5.3.1 3d Part-Still More Actions

Three Canadians travelling between two checkpoints just a few hundred metres apart died Wednesday June 20, 2007, when their all-terrain vehicle hit a roadside bomb that insurgents apparently managed to plant without being detected. The small John Deere-made open-top six-wheeler had no armour to protect its occupants. The fatalities brought the Canadian military death toll in Afghanistan to 60 since 2002. A Canadian diplomat was also killed in the country.

NATO said two of the soldiers hit in the mine blast were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. Three others were treated at the scene for minor injuries, the alliance said. The nationality of the troops was not released, although most of the NATO soldiers in the east are American.

A land mine explosion killed a NATO soldier and wounded four more Thursday June 21, 2007, in eastern Afghanistan, where fighting between US-led troops and suspected Taliban left eight militants and a policeman dead. NATO said two of the soldiers hit in the mine blast were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. Three others were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The nationality of the troops was not released, although most of the NATO soldiers in the east are American.

Some 25 civilians died during aerial bombing by foreign forces in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Friday June 22, 2007. President Hamid Karzai said that civilian deaths caused by foreign forces would have to stop. If not, Mr Karzai warned that Afghans might turn against those countries with a military presence in Afghanistan. He added, however, that people were still grateful for that involvement.

An explosion in southern Afghanistan on Sunday June 24, 2007, killed a British soldier and injured four others. The soldier died after the "Snatch" Land Rover he was travelling in was caught in the explosion near Lashkar Gah, in the Helmand province. All five soldiers caught in the blast were airlifted to hospital, where one was pronounced dead. He was not identified by name, pending notification of his next of kin. Shortly afterward a man failed to stop at a security cordon around the scene and was shot and killed. A second man was also wounded. A total of 61 British military personnel or defence staff have died while serving in Afghanistan since the start of the invasion in November 2001.

Air strikes in the British-controlled Helmand province may have killed civilians, coalition troops said on June 30, 2007, as local people claimed that between 50 and 80 people, many of them women and children, had died. In the latest of a series of attacks causing significant civilian casualties in recent weeks, more than 200 were killed by coalition troops in June, far more than are believed to have been killed by Taliban militants.

A British soldier has been killed in southern Afghanistan on July 1, 2007. The soldier was fatally injured during clashes between coalition forces and the Taliban near the village of Qaleh-e-Gaz.

NATO regrets the deaths and injuries it has accidentally caused among Afghan civilians and will continue to review its military procedures, Canada's junior foreign affairs minister said Tuesday July 3, 2007.

The Canadian government said six Canadian soldiers have been killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday July 4, 2007. An Afghan interpreter also died in the attack. Canada has some 2,500 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO force. The Canadian troop mission ends in February 2009.The German Foreign Ministry said a German citizen, missing since June 28, is believed to have been kidnapped in Afghanistan.

The German citizen who was kidnapped in Afghanistan was freed on Thursday July 5, 2007. He is safe and his interpreter is also with him. The German citizen was reportedly kidnapped on June 28 in the western Afghan province of Farah. The unidentified kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 40,000 U.S. dollars.

Afghanistan, July 6, 2007:

- Two NATO soldiers have been killed during an operation in eastern Afghanistan, on Friday July 6, 2007. The nationalities of the soldiers or the place where the operation took place were not told but most of the NATO soldiers serving in eastern Afghanistan are American.

- A suicide bomber blew up a room filled with police eating lunch at a southern checkpoint Thursday, killing 10 officers and wounding 11.

- A roadside bomb in the east killed a NATO soldier.

- A suicide car bomber attacked NATO-led forces near Kabul on Friday, wounding two British soldiers.

- In battles in three separate regions, more than 100 militants were killed.

Afghanistan, Sunday July 8, 2007:

- At least 35 Afghan civilians have been reported killed in the eastern province of Kunar in NATO-related aerial attacks. The village of Watapour faced the brunt of the raid; nine of the 35 killed in the bombardment were from one family.

- American forces confirmed the killing of 33 Taliban in Uruzgan in southern Afghanistan.

- A roadside blast struck a NATO convoy near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and wounded four alliance soldiers on Saturday.

- Fighting in three separate regions of the country left more than 100 militants dead, officials said.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday July 10, 2007, his government has no plans to prolong Canada's combat role in Afghanistan beyond its February 2009 commitment, arguing any extension would be for a new mission and contingent upon beefed-up NATO support.

A suicide bomber went after a NATO patrol in a crowded marketplace filled with schoolchildren on Tuesday July 10, 2007, killing 19 people, including 13 primary school students and wounded at least 35 Afghans and 8 Dutch soldiers patrolling on foot. Both the United Nations and NATO criticized the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, over the civilian deaths. The governor of northeast Kunar Province, Shelzai Dedar, meanwhile, said a government investigation found NATO military action in Kunar last week killed 27 civilians along with 37 militants. NATO has said it had no evidence of civilian casualties from the battle.

A British soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday July 12, 2007. Two other soldiers were injured in another part of the same operation. The fatality brought Britain's death toll in Afghanistan to 64. Britain currently has over 6,000 soldiers based in Afghanistan, and will increase to around 7,700 over the course of the year.

Fighting continues in southern Afghanistan Saturday July 14, 2007, as NATO-led and Afghan forces continue a search operation for Taliban militants. At least 21 suspected rebels have been killed in clashes throughout the area over the past two days. Two officers were also injured in the fighting.

Two German nationals are missing and have apparently been kidnapped in Afghanistan we were told on Wednesday July 18, 2007. The two German nationals were among the seven UN employees been kidnapped in Afghanistan.

Taliban militants threatened Friday July 20, 2007, to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan. In the largest abduction of foreigners since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, several dozen fighters kidnapped the South Koreans at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province on Thursday.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed Saturday July 21, 2007, that one of the two German hostages kidnapped is dead and German government is doing everything it can to save the other. The hostage was apparently not murdered by the kidnappers. Earlier, an Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said in Kabul that one of the German hostages died of heart attack and the other is still alive. Later on Afghan Taliban rebels killed the second of two German hostages after the end of their deadline for Germany to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and the Afghan government to free all Taliban prisoners.

Taliban kidnappers of 23 Koreans in Afghanistan have extended their deadline by another 24 hours to negotiate with the Korean government for the release of the hostages. While hailing the Korean government's decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan by this year's end, the Islamist group demanded on Sunday July 22, 2007, that the same number of Taliban prisoners be freed in exchange for the hostages.

Afghanistan, Monday July 23, 2007:
- A roadside bomb blast in Logar province eastern Afghanistan killed four American soldiers.
- Two NATO soldiers died and a battle in the country's poppy-growing heartland.
- In this battle, more than 50 suspected militants were killed.
- Norway said one if its soldiers were killed in Logar province and NATO said a sixth soldier was killed in the south, though the soldier's nationality was not made public.

In Afghanistan on July 24, 2007, Taliban rebels have threatened to execute 23 South Korean hostages who were seized last Thursday. The hostages are all young Christian men and women, including medical students and nurses. They were seized on their way to the Afghan capital of Kabul after volunteering their services at hospitals and kindergartens in Kandahar in the south, where the Taliban has a strong support base.

Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday July 26, 2007, confirmed that one of the 23 Koreans taken hostage in Afghanistan has been killed.

A German reporter kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan has been freed on July 25, 2007, along with his Afghan translator. They were both freed with the mediation of tribal elders and other influential people. The Taliban had earlier claimed responsibility for kidnapping the German journalist, who was the third German national to be abducted in Afghanistan in a week. He had travelled to the restive province's Watapour district to report on a NATO-led air strike which killed several Afghan civilians some two weeks ago.

A British soldier was killed and two others injured by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on July 26, 2007. The soldier died after an attack on a patrol in the outskirts of Sangin, Helmand province.

International and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents and called in air strikes, killing as many as 50 suspected militants and 28 civilians, including women and children on Friday July 27, 2007. The fighting started on Wednesday in the village of Kumbarak in Helmand province.

A Taliban spokesman claimed Monday July 30, 2007, that they killed a second South Korean hostage - Sung Sin- after the government failed to free Taliban prisoners. His body was left in the Qarabagh district of southern Ghazni province. The spokesman also warned the Taliban would kill more hostages if the Afghan government continues to ignore their demands, but the group set no new deadline. Also Monday, Al Jazeera broadcasted a video showing a group of female hostages wearing headscarves and sitting on the ground with their captors standing behind them.

The body of a second South Korean hostage has been recovered by Afghan police on July 31, 2007. Taliban kidnappers killed him because of Kabul's failure to release jailed rebels. They have set a new deadline, tomorrow, warning that other captives will die unless their demands are met. The bullet-riddled remains of the man were found in Ghazni province where 23 South Koreans were seized nearly two weeks ago. Afghanistan said for the first time it will not release insurgent prisoners the Taliban's key demand to free the captives.

NATO said on Saturday July 28, 2007, that three of its troops and an Afghan soldier are dead after two separate clashes with Taliban insurgents. Two NATO soldiers along with an Afghan soldier were killed Friday while fighting insurgents in the eastern province of Nuristan. Thirteen other NATO troops were wounded, as well as an Afghan soldier and a civilian. The British Ministry of Defence announced Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed in a rocket attack on Friday. The soldier was a communications specialist supporting the operation against Taliban forces in Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province when he died in the attack. It occurred in a compound between Heyderabad and Mirmandab.

Civilians are among the dead and wounded following US coalition air strikes in southern Afghanistan. The US military said Thursday August 2, 2007's strikes in a remote area of Baghran district in Helmand province targeted two Taliban commanders. A statement said there were no civilians in the area. The fate of the commanders was not known. There were heavy casualties during the strikes but it is not known exactly how many Taliban militants and Afghan civilians were killed. Residents in Baghran district say as many as 200 civilians died.

South Korea's ambassador told tribal elders from eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday august 8, 2007 that Korean aid organizations would pull out of the country in a month, an apparent effort to help free 21 hostages being held by Taliban militants. The governor of the region where the hostages are being held, meanwhile, said South Korean officials and Taliban militants were close to agreeing on a location for a face-to-face meeting. Gov. Marajudin Pathan also said he thought the Taliban's demand of a release of prisoners was a dead issue, but that a ransom payment might solve the hostage crisis.

Afghanistan, Friday August 10, 2007:
- Fighting across Afghanistan left at least 45 people dead, including a British soldier, as a council of Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders debated ways to end extremist violence in the region.
- Taliban militants ambushed a joint Afghan and NATO army convoy, sparking a fire fight that killed seven Afghan soldiers and 20 militants. Five "important" Taliban commanders were among the dead, including the rebel movement's commander for western Badghis province.
- Tribal villagers repelled an attack by Taliban fighters in a battle that left five rebels and two civilians dead.
- A British soldier serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed while on patrol in southern Afghanistan's flashpoint Helmand province. Another British soldier was wounded in the incident.

Five Canadian soldiers were injured early Sunday August 12, 2007, after their supply convoy was ambushed by Taliban insurgents. The soldiers were travelling in an RG-31 Nyala armoured vehicle as part of a convoy that was supplying a Canadian forward operating base in Masum Ghar, southwest of Kandahar City. On their way back, the vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device planted along the road. The convoy then came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades.

A British soldier from the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment has been killed in Afghanistan on August 12, 2007. The soldier died after being injured in an attack on his patrol base north-east of Sangin in Helmand province. Five others were also injured in the incident.

A roadside bomb blast killed three US troops in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday August 12, 2007, bringing to five the number of international troops killed over the weekend. The three troops were engaged in combat operations in Nangarhar province when the roadside bomb hit their vehicle. A civilian interpreter was also killed.

Taliban leaders and South Korean officials continued negotiations by telephone over the fate of the remaining 19 hostages on August 13, 2007, but no new face-to-face talks were planned. Two Korean women kidnapped by the Taliban in mid-July were freed on a desert road outside Ghazni Two men among the Korean captives were executed by gunfire in late July.

A Polish soldier has been killed in Afghanistan on August 14, 2007, becoming the country's first fatality since it joined the Nato-led force there in March 2002. Second Lieutenant Lukasz Kurowski was fatally wounded during an attack on a convoy by suspected Taliban insurgents. He died en route to hospital after an exchange of fire some 20 km southeast of the city of Gardez. Poland earlier this year increased its existing Afghanistan contingent of around 200 troops to more than 1,100.

A roadside bomb killed three German police officers and wounded another on the outskirts of Kabul on Wednesday August 15, 2007. A Briton working for a private security firm was shot dead in Kabul.

The Taliban will hold a new round of face-to-face talks with South Korean officials on Thursday August 16, 2007, to discuss the 19 church volunteers still held by the group. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said the fighters will demand the release of eight Taliban prisoners held by Afghan authorities before any of the remaining South Korean hostages can be freed -a demand so far rejected by Afghan authorities.

As Britain winds down its efforts in Iraq, -middle of August 2007- it is pouring more soldiers and aid money into Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban and booming drug trade it says pose a direct threat to the nation. Britain's ambassador in Kabul said his country began increasing its focus on Afghanistan shortly before the end of former Prime Minister Tony Blair's tenure in June, and made it even more of a priority under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

A suicide car bomber attacked a United States convoy in southern Afghanistan on August 18, 2007, killing 15 people, including 11 civilians, four Afghan security guards and wounding 26 others. The attack took place in a crowded area west of the city of Kandahar.

Afghan police freed a female German hostage, Christina Meier, from a neighbourhood in the capital Kabul and arrested a group of kidnappers early Monday August 20, 2007. She was abducted from a restaurant on Saturday and the operation to free her took place near the area of western Kabul where she went missing. Earlier in the day Christina Meier, appeared on a video was broadcasted by a local television station pleading for help.

July 2007 in Afghanistan:

Helmand Province
July 1, 2007: Afghan Civilians Die in Air Strikes
Dozens of civilians were killed in US-led coalition air strikes last week, an answer to insurgent attacks on coalition troops, which began on June 29 and lasted through June 30. Casualty figures range from about 35-120. Reports released on July 2 say that a local investigation indicates that approximately 62 insurgents and 45 civilians were killed.

July 7, 2007: Two Children and Two ANP Officers Die in IED Explosion
Two children and two Afghan National Police (ANP) officers were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at an ANP patrol base in Sangin district. Another child and ANP officer were injured in the explosion.

July 12, 2007: Taliban Hit by 'Little Storm'
Operation Leg Tufaan or "Little Storm" has weakened Taliban resistance since it commenced on July 7. The operation is taking place in Gereshk Valley.

July 25, 2007: Coalition Kills 75 Taliban Fighters
US-led coalition troops were ambushed by militants in Helmand province and called for air support; at least 36 Taliban militants were killed in the attack and no Afghan or coalition troops were hurt.

July 26, 2007: Around 60 Militants Killed in Two Gun Battles
In two separate battles in Musa Kala, US-led coalition forces killed more than 60 suspected Taliban insurgents.

Nimroz Province
July 29, 2007: Taliban May Have Fired First SAM
Taliban militants used heat-seeking surface to air missiles for the first time since the war in Afghanistan. The first attack was launched against an American Hercules airplane that was flying over Nimoz province on July 22. The pilots evaded the missile. The aircraft and those onboard were not hurt.

Kandahar Province
July 3, 2007: Seven Afghan Policemen Killed by Roadside Bomb
Several Afghan policemen were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle.

July 4, 2007: Six Canadians and Afghan Interpreter Killed in Blast
Six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb 12 miles from Kandahar.
July 6, 2007: Suicide Bomber Kills 10 Afghan Police Officers
Ten Afghan police officers were killed by a suicide bomber while eating lunch at a security checkpoint in Spin Boldak.

July 19, 2007: Six Afghan Policemen Killed
Taliban gunmen killed six Afghan policemen when they ambushed their vehicle on a main highway that leads from Kandahar to Kabul.

Uruzgan Province
July 11, 2007: Suicide Attack Kills 13 Children
Thirteen school children were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his device in a marketplace. The targets were Dutch ISAF soldiers, eight of whom were wounded. More than 35 Afghans were also wounded in the attack.

July 25, 2007: Afghan Police Clash with Militants
Afghan police forces clashed with Taliban militants for three days when militants blocked the road leading to Kandahar. Twenty-six militants and two police officers were killed and13 more suspected militants were killed in Kandahar.

Kapisa Province
July 17, 2007: Provincial Governor Fired for Criticizing Karzai
The Karzai government fired Abdul Satter Murad, the provincial governor of Kapisa province, after he said that distance was growing between the Afghan people and President Karzai.

Ghazni Province
July 25, 2007: Koreans Still Held Hostage by Taliban
Two Taliban deadlines have passed as negotiators try to secure the release of 23 South Korean hostages that were part of a church group kidnapped in on July 19. The Taliban said that they will kill the hostages unless their demands for the release of Taliban prisoners and the withdrawal of South Korean soldiers from Afghanistan are met. Other reports state that the Taliban is demanding money for their release.

On July 22, Afghan security forces surrounded the location where Taliban are holding the hostages and were prepared to launch an operation if the negotiations broke down.

On July 25, the Taliban announced that it had killed one of the hostages who was ill and could not walk. A second hostage was killed on July 31.

Nuristan Province
July 28, 2007: Two US Soldiers Killed
Two American ISAF soldiers and an Afghan soldier were killed and 13 wounded in fighting with Taliban forces in Kamdesh district. Thirteen ISAF troops, a civilian and an Afghan army solider, were also wounded in the attack.

Paktika Province
July 15, 2007: Roadside Bomb Kills Six Afghans
Six Afghans working for an undisclosed Western security firm were killed by a blast from a roadside bomb.

Wardek Province
July 18, 2007: Two German Construction Workers Kidnapped
Two German construction workers were kidnapped, along with five Afghan colleagues. The Taliban killed one of the men, Ruediger Diedrich, who was suffering from circulatory failure. His body was found on July 22. His German colleague is still being held captive.

Farah Province
July 2, 2007: Three Afghan Police Officers Wounded in Attack
Three police officers were wounded when insurgents surrounded a village in Por Chaman district and fired upon the ANA and civilians.

July 6, 2007: German Hostage Released
Kidnappers released a German man and his translator after their ransom demands were met. The kidnappers had initially demanded $40,000 ransom.

July 7, 2007: Tribal Chief Reports that ISAF Killed 108 Civilians
108 non-combatants were killed on June 6 by an ISAF air strike. ISAF, the ANP and Afghan soldiers came to search some of the houses. A fire fight ensued between insurgents and pro-government forces. Approximately 20 houses were destroyed when the bombing began.

Herat
July 9, 2007: Afghan Soldier Opens Fire on Military Base
An Afghan solider reportedly killed three or four Afghan troops and a civilian while wounding 12 others when he opened fire inside a military base in Herat. One of the injured, an American solider acting in an advisory capacity and training the Afghan military, was the target of the attack.

July 3, 2007: Friendly-Fire Resulted in Soldiers Death
An investigation into the death of a US National Guardsman found that he was accidentally killed by machine gun fire from US Special Forces in 2006. Other American and allied soldiers were also wounded in the incident and a Canadian soldier was killed.

July 9, 2007: Afghan Counter-Narcotics Chief Resigns
Habibullah Qaden, Afghanistan's counter-narcotics chief, has resigned his post after some predicted that opium cultivation could yield a crop that might exceed last year's record. The $3.1 billion drug trade is said to fund Taliban's campaign against the Karzai government.

July 14, 2007: Afghanistan Road Work Projects Stalled
Despite being six years into the war in Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban, road-building efforts are still painfully slow. Coalition forces, aid workers and the United Nations still use air transport to move around Afghanistan.

July 15, 2007: Karzai Pardons 14-year-old Potential Suicide Bomber
Afghan President Karzai pardoned a 14-year-old boy from Pakistan who was caught last month wearing a suicide vest in an attempt to blow up Khost Provincial Governor Arsala Jamal.

June 18, 2007: Taliban are Stronger
British-led ISAF does not have enough troops to carry out its mission while the Taliban grows stronger and spreads its influence outside their southern strongholds.

July 18, 2007: Poppy Crop Hits Record High
Intense eradication efforts have failed to curb Afghanistan's poppy trade which is slated to set another record this season. Afghan farmers have harvested 457,135 acres of opium poppies this year, which is up from 405,715 acres last year.

July 21, 2007: Al-Qaida Tries to Appear Merciful
Al-Qaida posted a propaganda video on an Islamist website stating their Afghanistan branch had called off an attack on U.S. military vehicles in order to prevent Muslim deaths.

July 21, 2007: South Korea will Leave Afghanistan
South Korea said that it intends to pull its troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2007, as previously scheduled.

July 24, 2007: Germany to Intensify Presence in Afghanistan
Despite public pressure to pull Germany out of Afghanistan and the recent killing of a German hostage by the Taliban, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Berlin would "intensify its engagement in Afghanistan

July 29, 2007: ISAF will use Smaller Bombs
ISAF has announced that they will be using smaller bombs in their campaign against insurgent forces to avoid the high numbers of civilian.

The governor of Afghanistan's southeastern province of Khost survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday August 22, 2007, when a suicide car bomber struck his convoy. At least three of Governor Arsala Jamal's bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Two Canadian soldiers and an Afghan interpreter were killed when their light armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device during a patrol about 50 kilometres west of Kandahar City Wednesday August 22, 2007. Two Canadian journalists were also hurt in the incident, which occurred during a joint operation with the Afghan National Army.

Insurgent attacks in southern Afghanistan on August 23, 2007, left 13 people dead, 10 of them private security guards escorting a NATO supply convoy.

On August 23, 2007, a German engineer held hostage by the Taliban for more than a month appeared on a private Afghan television, coughing and holding his chest while appealing for help.

Three NATO soldiers were killed and two others injured while in operations in southern Afghanistan and two coalition soldiers were killed in a road accident - a vehicle rollover killed two soldiers and injured two more in Kajiki district of the western Herat province- on Thursday August 23, 2007.

Three British soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped by US aircraft supporting them in a battle against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Thursday August 23, 2007. The number of British deaths in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled in 2001 to 73. Two other soldiers were wounded in the incident which took place after the troops were attacked during a patrol northwest of Kajaki where U.S. contractors are reconstructing a large dam meant to bring electricity to southern Afghanistan. A single bomb was dropped by the aircraft.

A string of bombings and gun battles reported around Afghanistan Saturday August 25, 2007, killed 41 people and left at least six wounded, including two foreigners hurt in a suicide bombing near the capital.

On Sunday August 26, 2007, US military investigators probed reports that coalition air strikes aimed at Taliban insurgents killed 30 wedding revellers in Koper. US-led coalition troops were operating in the Musa Qala area, where residents say a wedding party was bombed Saturday, killing 30 revellers and wounded as many as 28 others, including children. A second air strike killed eight Taliban fighters.

The Taliban has begun releasing 19 South Korean Christian volunteers, after holding them in Afghanistan for nearly six weeks. The militants have freed 12 hostages so far a day after South Korea made a series of concessions to end the hostage crisis. The Taliban freed four women and one man hours after releasing a first group of three women. The hostages were handed over to tribal chiefs in southern Gazni province Wednesday August 29, 2007, and then to Red Cross officials. Taliban officials said the rest would be freed shortly.

More than 100 insurgents were killed in a battle in the southern province of Kandahar in which fighter aircraft destroyed several rebel positions on August 28, 2007. An Afghan security forces member was also killed and three international troops wounded in the fighting.

An RAF serviceman, a gunner, has been killed in an explosion in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on August 30, 2007. Personnel from the squadron were on a routine security patrol when one of its vehicles was caught in an explosion.

A NATO soldier -probably British- others injured during an apparent attack on their patrol in southern Afghanistan on August 20, 2007. An Afghan interpreter working with the troops was also killed during the incidents. We were also told that a Taliban commander has been killed in a recent air strike by US-led coalition forces in Sarwan Qala -between the districts of Sangin and Musa Qala in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. The commander, known as Mullah Berader, was a top military commander for the Taliban government until its removal from power in late 2001. Berader also was a member of the Taliban leadership council, which is headed by the Taliban's fugitive spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Berader is considered to be the second major commander of the Taliban after Mullah Dadullah, who was killed during NATO operations in May.

The Taliban released on August 29, 2007, the remaining seven South Korean hostages seized last month in Afghanistan by the Islamist fighters, bringing a deadly six-week crisis to an end. The three men and four women were handed over today to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the eastern province of Ghazni.

Three US soldiers building a bridge in eastern Afghanistan were killed Tuesday August 28, 2007, by a suicide bomber. Six other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Afghan and the US-led coalition forces killed 25 Taliban insurgents in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan Sunday September 2, 2007. Intelligence led the forces to two compounds in Ashoqeh village, 17 km southwest of Kandahar city.

On September 2, 2007, six Afghan militia fighters hired by US-led forces were killed in a landmine explosion in eastern Afghanistan blamed on Taliban guerrillas. The six were killed in Kunar province bordering Pakistan.

Two British soldiers were killed Wednesday September 5, 2007, by an improvised bomb while patrolling eight miles north of Lashkar Gah, southern Afghanistan. A third British soldier and a civilian interpreter serving with Nato forces were also wounded in the attack, in which 20 suspected insurgents died. The men were taking part in a routine patrol in Helmand province when their vehicle was hit.

Thirteen Afghan mine clearers have been kidnapped in eastern Paktia province on September 6, 2007. The de-miners were travelling in two cars when insurgents stopped them and abducted them. The agency the men work for said it was impossible to say who the kidnappers were. Tribal elders are now working together to secure the men's release.

Two British soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack Saturday September 8, 2007, in southern Afghanistan and a number of other troops were wounded, two were in serious condition. The soldiers were part of an operation to disrupt Taliban activity south of Garmsir in Helmand province, when their patrol was attacked. The ministry said 78 British personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

A suicide bomber on a motorized rickshaw detonated explosives Monday September 10, 2007, in a marketplace in the town of Gereshk in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, killing 28 people -including 13 police officers and 15 civilians- and 60 wounded. Children were among the victims of the blast. The attacker was apparently targeting a police commander when he detonated his bomb near a taxi stand. Officials say tribal elders are still negotiating with the kidnappers and the remaining hostages will be freed soon.

Gunmen in Afghanistan have released all 13 members of an Afghan mine clearing team they kidnapped in the eastern province of Paktia. The last three men were freed on Thursday September 13, 2007.

Polish Defence Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said Thursday September 13, 2007, he had asked for government approval to keep 1,200 Polish soldiers in Afghanistan deployed there into 2008.

A Bangladeshi aid worker helping to administer anti-poverty programs has been kidnapped, his employer said Sunday September 16, 2007. It was the latest in a string of abductions of international workers here.

A suicide bomber walked into a local government office in southern Afghanistan Monday September 17, 2007, and blew himself up, killing eight people. Among the dead are four policemen and four civilians. The attack occurred in Nad Ali district of Afghanistan's opium producing heartland of Helmand province.

A British soldier has been killed and another injured in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday September 18, 2007. The two soldiers were flown to a medical facility at Camp Bastion. One was pronounced dead on arrival. The second soldier's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. The next of kin have been informed.

Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed 12 Taliban fighters on Tuesday September 18, 2007, including two militant leaders involved in the kidnapping of 23 South Koreans in July. In the southern province of Helmand, Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed 15 Taliban insurgents in two different clashes.

On September 18, 2007, Poland plans to extend the presence of its troops up to 1,200-strong military contingent in Afghanistan for another year.

A Taliban attack on a police post in Badghis province, western Afghanistan, sparked a battle that left at least 20 militants and four police dead on September 19, 2007.

Two British soldiers were killed Thursday September 20, 2007, in a road accident in southern Afghanistan. The soldiers were taking part in a re-supply mission near Gereshk in Helmand province, when the Pinzgauer vehicle they were travelling in left the road. No enemy forces were involved, the ministry added. Britain has over 6,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, and the number will be increased to around 7,700 during the year. A total of 81 British soldiers have been killed since operations began there in November 2001.

A French soldier died in a suicide blast in Kabul and around 40 Taliban rebels were killed elsewhere Friday September 21, 2007. On Thursday a Dutch soldier and three dozen Taliban were killed in the south of the country. The Al-Qaida-linked Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the Kabul suicide attack. The French have around 1,000 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance force (ISAF). Eight Afghan civilians were injured in the blast.

Two Italian soldiers are believed to have been kidnapped while on patrol. Contact was lost on Saturday with the two soldiers, who were operating in the Shindand area of Herat Province, western Afghanistan and were responsible for relations with civil authorities. It said they had disappeared with two Afghans, who may have been interpreters.

On September 24, 2007, two Spanish soldiers and an Iranian interpreter were killed and another six injured, three of them seriously, near the town of Shewan in the western province of Farah when their military convoy ran over a landmine. Spain has some 700 troops in western Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Helicopter-borne British special forces rescued two Italian soldiers on September 24, 2007, killing their captors in a gunfight in western Afghanistan.

Nearly 40 people including a Canadian soldier and an Afghan police commander were killed on Tuesday September 25, 2007. In one attack, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in the southeastern border town of Spin Boldak killing five policemen and wounding three more. The attack appeared aimed at the town's police commander, Abdur Razak, who survived but my five police guards were killed.

NATO and US-led troops backed up by warplanes said Wednesday September 26, 2007, they had killed nearly 170 Taliban in two major battles in southern Afghanistan, while a US-led coalition soldier also died.

Four Red Cross staff, two of them foreigners, were held by unknown kidnappers Thursday September 27, 2007, and two Danish soldiers were killed in a new attack by extremist Taliban fighters. An operation near the border with Pakistan killed 18 Taliban; there were some civilian casualties although he could not confirm claims that eight were killed.

A powerful suicide bomb attack on a bus in Kabul killed at least 27 members of the country's armed forces on September 29, 2007. The Taliban claimed the attack, Kabul's second deadliest since 2001.

On September 29, 2007, Afghanistan's Taliban have released four Red Cross workers -one from Myanmar, one from Macedonia and two Afghans, including two foreign nationals, captured near the capital four days ago. They were handed to an Afghan International Committee of the Red Cross worker in Wardak province.

A suicide bomber killed at least 11 people Kabul, after targeting a police bus. The suicide bomber killed at least six police and five civilians, including three school children, after trying to board a police bus on Tuesday October 2, 2007.

An Italian intelligence agent who was kidnapped last month has died on October 4, 2007, of injuries sustained during a NATO raid to free him. Lorenzo D'Auria died Thursday in a hospital near Rome.

On October 5, 2007, a British soldier has been killed and two others injured in an explosion in southern Afghanistan. It is the first death in the conflict of a soldier serving with the Gurkhas. All three soldiers had been part of a major operation in neighbouring Helmand Province when they were hit.

Three German soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were slightly injured in an explosion while on patrol west of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on October 5, 2006. The blast could have been a suicide bomb attack.

Coalition forces raided a suspected Taliban compound in eastern Paktika province Friday October 5, 2007, killing several militants in the ensuing battle. Soldiers later discovered the bodies of about four civilians, including a woman and a child, who had also been inside the compound.

A suicide car bomber detonated his device next to an American military convoy on the main road leading to the Kabul airport Saturday October 6, 2007, killing one American serviceman and at least four civilians.

On October 6, 2007, Prince William said he is "deeply saddened" by the death in Afghanistan of his platoon commander at Sandhurst. Major Alexis Roberts, 32, from Kent, died in an explosion while returning to Kandahar Airfield on Thursday. Major Roberts is the most senior Army officer to die in Afghanistan since the conflict began. Some 82 UK troops have been killed in the country since 2001.

NATO soldiers shot dead three Afghan civilians when they did not heed warnings to stop near checkpoints or military vehicles, while police shot dead a woman in similar circumstances, officials said Sunday October 7, 2007. A provincial police chief was meanwhile saved from a suicide blast when guards shot the would-be attacker just outside his door.

The US Marine Corps said on Thursday October 11, 2007, it wants to withdraw its entire force from Iraq to focus its combat efforts on Afghanistan. The proposal made last week to Secretary of Defence Robert Gates would sharply change the structure of US forces in Afghanistan while leaving the US-led fight in Iraq in the hands of the army. The move would entail removing all 25,000 marines from the 160,000-strong US force currently in Iraq, and transferring them to Afghanistan, where there are currently no marines among the 26,000 US troops.

The German government won a crucial vote in Parliament on Friday October 12, 2007, to keep its troops in Afghanistan for another year, despite recent polls indicating that a majority of Germans want them to come home.

A Canadian soldier will face charges of manslaughter and negligent performance of duty in the shooting death of a comrade in Afghanistan we were told on October 12, 2007. Master Corporal Jeffrey Scott Walsh was killed in a "shooting incident" in August 2006, while returning to Canada's Kandahar base in southern Afghanistan after a routine patrol.

A suicide bomber killed seven people, and wounded nearly 30 others in an attack in the town of Spin Boldak, in the southern province of Kandahar, southeastern Afghanistan, on Saturday October 13, 2007. The bomber was riding a motorbike when he blew himself up near a busy market. He was targeting police officers in the area. Two policemen were among those killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

On October 15, 2007, a mother who tried to stop her son from carrying out a suicide bomb attack triggered an explosion in the family's home in southern Afghanistan that killed the would-be bomber, his mother and three siblings. The would-be bomber had been studying at a madrassa, or religious school, in Pakistan, and when he returned to his home in Uruzgan province at the weekend announced he planned a suicide attack.

A Danish army officer wounded in a clash with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday has died on Tuesday October 16, 2007. The officer, a major, was wounded when his unit came under mortar and rocket grenade fire while recovering an armoured personnel carrier that had been hit by a mine. He died at a field hospital before he could be transported to Denmark. This month Denmark plans to increase the number of its troops in Afghanistan to about 550 from about 400.

On Wednesday October 17, 2007, the Japanese government endorsed a draft law extending Japan's naval support mission for coalition forces in Afghanistan. It must now be approved by the country's parliament. The new bill limits Japanese vessels to refuelling and supplying water to ships on anti-terrorism patrols, but not to those involved in military operations.

The Slovak government approved a plan to almost double its contribution to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan next year on Wednesday October 17, 2007. Slovakia currently has 57 military engineers as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. In 2008, the number will increase to 111 troops. The plan still has needs parliamentary approval.

The top commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said on October 18, 2007, weapons intercepted in the country last month originated in Iran. NATO forces stopped a convoy from Iran on September 5 in western Afghanistan. The convoy contained a number of advanced technology improvised explosive devices.

Nine US-led coalition troops were wounded Thursday October 18, 2007, after the Taliban used heavy machine guns and rocket propelled grenades to ambush a patrol near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. The patrol was able to repel the attack using small arms fire. None of the injuries are serious and there were no insurgent casualties.

Afghanistan said on Friday October 19, 2007, it had no evidence the government of Iran was behind a shipment of weapons to Taliban insurgents. The commander of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan said on Thursday a shipment of hi-tech roadside bombs intercepted in Afghanistan on September 5 had originated in Iran and it was difficult to conceive Tehran's military did not know about it.

Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda failed to make a deal with the main opposition party on October 29, 2007, to continue a naval mission backing forces in Afghanistan. Japan has been providing fuel for coalition forces in Afghanistan, but its mandate runs out on 1 November.

A suicide attacker blew himself up near a police convoy in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on Monday October 29, 2007, killing at least three civilians and wounding five others.

Two soldiers from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan were killed on October 26, 2007, and three others were injured in the east of the country when they were attacked by insurgents. They were on a foot patrol with members of the Afghan National Army in the mountainous Korangal Valley of Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan. The team was ambushed by militants firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

A battle outside the Taliban-controlled town of Musa Qala in Helmand in southern Afghanistan has left 80 Taliban dead on October 27, 2007. It began when Taliban fighters attacked a United States and Afghan patrol with rockets and gunfire. An airstrike was called in, which resulted in "almost seven dozen Taliban fighters killed."

Afghan police and Taliban fighters have clashed outside the southern city of Kandahar in a battle that has now been going for three days. It is the closest the Taliban have got to their former stronghold since late 2001, when their government fell to the international military operation. Scores of local people have fled the area and taken refuge in Kandahar city. On October 30, 2007, we were told that fifty Taliban have been killed and 40 injured. One Afghan soldier and three police officers were killed.

On October 30, 2007, we were told that Japan will withdraw naval refuelling ships from a mission in the Indian Ocean after the government failed to secure opposition support to extend the operation. Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda says he still hopes the mission will resume, with more talks scheduled with the opposition leader tomorrow.

Two children died -another was wounded as well as a woman- as US-led coalition forces stormed a compound in eastern Nangarhar province where a suspected Taliban militant had holed himself up with his young family on Thursday November 1, 2007.

A 21-year old Dutch soldier was killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan on November 3, 2007and two others were wounded in the incident. The soldiers were on a patrol in the province of Uruzgan when an improvised device exploded. The Netherlands has between 1,500 to 1,700 soldiers in Afghanistan and 12 Dutch soldiers have died to date, including one suicide.

The South Korean Defence Ministry said on Monday November 5, 2007, that it will complete the withdrawal of all the 210 South Korean troops in Afghanistan by mid-December. The South Korean government pledged to pull out all its troops from the country earlier in return for the release of 23 South Koreans kidnapped by Taliban militants in July. South Korea deploys about 60 medics and 150 engineers in Afghanistan. However, early next year, the Korean government plans to send up to 30 civilian medical workers to Afghanistan to offer free services there as Seoul intends to continue supporting reconstruction in Afghanistan even after withdrawing its troops from the country at the end of this year as scheduled.

Norway said on November 6, 2007, it will reinforce its military presence in Afghanistan in 2008 with two to three helicopters and by returning a 150-strong Special Forces unit to the Kabul area. Norway now has about 500 soldiers in Afghanistan with the NATO-led international force.

Politicians and schoolchildren were among at least 40 people killed in a suicide attack in the province of Baghlan, northern Afghanistan, on November 6, 2007.

A Norwegian soldier was killed on November 8, 2007, and another severely wounded by a roadside bomb. The two soldiers were on their way to a shooting range near their camp in Maimana, northern Afghanistan, when a bomb hit their car. It was the third death of a Norwegian soldier in Afghanistan.

The British Defence Ministry said on Friday November 9, 2007, that a British soldier was killed in a road accident in southern Afghanistan. He was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in left the road rolled off a bridge during an operation in support of the Afghan National Army near the district centre of Sangin in Helmand Province.

The Afghan Education Ministry said on November 9, 2007, 59 children and five teachers were among those killed in this week's suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan. The children were lined up outside a sugar factory to welcome a visiting delegation of parliament members, when the suicide bomber detonated explosives. Six lawmakers were among at least 75 people killed. A Taliban spokesman denied responsibility for the attack. Afghan and NATO forces retook control of Gulistan district in western Farah province from Taliban insurgents, who seized the area earlier this week.

Six US soldiers and three Afghan troops have been killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan. Militants ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and US troops in Nuristan province. Eight US troops and 11 Afghans were also wounded. The Taliban said they carried out the attack, which took place on Friday November 9, 2007.

Two soldiers of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed and another wounded while conducting an operation in eastern Afghanistan on Monday November 12, 2007. A convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations. No one claimed responsibility for that incident so far.

An Australian soldier has been killed in fighting with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan. He was killed Friday November 23, 2007, while part of an operation targeting Taliban bomb-makers in southern Uruzgan province.

On November 26, 2007, Britain launched a formal investigation into a reported friendly fire incident in which two Danish soldiers died in southern Afghanistan. British troops from the International Security Assistance Force believed they were fighting Taliban when they launched six to eight missiles at a position held by 14 Danish soldiers.

A suicide attacker blew himself up near an Indian road construction project in the Kash Rod district, province of Nimroz, southwestern Afghanistan on Monday December 3, 2007, killing two Afghan guards and two civilians. About seven other people were wounded.
The blast hit guards at an Indian-funded road construction project, two of whom were killed with the civilians.

A suicide bomber smashed his car into a bus carrying Afghan Army personnel in Kabul Wednesday December 5, 2007, killing 13 people, seven army officers in the bus and six civilians on the street. Among the civilians killed were four children. An additional 17 people were wounded, 8 soldiers and 9 civilians. The car bombing was the second in two days, and occurred as Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates visited Kabul.

A British soldier was killed and two others were wounded on Tuesday December 4, 2007, when their vehicle was blown up while they were on patrol in southern Afghanistan. The death brings to 85 the number of British armed forces personnel who have been killed on operations in Afghanistan since October 2001.

These are the figures for foreign military deaths in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001:
NATO/US-LED COALITION FORCES:
United States 469
Britain 85
Canada 73
Spain 23
Germany 26
Other nations 66

TOTAL: 742

A British soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday December 8, 2007. The soldier was killed "during operations in southern Afghanistan."

A Bangladeshi development worker kidnapped in Afghanistan by unknown armed men has been released on December 7, 2007, nearly three months after his abduction. Nurul Islam, who works for Bangladesh's biggest non-government organisation BRAC, was set free by his abductors and taken into the custody of Afghan authorities,

Twelve insurgents and two children have died during an assault by Afghan and international forces on a Taliban-held town, Musa Qala, on December 8, 2007. One British soldier was killed during the operation. The Taliban have held the town since February, when they retook it after British troops pulled out last year. Two senior Taliban leaders, Mullah Mateen Akhond and Mullah Rahim Akhond, have been captured. The Taliban still control the town but have been forced back.

The Afghan Defence Ministry said on December 10, 2007, the Taliban has withdrawn from the town of Musa Qala after four days of fighting with government and international forces and the Afghan army has taken control of what had been the only sizeable town in Afghanistan still held by the Taliban.

Two soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed and three others were wounded on when their convoy struck an improvised explosive device Wednesday December 12, 2007, in eastern Afghanistan.

Taliban insurgents on Tuesday December 18, 2007 ambushed and killed 15 Afghan security guards working for a US private security firm in the western province of Farah, a top official. Five guards were wounded and two fuel tankers were destroyed. Six Taliban militants were also killed when the guards retaliated.

Two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan while fighting Taliban insurgents were victims of friendly fire from a British unit we were told Tuesday December 16, 2007. The two soldiers were killed on September 26 by a Javelin anti-tank missile fired by British soldiers in Helmand province.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew into Kabul on Saturday December 22, 2007, on a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet President Hamid Karzai and some of the French troops based here. It is Sarkozy's first visit to Afghanistan since he became president in May. He met French soldiers as well as Karzai and the head of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General Dan McNeill. France has around 1,300 soldiers with ISAF, a force of more than 40,000 soldiers from nearly 40.

Afghanistan's Taliban shot dead seven men -three policemen, two soldiers and two truck drivers- who had been kidnapped on December 17 and 18 along the main road between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar, we were told on Sunday 23 December 2007. The Taliban said the men were shot dead after attempting to escape "from our jail." Bodies had been recovered and police were looking for more.

Two British nationals have been arrested in Afghanistan we were told on Tuesday December 25, 2007, for posing a threat to national security. Diplomatic efforts go on December 26 to try to prevent the expulsion from the country of two senior foreign officials. The men, based in Kabul, are accused of posing a threat to national security. One is a high-ranking UN employee, Briton Mervyn Patterson, the other is acting head of the EU mission in Afghanistan, Irishman Michael Semple. The expulsion order follows claims that the men had held talks with the Taliban in Helmand province in the south. The Afghan government has said the pair must leave by Thursday, and the UN has reportedly booked a flight. The two diplomats left the country on Thursday after talks to stop their expulsions failed. On December 29 we were told that the two European diplomats were thrown out of the country following a complaint by the US.

Afghan forces with the support of international troops based in southern Afghanistan province of Uruzgan in Charchinu district have killed over 150 Taliban insurgents we were told on Wednesday December 26, 2007. If you believe it!

The Taliban insurgents killed 16 policemen during an attack on a police checkpoint in Maywand district, Kandahar province, on December 29, 2007. A group of militants attacked the police checkpoint and as a result of the fighting, 16 policemen were killed. It was unclear if there were casualties from the insurgents.

Roadside bombs and military operations in Afghanistan killed 21 people, including a coalition soldier and 14 Taliban fighters we were told on Wednesday January 2, 2008. A roadside bomb hit a US-led coalition vehicle in eastern Khost province, killing a soldier -probably American- and an Afghan interpreter. Two other soldiers were wounded. Afghan and foreign troops killed eight suspected Taliban fighters Tuesday in the Musa Qala area of southern Helmand province. Afghanistan saw a record level of violence in 2007, with more than 6,500 people killed.

Afghanistan, January 6, 2008:
- Two Canadian soldiers with the NATO-led force were killed when their vehicle rolled over in a village in Zhari district of Kandahar province in the south.
- A soldier serving in the separate US-led coalition force died in a bomb explosion last week.
- A suicide bomber on Monday blew himself up at a petrol station in the southern province of Kandahar injuring at least five local policemen.
- Afghan troops backed by NATO eliminated three suspected Taliban insurgents and arrested another.

Japan rejoined the US-led war in Afghanistan we were told on January 11, 2008. Japan's navy will resume refuelling United States vessels in the Indian Ocean next month. The mission was halted two months ago after the opposition refused to extend the mandate. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's government has now used its majority in the lower house to overrule the opposition-controlled upper house. It was the first time this procedure was used in more than fifty years.

Two Dutch soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were killed and another one was wounded during operations on Saturday January 12, 2008, in southern Afghanistan. Two Afghan soldiers and 11 Afghan police officers were also killed in separate clashes in south Afghanistan.

A soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed and another one injured when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) on patrol in southern Afghanistan Tuesday January 15, 2008. The wounded soldier was transported to an ISAF hospital.

An explosion killed a British soldier from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan and wounded five others on January 20, 2008.

Taliban militants on Sunday January 20, 2008, intercepted the car of a government official, Abdul Kayum Mujabadi, director of Commission for National Reconciliation, killing him and taking away his driver and one guard in southern Afghanistan's Shahjoy district of Zabul province.

Afghanistan January 24, 2008:
- At least eight policemen were killed in Ghariban village in Gavin province during an operation by US-led coalition troops.
- A Canadian NATO soldier was killed and two others were wounded when an explosion stuck their patrol in southern Afghanistan. Two villagers, including a woman, were killed in the clash.
- US-led coalition killed "several insurgents" and detained nine others during an operation targeting a Taliban commander associated with suicide bombings in Ghazni.

Germany on Friday February 1, 2008, rejected an urgent US call for combat troops in southern Afghanistan, insisting Berlin's focus on reconstruction efforts in the relatively calm north was justified.

A ground and air attack killed two Taliban commanders and six civilians in southwestern Afghanistan on Sunday February 3, 2008. Afghan and international troops, acting on intelligence, raided a compound in the Bakwa district of Farah province. A Taliban commander who owned the house, Mullah Manan, managed to escape with four other fighters. Afghan police also have killed at least nine Taliban militants during an overnight fighting in Dihrawud district of Uruzgan province.

A roadside bomb hit a security patrol in the country's south, killing one soldier and wounding two others. The troops were on patrol with Afghan forces Tuesday February 5, 2008, when a mine exploded and hit their vehicle along the Helmand River. Other soldiers in the patrol discovered and neutralized two additional improvised explosive devices in the area.

Norway evacuated all personnel from its embassy in Kabul and sent them to secret locations after closing it because of terror threats it was reported Monday February 11, 2008. The embassy was closed because of unspecified threats nearly four weeks after a suicide attack on a Kabul hotel killed eight people, including a Norwegian journalist. Norway's foreign minister was also there at the time, but was not injured.

Security forces have launched a wide-ranging search for the Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Pakistani government officials said Tuesday February 12, 2008, a day after the envoy disappeared in a tribal area that has recently been the scene of intense Taliban activity.

An Italian soldier was killed and another was wounded on Wednesday February 13, 2008, when gunmen opened fire on them.

An Afghan civilian was injured by a Canadian bullet in Kandahar city Saturday February 16, 2008, after a soldier travelling inside an armoured vehicle fired a warning shot at a car that was perceived as a threat.

At least 80 people have been killed on February 16, 2008, in a suicide attack at a dog-fighting arena in Kandahar. The Afghan interior ministry however dropped the death toll to 65 while a provincial governor said about 80 people were dead. In any case it was one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Afghanistan since the hardliner Taliban movement began an insurgency. More than 50 others were wounded.

A British soldier has been killed after being caught in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on February 17, 2008. A second soldier was also hurt in the incident which took place during a foot patrol in Helmand province, but his injuries are not life threatening. The number killed in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 stands at 88.

A suicide car bomb exploded in Kandahar Tuesday February 19, 2008, killing one person while four were hurt it is the third such attack in the province in as many days. The explosion struck a busy area in the heart of the city.