Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, opening up the prospect of a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the strife-torn nation next year.

Pakistan closed border with Afghanistan in the country’s northwest on Saturday ahead of protest against the American drone strikes, official sources said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai had agreed on the terms of a deal to cover the presence of American troops beyond 2014. “As we sit here tonight we have agreed on the language that would be submitted to a Loya Jirga, but they have to …

Thousands of tribal chieftains and politicians will gather this week in the Afghan capital to discuss a security pact with the United States which will shape Washington’s future military presence in the war-scarred nation. The bilateral security agreement (BSA) will determine how many US soldiers stay in Afghanistan when most …

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on Tuesday as part of their ongoing discussions on shared security interests, including Iran, Afghanistan and Syria, the White House announced.

Afghan traditional leaders will meet next week to decide whether to support a security pact that could allow some US troops to stay in the country after 2014, an official said Tuesday. Around 2,500 tribal elders and other civilian leaders are expected to take part in the “loya jirga” starting November 21 …

The US will use a Romanian airbase on the Black Sea as a transit point for its troops leaving Afghanistan as it winds up operations at another base in Kyrgyzstan, the Pentagon said. The agreement on using the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase was reached at a meeting at the Pentagon yesterday between US Defence Secretary Chuck …

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have reached preliminary agreement on a bilateral security pact that now depends on the approval of Afghanistan’s tribal leaders. The pact, announced jointly by Kerry and Karzai late on Saturday after two days of talks in the capital, Kabul, …

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived on an unannounced visit to Kabul Friday to try to advance troubled negotiations with Afghanistan on some US troops staying in the country after 2014. President Hamid Karzai said this week that he was prepared to walk away from the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) talks …

A roadside bomb on Sunday killed three Pakistani soldiers and wounded at least seven others in the country’s troubled northwest bordering Afghanistan, officials said. A military vehicle on a routine patrol hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the