KABUL – In a new effort to end the growing Taliban insurgency, a council of Afghan political and tribal leaders hopes to hold talks with elements of the Islamic group aimed at including them in the government.

KABUL – Suicide bombers attacked a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing at least two guards, a police official said.

MADRID – Turkey’s government may seek an extension of its parliamentary mandate to attack Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq when the current authorization expires in October, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.