Asia

(Reuters) - Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States said they would explore ways to arrange safe passage for Afghan Taliban militants who wish to engage in peace talks, officials from the three countries said on Friday.

KABUL — Afghan and US officials have finalised the initial draft of a strategic partnership agreement that will govern relations between Kabul and Washington after 2014, a presidential statement said Sunday.  "The draft agreement on Afghanistan and US long-term partnership was finalised and initialed on Sunday in Kabul by the heads of the two negotiating delegations in Kabul", a presidential statement said, "The agreement is now ready for signature by both the Presidents."  No details were released of the content of the draft agreement, which will now be reviewed by the US a

BRUSSELS — The United States and its allies in NATO finalized agreements on Wednesday to wind down the war in Afghanistan, paving the way for President Obama to announce at a NATO summit meeting in Chicago next month that the unpopular, nearly 11-year-old conflict is close to an end.

(Reuters) - The American ambassador to Afghanistan said on Thursday there was "no question" that the Haqqani network mounted attacks on Kabul and other areas over the weekend, and reiterated a long-standing demand that ally Pakistan go after the group.  The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks on foreign embassies and parliament, which lasted 18 hours, killing 11 Afghan security forces and four civilians. Thirty-five insurgents died.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia's foreign minister sharply criticized NATO's plan to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by 2014, saying Thursday that coalition troops should remain in the country until Afghan government forces are capable of ensuring security.

WASHINGTON — Western military and intelligence officials acknowledged on Monday that they were surprised by the scale and sophistication of the synchronized attacks in Afghanistan on Sunday, seeing it as a troubling step in the evolution of the Haqqani Taliban network from a crime mob to a leading militant force.

DILI, 13 April 2012 (IRIN) - Following a peaceful presidential poll in March and several years of stability, international peacekeeping forces dispatched in 2006 to prevent the outbreak of civil war in Timor-Leste are preparing to pull out.  United Nations police are scheduled to depart at year’s end, barring any major disruptions to the country’s stability.

WASHINGTON — Afghanistan’s defense minister said Tuesday that his government and the international coalition paying for the war effort had agreed in principle that Afghan security forces would undergo a significant reduction to about 230,000 personnel after the NATO mission ends in 2014.  Under current plans, Afghan security forces are to reach a peak of 352,000 by late this year.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed at least nineteen people in attacks across Afghanistan on Tuesday, including 11 Afghan police, as insurgents ramped up violence ahead of the traditional summer fighting months.  Two bombers, including one wearing a head-to-toe covering burqa, blew up a car laden with explosives on the airport road outside the western city of Herat, killing eight civilians and three police, provincial governor spokesman Mohiddin Noori said.  Twenty-three people were wounded in the attack, which took place in a usually peaceful part of the countr