(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 3:30 a.m. EDT on Saturday: KANDAHAR – Gunmen shot dead a member of the parliament outside his house late on Friday in the southern province of Kandahar, the government said.

KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hit back at calls for his resignation on Friday, saying he was needed to help political parties avoid an economic meltdown and tackle a militant threat gripping the country. “We cannot address the problems of terrorism and extremism and the economic crisis if …

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Armenian capital on Friday and vowed to hold a month-long series of protests to demand the resignation of President Serzh Sarksyan and new elections. The opposition accuses the authorities of ballot-stuffing and intimidation in the February 19 election which official …

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday sought the demolition of the houses of two Palestinians behind recent deadly attacks against Israelis after the attorney-general said the move was legally viable. Israel wants to raze the homes of a Palestinian who killed three Israelis in a bulldozer …

PARIS (Reuters) – Syria’s foreign minister said on Friday it was premature to talk of direct peace negotiations with Israel, a day after the Jewish state called for face-to-face discussions to start soon. A third round of indirect talks between the long-standing foes took place in Istanbul this week and …

ASADABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Twenty-two civilians, including women and children, were killed in an air strike by U.S.-led forces on Friday in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nuristan, an official said. The attack happened on a road in Want district while the noncombatants were traveling in two vehicles, the district chief, …

MINSK (Reuters) – About 50 people were wounded early on Friday by a home-made bomb that sprayed nuts and bolts into a crowd at an open-air concert in Belarus’s capital attended by long-time ruler President Alexander Lukashenko, officials said. Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet state with an iron grip …

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel responded to Thursday’s rocket attack by again closing its border crossing with Gaza on Friday, dampening hopes among Gazans that a ceasefire between Hamas and the Jewish state might ease an Israeli-led blockade. A truce brokered by Egypt on June 19 calls on militants in the …

GAZA (Reuters) – Islamist Hamas said on Friday it was suspending indirect talks with Israel over a prisoner swap deal, citing Israeli violations of a declared truce in Gaza. Gaza’s Islamist leaders have accused Israel of dragging its feet in implementing the truce deal that includes a gradual increase of …

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Al Qaeda-linked militants have abducted two Pakistani journalists who the militants accused of snooping on their members and positions near the Afghan border. The militants detained freelance reporter Pir Zubair Shah and photographer Akhtar Soomro in Ziarat village in the Mohmand region late on Thursday.