KABUL: In one of the bloodiest attacks in months on a nongovernmental organization in Afghanistan, gunmen killed five members of a mine-clearing team and wounded seven more in a relatively peaceful northern province, officials said Monday.

 ANKARA, March 24 (Xinhua) — Turkish Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit said Monday that sending Turkish troops to Afghanistan was not the policy of Turkish Armed Forces, but a state policy, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

PANJWAYI, Afghanistan (AFP) — Taliban attacks against the state and its symbols have left thousands dead in Afghanistan and are holding back plans to develop the country from the ruins of war, meaning much more international aid is spent on security than reconstruction.