Hundred critical after cholera outbreak in Afghanistan

A cholera outbreak at a village in northeast Afghanistan has infected 1,492 people, killed a young woman and left another 100 in critical condition, a provincial official said on Tuesday.

Abdul Marouf Rasekh, a spokesman for the governor of Badakhshan province, said the outbreak began three days ago and was restricted to one town that has been quarantined.

When it first appeared in the mountainous village of Chappa in the Darayen district, Mr. Rasekh said it infected 850 people but quickly spread until the quarantine was put in place.

Pak concerns over Indian role in Afghanistan not groundless: US

WASHINGTON: In an acknowledgement of Pakistan’s concerns over India’s presence in Afghanistan, US Special Representative James Dobbins has said Islamabad’s fears are “not groundless”.

The US diplomat, in an interview with the BBC Urdu Service in Washington, recognised the cross-border infiltration of hostile elements into Pakistan from the Afghan side.

Top Pak cop likens Taliban, police relationship to that of 'bowler and batsman'!

While speaking to the media on Monday, he said that the police was the batsmen as the Taliban keep bowling. Sometimes the police scores a six and many a times lose a wicket.

Inspector General Police (IGP) Ihsan Ghani of Khyber-Paktunkhwa (K-P) has compared the relationship between the Taliban and police as one between a batsman and a bowler.

Blast kills nine in southern Afghanistan: officials

KANDAHAR: A roadside bomb blamed on the Afghan Taliban tore through a police vehicle in southern Afghanistan at the weekend, killing nine people and wounding 15, officials said on Monday.

The bombing took place late Sunday in the Shahjoy district of Zabul province, on the main Kabul-Kandahar road which is a hotspot of the Taliban insurgency.

Three Nato soldiers killed in Afghan suicide blast

GHAZNI: A suicide bomber rode a donkey Tuesday into an Afghan and Nato military convoy, killing three Western soldiers and their Afghan interpreter, officials said.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) confirmed three casualties in a bombing in eastern Afghanistan but gave no details.

Karzai sets conditions for Pakistan visit

Pakistan on Sunday sent its top diplomat to offer further assistance to Afghanistan's efforts to reach a deal with Taliban to end 12 years of war.

Foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz held talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and met Karzai to deliver in person the invitation from new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif -- already extended twice by telephone.

On Monday the president's office said Karzai accepted the invitation "in principle".

Karzai sets conditions for Pakistan visit

Pakistan on Sunday sent its top diplomat to offer further assistance to Afghanistan's efforts to reach a deal with Taliban to end 12 years of war.

Foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz held talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and met Karzai to deliver in person the invitation from new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif -- already extended twice by telephone.

On Monday the president's office said Karzai accepted the invitation "in principle".

Roadside bomb kills 17 villagers in Afghanistan

KABUL: A roadside bomb struck a motorcycle-drawn cart carrying women and children between two villages Tuesday in western Afghanistan, killing all 17 people on board, a grim reminder of the dangers facing Afghan civilians ahead of the 2014 withdrawal of foreign combat troops.

Afghan Officials Say More Than 20 Taliban Fighters Killed In East

Officials in Afghanistan say more than 20 Taliban militants have been killed in security operations in the country's east.

The largest operation took place in Wardak Province, west of Kabul, where Afghan National Army soldiers killed 16 Taliban and confiscated weapons, cars, and motorcycles belonging to the militia.

A spokesman for the Wardak governor said four additional Taliban were killed in a smaller police operation in the province.

Bomb kills four girls at Afghan wedding: officials

KANDAHAR: A bomb attack killed four girls attending an Afghan wedding, officials said on Thursday, blaming the attack on Taliban rebels intending to target government employees at the event.

The children, aged between seven and 12, died when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated as they collected water from a river during celebrations in the southern province of Helmand.

“The children were at the wedding party and this morning they went to collect water when the IED exploded on a footpath,” provincial administration spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP.

Pakistan could end Afghan war in weeks: army chief

Pakistan could end the Afghan war "in weeks" if it were serious about peace, and is complicit in US drone strikes despite its denunciations of the anti-militant campaign, Afghanistan's army chief says.

In a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday, General Sher Mohammad Karimi laid bare the mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad as US-led troops wind down more than a decade of war against Taliban and other insurgents.

By closing down madrassa schools that serve as incubators of Islamist extremism, Pakistan had "unleashed" the Taliban on Afghanistan today, the chief of staff of the Afghan National Army said.