Afghanistan

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Afghan army could by early next year be leading the vast majority of military operations against enemy insurgents in the country, the U.S. soldier in charge of training them said on Thursday.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A protest over the shooting of the Koran by a U.S. soldier in Iraq turned violent in Afghanistan on Thursday, killing a Lithuanian soldier and two Afghan civilians.

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Gunmen shot dead a Pakistani journalist on Thursday in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border where al Qaeda linked militants have been known to operate, his company and residents said.

KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban have shown a desire for a political dialogue and serious efforts should be made to establish talks and end the insurgency, a former Afghan president said on Thursday.

KABUL (Reuters) – Italy’s government has pledged $300,000 to help combat a disease outbreak in western Afghanistan that has killed 17 people since February, the Afghan Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

By Ed Johnson May 15 (Bloomberg) — Truce talks between Pakistan’s government and militants in the tribal region may be causing a rise in terrorist attacks in neighboring Afghanistan, NATO said. The level of extremist violence in eastern Afghanistan last month was 50 percent higher than the same period last …

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan will ask international donors for $50 billion in aid at a conference in Paris next month, President Hamid Karzai’s senior economic advisor said.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -Another Ft. Campbell soldier has been killed while serving in Afghanistan. The department of defense said Pfc. Ara T. Deysie was killed when his unit came under rocket-propelled grenade fire.

A least two people were killed and seven wounded in eastern Afghanistan when police clashed with demonstrators.

SHINWAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – A least two people were killed and seven wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against civilian deaths at the hands of foreign troops, witnesses said.