TOKYO (Reuters) – A U.N. resolution to be adopted this month could help clear the way for Japan to extend its naval mission in support of U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan — a move keenly sought by Washington, a diplomatic source said.The leader of Japan’s main opposition Democratic Party, Ichiro …

OTTAWA (AFP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that his country would fall into bloody chaos if foreign troops withdraw too quickly, in an interview with Canadian media.”Afghanistan will fall back into anarchy,” he told the daily Globe and Mail, fearing a withdrawal of Canadian troops in February 2009, their …

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistani authorities on Tuesday recovered the bodies of 15 soldiers killed in clashes with pro-Taliban militants in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said.The troopers were reported to have died on Monday in fierce clashes with the Islamist rebels at a military checkpost in North Waziristan, …

KABUL (AFP) – The Afghan government strongly rejected Tuesday any conditions for peace talks with the Taliban after the Islamic militants demanded the withdrawal of Western troops as a prerequisite for dialogue.The government would guarantee safe passage for Taliban negotiators at any talks but this was all, President Hamid Karzai’s …

KABUL, Afghanistan – The author of two best-selling novels set in Afghanistan said the country is moving in the right direction but that the international community must remain committed to rebuilding the war-torn nation.Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner” and current New York Times No. 1 “A Thousand Splendid …

KABUL (AFP) – Major clashes between Taliban and security forces in Afghanistan left nearly 70 rebels dead while an Afghan soldier and a Bangladeshi aid worker were also reported killed, officials said.The deadliest of the incidents on Wednesday was in the province of Uruzgan and kicked off with an ambush …

KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) – The remaining three members of a 13-person demining team captured in eastern Afghanistan a week ago have been freed, officials said without making clear who had seized them.The men — two deminers and a driver — were freed in Paktia province late Wednesday after mediation by …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Airstrikes and Afghan army gunfire killed more than 45 suspected Taliban fighters in a clash in a southern province just as the holy month of Ramadan began, the U.S.-led coalition said.The battle in the southern province of Uruzgan on Wednesday began when insurgents attacked a joint Afghan …

KABUL (Reuters) – U.S.-led coalition airstrikes killed more than 45 Islamist Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.More than 7,000 people have been killed during the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the worst violence since the militants’ U.S.-led ouster in 2001. In separate incidents, an Afghan …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Wednesday an Afghan national it described as a dangerous terrorism suspect had been transferred to the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, CubaThe man, identified only by the name Inayatullah, was captured as part of operations against violent extremists in Afghanistan, the …