AFP – A NATO soldier was killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan Friday while two Afghan women and a policeman died in attacks elsewhere linked to a deepening Taliban insurgency, officials said.

AFP – More than 10,000 pro-Taliban supporters rallied near the Afghan border in southwest Pakistan Friday to hear a tape by the brother of slain Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah.

KABUL, Afghanistan – A powerful and sophisticated type of roadside bomb prevalent in Iraq but not seen before in Afghanistan was discovered near a university in Kabul last week, prompting a rare countrywide warning to NATO and Afghan troops.