A UK soldier killed in Afghanistan is the most senior Army officer to die in the country since the conflict began. Maj Alexis Roberts, serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, was returning to Kandahar Airfield on Thursday when he died in an explosion.

A senior Iranian security official said that the country will reopen its shared borders with the Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar underlined the need for the formation of Iran-Afghanistan joint defense commission and implementation of the contents of the two countries’ joint statement.