most...

KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will consider shifting U.S. troops from Kosovo to Afghanistan next year if NATO allies do not fulfill their commitments, U.S. government officials said. Gates, in Ukraine on Sunday to ask eastern European countries for help in the war, had first considered laying the threat before NATO defense ministers this week at a meeting in the Netherlands, senior U.S. officials said. But upon the advice of senior military officers, the Pentagon chief has extended the U.S. commitment to Kosovo to summer 2008. If NATO allies have not sent more troops, trainers and equipment...