Scores of civilians have been killed during Nato operations against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan on October 26, 2006. Nato said it had "credible reports" of civilian casualties in two districts of Kandahar province, but could not confirm that as many as 60 had died. Spokesman Mark Laity said 48 militants had been killed, and apologised for any inadvertent civilian deaths. Mr Laity said the alliance would help Afghan officials investigate what happened. He added that militants in the area sometimes used civilians as human shields.

Nato confirmed that at least 12 civilians were killed in an air strike targeting Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday October 24, 2006. Local reports suggest at least 40 civilians died when a nomad camp was hit in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district. A team of tribal and community elders will hold an inquiry. On Friday, at least 14 people died in Uruzgan province when their bus struck a roadside bomb.

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on October 27, 2006, ordered the suspension of two soldiers who posed for photos with a human skull during a 2003 mission with ISAF peace- keepers in Afghanistan. Snapshots of German soldiers holding human remains appeared in the Bild Zeitung newspaper on October 25, prompting the army to launch an investigation to find the culprits. Further photographs depicting soldiers from other units stationed in Afghanistan were published by RTL television. Tampering with human remains is a punishable offence in Germany.

Canada's Brigadier-General David Fraser has handed NATO control of southern Afghanistan to the Dutch on November 1, 2006. It's a rotational change of command that wraps up a deadly eight months in one of the world's most dangerous zones. General Fraser said much has been accomplished: new roads, canals and schools.

Three US soldiers have died of wounds received in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan, we were told on Monday November 6, 2006. The soldiers died October 31 of injuries suffered when a roadside bomb blew up near their vehicle in Wygal Valley. Their deaths bring the number of US military fatalities in Afghanistan since US forces entered the country on October 7, 2001, to 277.

Suspected Taliban militants ambushed a US-led coalition patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier, while an attack on police in the east left two insurgents and one police officer dead on November 7, 2006. The militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a military convoy in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district killing the soldier and damaging one vehicle. The nationality of the dead soldier was not revealed, but the majority of the coalition troops there are American.

On November 14, 2006, we were told that at least 60 suspected Taliban insurgents have been killed in a joint operation launched by forces of Afghanistan and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) over the weekend. Twenty militants were killed when Afghan army soldiers clashed with a group of militants who had gathered in a compound to attack an army base in Bermal district in Paktia province late Saturday. After some two hours of fighting, NATO air support was called in and the compound was bombed, leaving at least 40 militants dead. Some militants were Arabs and Pakistanis. Eight bodies of Pakistani militants were handed over to tribal leaders on the Pakistani side of the border. Insurgent activity has risen fourfold and has claimed the lives of 3,700 people this year in Afghanistan.

A senior al Qaida leader in Afghanistan, Abu Nasir al-Qahtani, who escaped last year from Bagram prison has been captured, US military sources said Monday November 13, 2006. He was among six people arrested during a raid by coalition and Afghan forces in Khost province. He was taken into custody along with Saudi and Pakistani nationals. Al-Qahtani was one of four al Qaida detainees who escaped from the high-security detention facility at the US base in Bagram in July 2005. Another of the four escapees, Omar al-Farouq, was killed in late September in Basra, Iraq, by British troops. Grenades, military equipment, armour-piercing rounds and AK-47 assault rifles were found during last week's raid. A camera containing surveillance video of nearby military installations also was recovered. More than 3,100 people, a third of them civilians, have died so far this year.

Bulgaria will expand its military contingent serving in Afghanistan and will announce it at the upcoming NATO summit in Riga, Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov said Friday November 24, 2006. A company of 120 troops would be sent to Afghanistan early next year after parliament approves the decision. Bulgaria currently maintains 151 soldiers within the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

A suicide car bomber attacked a Canadian armoured vehicle Monday November 27, 2006, killing two soldiers a day before NATO leaders gather in Europe for a summit that will focus on the strengthening Taliban insurgency here. The suicide bomber attacked a convoy of military vehicles travelling from the main NATO base in Kandahar to the Panjwayi district, an area that's seen heavy fighting between NATO and the Taliban the last several months.

Nato leaders at a NATO summit are continuing to limit troop deployment to south Afghanistan, despite calls from the US to accept "difficult assignments". France and Germany have agreed to small changes on how troops can be used, but will not move large numbers to the area where Nato faces a resurgent Taliban. The Dutch and Romanians are among those agreeing to relax such curbs. The US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands have borne the brunt of fierce fighting with the militants in the south.
On November 29, 2006, the retired Canadian major general, Lewis MacKenzie, says NATO needs many more soldiers in Afghanistan to keep up the pressure on the Taliban militants. The NATO commander "needs 30,000 more troops to double the force in Afghanistan; NATO now has about 32,000 soldiers in the country.

Mujahideen of the Islamic State of Afghanistan attacked a US invaders' convoy in Tararea area of Manogay district in the Kunar province on Sunday, December 3, 2006. Three US military vehicles were destroyed and 5 US soldiers were killed. One Mujahid was also wounded in the attack. Saturday, US invaders' troops bombed the Landay Nawa area of the Musa Kalla district in the Helmand province after the Mujahideen of Emarat Islami had beaten off an attack of foreign troops. The invaders moved to this Mujahideen-controlled area from the neighboring Nozad district. After the firefight, the US invaders bombed the area. Six civilians including women and children were killed. The Mujahideen suffered no casualties.

Two Americans and five Afghans have been killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan on December 6, 2006. The bomber blew himself up as the men walked out of the US Protection and Investigations Security Company compound in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. Three other people were wounded in the attack. The Americans had been working as security contractors; four of the Afghan victims were policemen and the other a translator. Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, said the militant group had carried out the attack.

A British Royal Marine has died during a battle with insurgents in the troubled Helmand province of southern Afghanistan on December 12, 2006.

The German Defence Ministry said on Tuesday December 12, 2006, that it would send 100 more Dingo armoured vehicles to its troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF.

A Taliban suicide bomber killed eight people inside an Afghan provincial governor's compound Tuesday December 12, 2006. The bomb, which went off in a parking lot, did not injure Helmand Governor Mohammed Daoud, but a district chief was among the dead. Eight people were injured. It was the second deadly attack near Daoud's office in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, in less than three months.

Almost 2,100 militants have been killed in Afghanistan from September 1 to December 10, 2006, in operations involving coalition Special Forces soldiers. About 900 of the 2,077 deaths came during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in September in the southern province of Kandahar. Special forces soldiers worked alongside conventional forces from Canada during the fight.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vest he was wearing Thursday December 14, 2006, killing four people and wounding 29 in Qalat, the capital city of Zabul province, southern Afghanistan. The four people killed were civilians and three police officers were among the wounded. The apparent target of the attack was a police vehicle, and three of its occupants were wounded. Afghanistan has seen more than 100 suicide bombings this year, a record number.

Visiting French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Sunday December 17, 2006, that her country would withdraw the 200-strong French special forces from Afghanistan soon. France would withdraw the Special Forces, which are stationed in the eastern Nangahar province as part of the US-led coalition troops, from Afghanistan in the coming weeks. Seven members of the French special force were killed in action and a dozen others were wounded since their deployment to Afghanistan after the US-led Afghan War in late 2001.

On December 20, 2006, France is pulling 200 of its best soldiers out. But military officials here insist France remains fully committed, with 1,100 troops still based in Kabul. France's decision to withdraw its Special Forces comes amid concerns in Paris that NATO's mission in Afghanistan has grown confused and that the alliance may be overreaching in its efforts to stabilize and rebuild the nation.
A British soldier was killed and three others hurt, one of them seriously, after a blast caused their vehicle to crash during a reconnaissance mission in southern Afghanistan on Thursday December28, 2006.

Nato said as many as 150 Taliban militants have been killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan on January 10, 2007. The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan and had crossed the border prior to launching an attack. Pakistan had helped monitor the fighters, who were then hit with artillery and air strikes. The Afghan defence ministry earlier estimated 80 fatalities. A Taliban spokesman said those killed were civilians, not militants.
A British serviceman has been killed in Afghanistan on Monday January 15, 2007. The soldier died in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The soldier was taking part in an attack on an insurgent base in the southern province. The soldier's death follows the death of Royal Marine Thomas Curry in Afghanistan on Saturday who was killed during a battle with Taliban fighters.
Tony Blair signalled on Tuesday January 16, 2007, that he refused to rule out reinforcing Nato forces in the hostile Helmand province with more British troops. He said that the Taliban had to be defeated, and he would await requests from commanders on the ground, but that line has been used in the past as cover for a plan to send more British troops to the region. Commanders are expecting a sharp upsurge in violence after the winter snows make movement easier for the Taliban.
The Royal Marine killed in action in Afghanistan on Monday January 15, 2007, was the subject of a dramatic rescue attempt by his colleagues. L/Cpl Mathew Ford, of 45 Commando Royal Marines, was hit during an attack on a Taliban fort in the Helmand province. When his colleagues regrouped and found he was missing, they flew back. Four strapped themselves to two Apache helicopters, which landed inside and outside the fort's wall. But they discovered he was already dead.

Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed to step up their military and economic assistance to Afghanistan on January 26, 2007. The decision came as the US pledged an extra $10.6bn to bolster its Afghan effort and retain troops there. The alliance has warned they expect Taliban fighters in Afghanistan to intensify attacks when the weather begins to warm up.

Over 1,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2006, most of them as a result of attacks by the Taliban and other anti-government forces in the country's unstable south, the Human Rights Watch said in a statement on February 1, 2007. At least 100 of those civilian deaths were caused by NATO and US-led troop operations, far below another estimate by an Afghan rights group. In all, more than 4,400 Afghans _ comprising civilians and combatants died in conflict-related violence, twice as many as in 2005 and more than in any other year since the US helped oust the Taliban in 2001.

The number of British troops in southern Afghanistan will be increased by around 800 by the end of the summer, the defence secretary, Des Browne, said on February 2, 2007. The move will bring the total UK troop deployment in the volatile Helmand province to 5,800. British soldiers have faced fierce resistance from Taliban militia in Helmand, where the majority of the 46 British soldiers to die in Afghanistan have been killed.

Taliban militants have overrun a southern Afghan town that British troops pulled out of last year after a local peace agreement was reached. 200-300 Taliban fighters seized the town of Musa, took weapons from police and destroyed a government compound late Thursday February 1, 2007.

UK General David Richards has handed over control of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan to US General Dan McNeill at a ceremony in the capital, Kabul, on February 4, 2007. General Richards headed the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) for nine months, as troop levels increased from 9,000 to more than 33,000.

The Czech Senate agreed on Wednesday February 7, 2007, to send a military field hospital to Afghanistan. The one-year hospital mission, which also needs approval from the Czech parliament's lower chamber, would include a 70-member team and be stationed at the international airport in Kabul as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The mission is expected to start in March.

On February 14, 2007, Canada is considering withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan after sustaining heavy losses if it does not receive greater support from other NATO forces, said an interim report by the Canadian Senate committee on national security and defence.

Eight US troops have been killed and 14 wounded in a helicopter crash in Zabul province, bordering Pakistan, southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday February 18, 2007. The Chinook came down after the pilot reported engine trouble.

The Italian government on Wednesday February 21, 2007, lost a vote in the Senate on its mission in Afghanistan. A total of 158 senators supported the motion, which is below the necessary Senate majority of 160. The opposition immediately called on Mr Prodi's government to resign and he did. It was not a confidence vote and the government constitutionally need not to quit. But Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said that the government should step down if it could not win the vote.

Britain's defence secretary on Monday February 26, 2007, announced the deployment of 1,400 extra troops to Afghanistan, bolstering NATO's mission to oust the resurgent Taliban only days after Prime Minister Tony Blair disclosed plans to trim British forces in Iraq. This will bring British troop levels in Afghanistan to around 7,700 until 2009, meaning Britain will have more forces based there than in Iraq for the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Blair said Wednesday Britain would soon reduce numbers in Iraq to 5,500. Defence Secretary Des Browne had already authorized deployment of an extra 800 troops to the region on February 1.

Many people died in a suicide bombing at the main US base in Afghanistan during US Vice-President Dick Cheney's stay on February 27, 2007. Mr Cheney, who was unharmed, was staying at the Bagram base near Kabul. In addition to the bomber 23 people died and more than 20 others were hurt. The Taliban said they carried out the attack and that the attacker was trying to get to Mr Cheney, who was on an unannounced visit to the region. One US and one South Korean soldier were among the dead as well as a US government contractor who was a US national. The others killed were Afghan civilians.

Pakistan denied on March 4, 2007, the US military's claim that coalition forces in Afghanistan have the authority to pursue Taliban fleeing across the border into Pakistani territory.

Two British soldiers were killed in clashes in Afghanistan on Saturday March 3, 2007. The two men from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, were killed in a Taliban rocket attack in Helmand province in the south of the country. In a separate incident, 16 civilians died in what was described by US forces in Afghanistan as a "complex ambush".

The Taliban said on March 6, 2007, that they have kidnapped an Italian journalist and two Afghan nationals in Helmand province. The three men were seized after entering an area of Helmand without the Taliban's permission who accused them of spying. The Italian is working for Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.

Afghan officials said on March 7, 2007, a NATO air strike in northern Afghanistan killed at least nine civilians. It is the second time in as many days that NATO or US forces have killed civilians. Suspected Taliban insurgents targeted a NATO base late Sunday in Kapisa province. When the western forces returned fire they hit a civilian house killing at least five women and several young children. The matter is under investigation.

A British Royal Marine died after his unit came under fire in Afghanistan on March 6, 2007. The soldier was involved in a clearance operation in the Kajaki area of northern Helmand. The death takes the number of UK troops killed in combat operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 51.

NATO countries should provide more troops for Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday March 7, 2007. Leaders of the European Union are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in Brussels. Afghanistan is not on the official agenda of the meeting, which is expected to focus on developing a EU policy on climate change.

A British soldier was killed in a grenade attack on his base in southern Afghanistan on March 8, 2007. Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael Smith died in hospital after the attack on the base in Sangin, in Helmand Province. He was the 52nd British serviceman to die in the country since the start of operations in November 2001.

A roadside bomb targeting a police convoy killed nine officers, including the Bakwa district police commander, and left one critically wounded Monday March 12, 2007 in Farah province's Bakwa district, western Afghanistan. Separately, the Afghan parliamentary speaker said the Taliban had threatened to kill an Italian journalist abducted in the country's lawless south unless the Italian government reviewed its policy toward Afghanistan. Elsewhere in the same province, Taliban insurgents attacked a police post Sunday near the border with Iran, and the ensuing clash left two militants dead and one wounded.

A huge explosion on Wednesday March 14, 2007, in a hunting supplies store here killed at least six people and wounded nine. A few hours later a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his chest in a bazaar in the eastern province of Khost, killing five people -including a police officer- and wounding 38.

A video shows an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo -kidnapped in Afghanistan some 10 days ago- asking for help, we were told on Wednesday March 14, 2007. Ansa news agency meanwhile broadcast some of the tape and reported that the journalist had urged the Italian government to help release him.

The Bulgarian government decided on Friday March 16, 2007, to increase the Bulgarian military presence in Afghanistan by 335 personnel. Up to 200 soldiers will be committed for the first time to guard the internal perimeter of Kandahar Airport, and a 120-member company will be sent to the capital airport, plus 15 staff officers. This will bring the total number of Bulgarian peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan to some 400.

On Sunday March 18, 2007, we were told that New Zealand SAS troops are to return to Afghanistan within two months to help in the increasingly dangerous and controversial war with the Taliban and Al Qaida. Previous contingents have numbered between 40 and 65. The New Zealand SAS's last round of duty in Afghanistan ended in November 2005.

Four years after American forces invaded Iraq, hundreds of anti-war protesters took to the streets across Canada on Saturday March 17, 2007, to denounce both the Iraqi conflict and the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. Demonstrations were held in cities across the country, including Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton.

According to a new poll published Saturday March 17, 2007, the majority of Germans want their troops out of Afghanistan. About 57 percent of the participants said they want an immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, with 36 percent favouring a continued presence and a minority 4 percent supporting a military build-up.

On March 9, the German parliament approved the deployment of six Tornado planes equipped with high-resolution cameras to help the NATO forces in their struggle against insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

A suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying United States embassy officials on a busy road in Kabul on March 19, 2007, seriously injuring an American security guard who was travelling in one of the vehicles. A 14-year-old Afghan boy was killed; witnesses said there were other civilian injuries as well. This was the first suicide attack recorded in Kabul this year.

Italy on Monday March 19, 2007, confirmed that Daniele Mastrogiacomo, the Italian journalist kidnapped by Taliban militants about two weeks ago, has been freed as well as his Afghan translator, Adjmal Nashkbandi. Mastrogiacomo's release "was not easy" and that more details would be released later. Ibrahim Hanifi, a Taliban commander in the southern Helmand province where Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped, had demanded that three Taliban members jailed in Kabul should be set free. Five members of the militant group, including the brother of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, were freed.

Italy's strategy of negotiating the release of Taliban militants in exchange for the freedom of an Italian hostage in Afghanistan has placed Premier Romano Prodi On March 22, 2007, in the firing line days before a crucial parliamentary vote on keeping the country's troops in Afghanistan. The move has drawn the ire of the conservative opposition -whose backing might be necessary in the Senate vote next week- and the criticism of Italy's allies in the US and Europe. It also rekindled long-standing questions over Rome's handling of hostage situations. A deputy foreign affairs minister said the Afghan government freed five Taliban prisoners to win the release of La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. The controversy overshadowed Italy's joy over Mastrogiacomo's release. Former premier Silvio Berlusconi -who himself came under scrutiny amid unconfirmed allegations his government paid ransoms to free Italians abducted in Iraq- said: "We Italians are by now considered unreliable by our own allies."

On March 22, 2007, we were told than more than 100 people have been killed in fighting near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan over the past four days. Most of the dead are believed to be foreign militants allied to al-Qaida. But this time it is not the Pakistani military which is fighting them, but local tribesmen. But this is not a simple battle between pro-Pakistan government forces and al-Qaida allies, but an internecine war between different factions in the loose alliance of al-Qaida, Taliban and local tribesmen that exists in the lawless areas along the border with Afghanistan. The tribesmen are known locally as Taliban, and although they are not directly linked to the Afghan Taliban, they are believed to have a close relationship, and allow the Afghan insurgents to launch cross-border operations from their territory. The foreign militants involved in the fighting are all believed to be from the remnants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) who fought alongside the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan in 2001, and were given shelter in south Waziristan when they fled after the Taliban were overthrown.

An entire Marine unit is being ordered to leave Afghanistan on March 23, 2007, after members of the unit were accused of shooting and killing civilians following a suicide bombing in Afghanistan earlier this month. The Pentagon says they're under investigation. On March 4, a minivan rigged with explosives crashed into a convoy of Marines that US officials aid also came under fire from gunmen. As many as ten Afghans were killed and 34 wounded as the convoy made an escape. Injured Afghans said the Americans fired on civilian cars and pedestrians. But US military officials said militant gunmen might have caused some of the civilian casualties.

Australia will likely send a Special Forces task group to Afghanistan to counter an expected offensive by Taliban rebels, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said on Sunday March 25, 2007. Australia could double its deployment in Afghanistan to about 1,000. The minister said: "We believe there is a need, we think that the Taliban will be mounting a very strong offensive shortly."

Afghanistan, March 26, 2007:
- Twenty-one Taliban insurgents and two policemen were killed in two clashes in central Afghanistan.
- Some Taliban militants ambushed a convoy in Andar district of Ghazni province killing one Afghan driver and setting on fire two vehicles. Policemen killed six and wounded seven militants and 23 suspects were captured.
- Taliban insurgents attacked the administrative building in Jalarez district of Wardak province on Sunday night. The police exchanged fire with the militants, killing 15 and injuring 10. Two policemen were also killed in the clash and the district chief was injured.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi won a Senate vote on March 27, 2007, to continue funding Italian forces in Afghanistan, extending the life of his 10-month-old government that was pushed to the brink of collapse a month ago over the same issue. The decree to fund Italy's 2,000 troops for all of 2007 passed last night with 180 votes, including four from unelected, life-appointed senators that offset defections within Prodi's own ranks. The Union of Christian Democrats, an opposition party led by Pier Ferdinando Casini, also voted in favour.

Fighting between local and foreign militants in Pakistan Friday March 30, 2007, killed 52 people, bringing to more than 200 the number of dead in recent days in a conflict between Pakistanis and suspected al-Qaida-linked extremists, a senior official said. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said 45 Uzbek militants and seven tribesmen died in battles in South Waziristan. Since fighting began last week, 213 people have been killed, including 177 Uzbeks and their local allies.

UK Chancellor Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on March 30, 2007, taking Defence Secretary Des Browne with him to visit British troops. Brown flew into the southern province of Kandahar on his first trip to the country, where 5,600 British soldiers are on a Nato mission fighting Taliban guerrillas. He said he had gone to listen to the troops and thank them for their work in helping Afghanistan build "a secure and democratic nation."

Eight German reconnaissance jets are on their way to Afghanistan on April 3, 2007, amid legal and political controversy over the mission's aims. Earlier this month the German Parliament endorsed government plans to send eight Panavia Tornado reconnaissance aircraft -six in constant flying, with two backup planes- and roughly 500 additional soldiers to Afghanistan to aid the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Critics of the mission say Germany will become involved in war actions and thus endanger its troops in the north, where nearly 3,000 Germans lead reconstruction efforts.

Suspected Taliban insurgents ambushed Afghans working for a US landmine clearing company in southwestern Afghanistan on Saturday April 7, 2007, leaving seven people dead and four others wounded. The ambush occurred as more than 1,000 NATO and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban fighters and took control of a district centre in southern Afghanistan long held by the rebels. Six of those killed worked for Ronco. One was a woman caught in the crossfire between rebels and armed guards working for the company. Two of those wounded also worked for the company and two others were women caught in the clash. All the victims were Afghan, and it was not immediately clear how many of those killed were guards and how many were deminers.

Two French aid workers -a man and a woman-who went missing in Afghanistan have been kidnapped by Taliban militants and taken to volatile Helmand province we were told on April 7, 2007. An Afghan colleague who was travelling with the French workers may have been involved in the abduction. The latest kidnapping comes less than three weeks after an Italian journalist was freed after some two weeks in Taliban captivity in Helmand.

A devastating roadside-bomb explosion killed six Canadian soldiers on Sunday April 8, 2007, in the worst single-day toll for the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. A separate roadside bomb killed one NATO soldier and wounded two.

One hundred Taliban rebels seized control of the Khak Afghan district in the Zabul province, south of Afghanistan Friday April 6, 2007, as more than 1,000 ISAF and Afghan soldiers attacked a Taliban stronghold. A suicide bomber in a taxi killed six people near the national parliament in Kabul.

On April 9, 2007, Australia plans to almost double its troop numbers in Afghanistan by next year amid warnings that the Taliban insurgency shows no sign of weakening. Prime Minister John Howard said without an extra effort, the fight against the militants would not be won. He warned the country to prepare for casualties.

Two more Canadians have been killed and three injured by two roadside bomb explosions west of Kandahar on April 10, 2007. The news comes the same day bodies of six Canadian soldiers killed last Sunday are to arrive in Trenton, Ontario. Earlier today, military officials reported 10 Afghan civilians were injured when a suicide car bomber targeted a Canadian military convoy west of Kandahar city.
Pakistani forces are preventing the infiltration of Taliban insurgents into Afghanistan from South Waziristan, Major General Gul Muhammad, commanding officer of troops in Waziristan said on Wednesday April 11, 2007.

A British soldier has been killed during a routine patrol in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan on April 13, 2007. The soldier was seriously injured by small arms fire during fighting with Taliban forces. He was airlifted to the main British base at Camp Bastion, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The soldier, Private Chris Gray, is the 53rd to have been killed since the start of operations in November 2001.

A suicide bomber blew himself up next to several Afghan border policemen in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday April 14, 2007, leaving at least seven officers dead and six others wounded, while six suspected Taliban were killed in the south. The bomber attacked the officers when he tried to enter the border police base in Khost province. One civilian was also killed in the blast.

A roadside bomb hit a UN convoy in southern Afghanistan's main city on Tuesday April 17, 2007, killing four Nepalese guards and an Afghan driver. The attack -the deadliest for the United Nations in Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster in 2001- followed an assault on a Danish aid group and a report accusing militants of targeting civilians.

A suicide bomber struck a group of police officers in the normally peaceful north of Afghanistan on Monday April 16, 2007, killing nine policemen and wounding 25. According to eyewitnesses, the suicide bomber was wearing a black turban and ran toward our policemen, who were exercising on the main road outside their base, and blew himself up. No civilians were harmed. The attack happened outside a district police station in Kunduz.

A bombing attack killed four Nepalese security guards and one Afghan driver working for a UN organization in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan Tuesday April 17, 2007, while another one killed four Afghan pupils in the western Herat province. The vehicle belonged to the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which focuses on helping clients implement their projects and programs.

Separate explosions in southern Afghanistan yesterday killed two Nato soldiers -as yet unidentified- on April 20, 2007. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), which has around 37,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the resurgent Taliban movement. On the same day US-led coalition and Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters who ambushed them in southern Afghanistan, killing 24 suspected militants in Helmand province's Sangin district included an air strike. Two coalition troops suffered minor injuries.

On April 24, 2007, we were told that Afghan and NATO forces surrounded around 200 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, possibly including top militants commanders, while US-led coalition forces claimed to have killed a key rebel commander in north-east of the country. If the militants did not surrender the joint forces would move forward and capture them.

Taliban militants briefly captured an Afghan district government headquarters in the Ghazni province 100 miles southwest of Kabul Thursday April 26, 2007, killing the district mayor, police chief and three policemen during several hours of fighting. Afghan soldiers and police retook the area Friday morning. More than 100 Taliban fighters launched the attack setting fire to buildings and cutting telephone lines.

The French foreign ministry confirmed on April 28, 2007, the Taliban has released one of its nationals in Afghanistan. The hostage, who worked for the charity Terre d'Enfance, identified as Céline, thanked the Taliban for releasing her and pleaded for the freedom of four colleagues still held. Earlier, the Taliban said one of five people seized three weeks ago -a woman- had been set free in the Kandahar province in the south of Afghanistan. The five people -two French, three Afghan- went missing on 3 April. The Taliban extended the deadline for the French man and three Afghan hostages for another week.

On April 30, 2007, British forces are taking part in a major military offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Up to 3,000 Nato troops, including Afghans and US forces, are involved in the British-led Operation Silicon in the Sangin Valley, Helmand province.

On April 30, 2007, British troops pushed into a Taliban stronghold awash with opium poppies, drawing mortar and machine-gun fire, in the latest NATO drive to help the government take control of southern Afghanistan. The British soldiers quickly came under fire as they filtered among the mud-walled compounds and deep irrigation ditches of the militant-held lower Sangin Valley in Helmand. Moreover the US military reported killing 136 rebels during three days of clashes in the west.

A Danish soldier has died after he was injured in a battle bringing the number of Danish soldiers to die in Afghanistan to four we were told on Thursday May 4, 2007. The soldier was shot in the neck last Sunday when the Danish troops were attacked near Denmark's Camp Bastion in the southern Helmand. Seriously injured, the soldier was sent to a field hospital and then transferred to the Copenhagen University hospital. It is the fourth death of Danish soldiers since they were sent to Afghanistan on mission in January 2002. It was the first time that a Danish soldier had been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

A British soldier was killed in fighting with militants in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday May 4, 2007.

The former Afghanistan's Prime Minister Abdul Saboor Farid was shot dead Wednesday May 3, 2007, in Kabul. Several men shot Farid dead while driving a car along the street. The victim, a member of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament, was prime minister for one month in 1992 when a bitter civil war burst out in the country following the defeat of the Soviet army by the US-backed mujahedeen fighters. Farid was also a representative of the northern province of Kapisa and a senior mujahedeen commander in the area.

Spain will not send more troops to Afghanistan to reinforce the 700 soldiers it already has deployed in the NATO-led force in the country, Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said Friday May 5, 2007. Spain will, however, send two teams of some 50 soldiers to Afghanistan at the end of May or in early June to help train the Afghan military.

New attacks on May 6, 2007, took to 15 the number of police killed in a weekend of violence. Eight policemen were killed in a six-hour battle in the western province of Farah when Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol. A US-led coalition statement said 17 rebels were killed in the fighting, but only four of their bodies were recovered from the battlefield.
Another policeman was missing. The attack occurred near the centre of Bakwa district, which was overrun by Taliban late February. The militants were in control for less than a day before Afghan security forces drove them out.

Afghanistan, Sunday May 6, 2007:
- A roadside bomb killed five police and wounded two others in eastern Afghanistan, while a clash in the west left eight police and at least four suspected militants dead.
- A remote-controlled mine blew up as a police convoy was passing, killing five officers and wounding two others in the Chola district of eastern Ghazni province.
- In western Farah province, insurgents ambushed a police convoy on Saturday in Bakwa district, and the ensuing six-hour gun battle left eight police and at least four suspected militants dead.
- Intelligence reports indicate that 17 suspected militants were killed or wounded in the clash, but only four bodies of the insurgents remained at the scene after the gun battle, while the attackers removed others. Two other policemen were wounded.

An air strike by Western forces killed 21 civilians, including women and children on Tuesday May 8, 2007, the latest in a string of civilian casualties that has riled Afghans. The incident, which brings to nearly 90 the number of civilian deaths blamed by Afghan officials on Western troops in the past two weeks, comes as President Hamid Karzai faces rising pressure to halt the bloodshed and find a way to start peace talks with Taliban insurgents. The air strike hit houses in a village in the Sangin district of southern Helmand province.

Bulgaria will increase sharply its contingent Bulgaria's Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov revealed Thursday May 10, 2007. The service members of the Bulgarian peacekeeping contingent will increase from the present 83 to a total of 400.

Poland plans to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan to join NATO forces fighting Taliban and al-Qaida rebels, Poland Radio reported on May 11, 2007. Polish troops already in Afghanistan number about 500, of whom 100 were deployed last year and 400 earlier this year.

At least 40 Afghan civilians were killed in air strikes on Tuesday May 8, 2007. The latest incident occurred in the Sangin district of the southern province of Helmand. Earlier reports put the civilian death toll at 21. As usual, the US initially claimed that all of those killed were Taliban fighters. US forces came under attack while patrolling in the area, and one US soldier died in the fighting. The embattled patrol responded by calling in air support, which carried out indiscriminate bombing raids, including on local villages.

The Pentagon said Wednesday May 9, 2007, that it will maintain a heightened level of US troops in Afghanistan well into 2008 by sending elements of the 101st Airborne Division as a replacement force. Extra combat troops are in Afghanistan in anticipation of a tougher fight in coming months against the Taliban militants who have demonstrated a more organized, better trained resistance, particularly in the southern part of the country.

A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying policemen in southern Afghanistan on Saturday May 12, 2007, killing eight, police. The attack happened on the outskirts of the city of Kandahar. The Taliban are thought to be responsible.

If his admissions to Afghan authorities are true, a young Canadian man of Pakistani descent went to Afghanistan to die as a suicide bomber like his brother we were told on May 12, 2007.

Pakistan has completed on May 12, 2007, part of the first phase of fencing which will prevent Taliban and other militants crossing the 1,500 mile porous border with Afghanistan. The decision to fence off and mine parts of the western borders occurred after American and Afghan officials accused Pakistan of not doing much in stopping the militants from crossing the border and conducting raids. Those accusations were released in order to make Pakistan to do more on the War on Terror and increase the troops presence in those areas. Analysts believe that it is impossible to stop the militants from crossing 1,500 mile porous border.

Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire at their rugged border Sunday May 13, 2007, in their most serious skirmish in years. Pakistan claimed it killed five Afghan soldiers, but Afghanistan said just two Afghan civilians were killed. Tension has been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan over controlling their 1,510-mile shared border and stemming the flow of Taliban and al-Qaida militants that stage cross-border attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistan's move to fence parts of the disputed frontier has also angered Afghanistan. Pakistan accused the Afghan army of firing first at Pakistani border posts. Afghanistan accused Pakistani forces of crossing more than a mile into Afghanistan's Paktia province.

Nine police officers were killed on Sunday May 13, 2007, and around 55 Taliban fighters have been killed in two battles near the Pakistan border a day earlier. Eight police officers were killed in a Taliban ambush in the western province of Nimroz. Another police officer was killed in the eastern province of Nangarhar in a blast caused by a remote-controlled bomb. The attack was in the Bati Kot area where US-led coalition troops were accused of firing on civilians after a suicide bombing. They have admitted 19 were killed.

On May 15, 2007, Afghanistan said recent clashes between Afghan and Pakistani troops will have a negative impact on bilateral relations. The comment by President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, Karim Rahimi, follows two days of daily clashes at the Afghan-Pakistan border. Kabul says the violence erupted May 13 after Pakistani forces encroached inside Afghan territory. Islamabad accuses the Afghan Army of sparking the battle with "unprovoked" fire at several of its border posts.

Sixty Taliban fighters including three commanders were killed in overnight air strikes on two rebel bases in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Tuesday May 15, 2007. The Afghan Defence Ministry gave a lower death toll of 11 dead, including a Taliban commander. The joint operation involving foreign and Afghan security forces took place in the Zharai district of Kandahar. He said there were no casualties among the foreign or Afghan forces.

We were told on May 15, 2007, that Italy is to send helicopters and tanks to Afghanistan to protect its peacekeeping contingent against a growing wave of attacks by rebel groups. Italy's 2,000 troops in Afghanistan would soon receive five Mangusta helicopters, eight Dardo tanks and an additional 10 Lince armoured cars. An extra 145 soldiers will also be sent to operate and maintain the new equipment.

On Thursday May 17, 2007, air strikes targeted a convoy of suspected Taliban militants who had left a meeting in western Afghanistan, killing 14 and wounding 10. The Taliban had met to appoint a leader in western Farah province. As they left the meeting in Bakwa district, air strikes hit seven of their vehicles.

A suicide bomber walked into a crowded market in Gardez eastern Afghanistan, and blew himself up Sunday May20, 2007, just after a U.S. convoy drove by, killing 14 people and wounding 31. The attack damaged around 30 shops, shattering windows and destroying the stores closest to the explosion. Three vehicles were damaged. Six people died at the scene of the blast and eight later died at a hospital. Two of the 31 people injured were in a critical condition.

In a rare attack in Kunduz a relatively calm city in the north, a suicide bomber detonated himself next to German soldiers shopping in a crowded market on Saturday May 19, 2007, killing three of them, along with seven Afghan civilians. Two were other German soldiers were seriously wounded. Other seven soldiers and one policeman in the group received minor injuries. Seven Afghan civilians were also killed and 13 wounded, including seven seriously.

At least 10 people were killed and 32 were wounded Sunday May 20, 2007, when a suicide bomber struck at a crowded market in Gardez in the southeastern province of Paktia. News agencies said the death toll later rose to 14. The victims were shopkeepers and labourers who were waiting to be hired for daily work. A schoolboy on his way to school was among those killed, and a woman who was begging in the market was among the wounded. An American military convoy had been passing through the town at the time of the blast. There were no reported casualties among the military.

A British soldier died Sunday May 20, 2007, of wounds from an accident at a British military base in southern Afghanistan. Fifty-five British military personnel have died in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion to oust the Taliban in November 2001.

Suspected insurgents ambushed a US-led coalition and Afghan patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Sunday May 20, 2007, sparking a battle and air strikes that killed 25 suspected insurgents.

An air strike of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed some Taliban leaders at a meeting in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan on Tuesday May 22, 2007. For once no civilian were hurt. We do not know how many Taliban leaders were killed, and how senior they were ranking. Meanwhile, the US-led coalition and Afghan forces captured five militants in Qalat district of Zabul province in southern Afghanistan Wednesday.

More than 20 militants, including seven foreign Al Qaida insurgents, have been killed in new clashes across Afghanistan on May 24, 2007. Thirteen were killed in a battle in the southern province of Helmand. Seven of the dead were foreign nationals, believed to be from Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida network. On the same day, five more Taliban were killed in separate gunfights in the province's Sangin district.

A British soldier was killed and four wounded during an operation in southern Afghanistan early on Saturday May 26, 2007; they died during an operation "to remove Taliban from their positions."

On May 25, 2007, a roadside bomb explosion killed a Canadian soldier during a joint Canadian-Afghan patrol in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. Another Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter were injured. The deaths yesterday and today brought the number of US and NATO troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 56. It also brought the number of Canadian troops who have died during the country's military mission in Afghanistan to at least 55.

A Taliban commander, detained in Nangarhar province by coalition forces and Afghan border police, headed a roadside bomb cell responsible for killing and injuring Afghans. The suspect, Sayed Gulab, had "extensive connections" with other senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in Nangarhar and Pakistan. He was detained on Thursday May 24, 2007 and was being held in a coalition facility. Two suspected Al-Qaida militants were seized in a raid on Saturday in Khost province; two fragmentation grenades and an anti-personnel mine were also found.

The Taliban have launched a new operation targeting government and foreign forces in Afghanistan, a spokesman said Sunday May 27, 2007, as two policemen died in an ambush in the volatile south.

The British soldier killed Saturday, warned his comrades to take cover seconds before a Taliban booby-trap device blew up, killing him and injuring four other soldiers in Afghanistan. The bravery and sacrifice of Guardsman Daniel Probyn saved the other soldiers' lives, the Ministry of Defence said on May 27, 2007.

On May 28, 2007, Taliban militants ambushed US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, sparking a 10-hour battle and air strikes that killed an estimated two dozen militants. Villagers said seven civilians were among the dead. The U.N. human rights chief in Afghanistan said there were between 320 and 380 civilian deaths in military operations and militant violence in the first four months of the year. He said the issue of civilian deaths by coalition troops is complex and "difficult to disentangle."

A British soldier, Corporal Darren Bonner, was killed by insurgents in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on May 28, 2007. The latest death on Monday brings the total number of British soldiers killed since being deployed in Afghanistan in November 2001 to 56.

Five US soldiers were among seven people killed when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down Wednesday May 30, 2007. The Taliban claimed responsibility. Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said seven ISAF soldiers were killed after the CH-47 Chinook went down in Helmand province near Kajaki, the site of a major hydroelectric damn and scene of fierce battles in recent months.

Clashes involving NATO and Afghan troops against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan killed 27 militants, two civilians, one NATO soldier and one member of Afghan police on Friday June 1, 2007. Three NATO soldiers were also wounded in eastern Afghanistan. NATO troops, Afghan police and soldiers, battled Taliban fighters in the Zhari district of Kandahar province leaving 20 Taliban dead. A Taliban commander called Mullah Naqibullah was among those killed. Neither NATO nor Afghan forces suffered any casualties. In the east, Taliban fighters attacked the home of a police official in Zurmat district of Paktia province late on Thursday. Police reinforcements were called in a battle that left six Taliban dead and seven injured. Five rockets were fired from the top of a mountain in Kunar province, hitting several civilian homes and killing two women. Five more civilians were injured. In Khost province, small bombs exploded before dawn on Friday outside the houses of six government officials and a man working as a translator for the US military. No one was hurt.

A soldier of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and an ISAF civilian interpreter were killed in eastern Afghanistan. The fatalities occurred when an ISAF convoy was ambushed by militants on Saturday June 2, 2007; other ISAF soldiers were wounded by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

A gun battle and air strikes killed an estimated 24 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday June 5, 2007. Taliban fighters attacked Afghan and coalition troops with rockets and gunfire yesterday in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province, sparking a four-hour battle. Fighter aircraft bombed three enemy positions.

Afghanistan June 6, 2007: - Two NATO soldiers, including one Briton, died battling militants in southern Afghanistan. - Their deaths bring to 77 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year. Six have been killed in the last six days, including at least four US soldiers. At least 38 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year. - An Afghan woman who ran a radio station in the north was the second female journalist killed in a week.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday June 8, 2007, France would not pull its troops out of Afghanistan for now, echoing comments by his prime minister that there was no plan to withdraw forces.

A NATO soldier was killed in combat in Afghanistan on Saturday June 9, 2007, and a police general was assassinated amid a wave of attacks that also left 11 other policemen and a dozen Taliban dead. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed and four others wounded in a clash in the south of the country.

On June 10, 2007, Taliban guerrillas failed in their attempt to kill Afghanistan's President with a rocket attack narrowly missing a school building where he was giving a speech. Rockets fell several hundred metres from the school southwest of Kabul. Some of the audience began to flee, but President Karzai urged them to stay and finished his speech. Mr Karzai returned to Afghanistan's capital Kabul after his speech. The President does not often leave the capital and always travels with a huge security team when he does.

A NATO soldier was killed Saturday June 9, 2007, during fighting in southern Afghanistan. Four others were wounded in the clash. Several al-Qaida and Taliban fighters were killed in a gun battle also in the country's south. Coalition and Afghan troops came under attack as they approached two compounds in Zabul province where militants were thought to live. Several militant fighters were killed and five were detained in the battle. A cache of weapons was discovered and destroyed. In Laghman province, a roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded three others Friday evening.

A Canadian soldier spearheading a convoy into a hotspot of Taliban activity was killed Monday June 11, 2007, when a powerful mine ripped through his armoured car. He was the 57th Canadian service member to die in Afghanistan since 2002. Two other crew members were hurt, including one who suffered inhalation burns in his throat, and were taken by helicopter back to the Canadian-led emergency hospital at Kandahar Airfield.

Seven Afghan policemen have been killed by US forces in a "friendly fire" incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar on June 12, 2007. NATO says its soldiers killed three civilians in Kunar province. The International Committee for the Red Cross says the security situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating. In a report marking 20 years of its work in Afghanistan, the ICRC said life for ordinary people in Afghanistan was getting worse.

Afghan and coalition soldiers killed 27 militants in southern Afghanistan. Twenty-six were killed in two separate battles on Wednesday June 13, 2007 in the southern province of Kandahar. One other militant was killed in a Thursday raid in eastern Paktika province.

A homicide car bomber targeting a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Friday June 15, 2007, killed 10 people, including six children and a Dutch soldier. More than 24 militants were killed. In the east, a US-led coalition member was killed in a battle. Four other Afghan men were also killed in the blast. Three Dutch troops and seven Afghan civilians, including two women, were wounded.

A bomb attack on an Afghan police bus in Kabul on June 17, 2007 killed up to 35 people and injured more than 30 others. A number of civilians are among those killed in the rush-hour attack close to police HQ in the city centre. Five foreigners were wounded.

A US-led coalition air strike in eastern Afghanistan killed at least seven children along with several militants. The US military says it is saddened by the deaths in what it says is another example of al-Qaida terrorists using innocent civilians to shield themselves. The civilian deaths are fuelling opposition to the US-backed central government. The air strike occurred Sunday June 17, 2007, in Paktika Province, not far from the Pakistan border. Target, including a mosque and religious school or madrassa, was a confirmed al-Qaida safe house.

A Dutch soldier was killed and three were wounded Monday June 18, 2007, during intense fighting in southeastern Afghanistan. Dutch troops and insurgents clashed violently in the vicinity of Kora, a town in the Uruzgan province where the Dutch are stationed. This is the third Dutch soldier killed in action in Afghanistan since the Netherlands joined the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has around 37,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Last Friday another Dutch soldier was killed during a suicide attack. In April a corporal was killed by a mine, while four other soldiers have met accidental deaths since the Dutch contingent arrived in Uruzgan province in August last year. The latest death brought to 88 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year. In 2006, 191 international soldiers, mainly Americans lost their lives in the country.

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 Nat 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 Nat 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.

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.

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.

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.

Content, 9-11 and Afghanistan

Next

Previous