AP – Afghan and coalition forces clashed with Taliban militants Saturday in separate incidents in the east and south, killing 21 insurgents, officials said. The police and Taliban engaged in a one-hour gun battle in the Alishar district of Khost province, said Wazir Padshah, a spokesman for the provincial police. …

By ALISA TANG, Associated Press The Afghan government said it was investigating Taliban claims Saturday that the militants have released a French aid worker who was kidnapped early this month along with another French citizen and three Afghan colleagues. Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said that the French woman …

AFP – President Hamid Karzai reiterated his calls for Taliban fighters to put down their arms at a military parade Saturday that showed off Afghanistan’s newly-acquired weaponry and growing army. The president and his cabinet were among scores of dignitaries at a march-past of soldiers and equipment, much of it …

Unicef – Afghanistan continues its efforts to eradicate polio in the country. In a nation-wide campaign held from 22-24 April 2007, nearly 7.3 million children were vaccinated, bringing the country – and the world – one step closer to polio eradication. Afghanistan is one of just four remaining polio-endemic countries …

By Dario Cristiani, The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) The United States recently accused Iran of increasing its influence in Afghanistan. General Peter Pace, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “in the last month, we have intercepted in Afghanistan weapons that were made in …

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – Two French aid workers held by the Taliban in Afghanistan are well, the Islamist movement said, a day ahead of an apparent deadline for demands to be met for their freedom. The Taliban, which has beheaded several of its captives, said April 20 French troops must …

AFP – Fresh attacks in Afghanistan killed 19 people, including six soldiers in a roadside bombing, officials said Wednesday, as the Taliban stepped up its campaign against the government. The bomb struck an Afghan army vehicle on Wednesday in Paktika province, which is on the border with Pakistan, army commander …

AFP – Afghanistan will use all means to stop Pakistan erecting a fence on their border to stop the movement of Taliban militants, the foreign ministry said. The ministry also denied Afghanistan had apologised for an incident last week in which its troops tore down part of the new fence …

BBC News – The Taleban have threatened that hundreds of suicide bombers will attack the Afghan government and foreign military targets this year. Mark Dummett reports from Kabul on the increasing fear of violence in the country. It seems as if the Taleban’s much-hyped spring offensive may have finally begun, …

AFP – Taliban insurgents Saturday vowed a new round of attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in the war-torn country, promising to focus more attention on the relatively-peaceful north. Naming the new drive “Ghazwatul Badr” after the historic battle fought by the Prophet Mohammed some 1,400 years ago, a Taliban …