Afghanistan

On a day when the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said his country intended to strengthen its military presence in the NATO force in Afghanistan, a car bomb exploded at a crowded farmers’ market in southern Afghanistan, killing eight civilians and wounding 17, Afghan officials said.

LONDON (AFP) — President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that France will boost its military presence in Afghanistan, a move welcomed by his allies in Britain and the United States.

KABUL: In one of the bloodiest attacks in months on a nongovernmental organization in Afghanistan, gunmen killed five members of a mine-clearing team and wounded seven more in a relatively peaceful northern province, officials said Monday.

 ANKARA, March 24 (Xinhua) — Turkish Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit said Monday that sending Turkish troops to Afghanistan was not the policy of Turkish Armed Forces, but a state policy, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

PANJWAYI, Afghanistan (AFP) — Taliban attacks against the state and its symbols have left thousands dead in Afghanistan and are holding back plans to develop the country from the ruins of war, meaning much more international aid is spent on security than reconstruction.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Twenty-five trucks carrying fuel to American-led forces in Afghanistan were destroyed Sunday in a possible bombing on the Pakistani border, local government officials said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan and NATO-led forces killed or wounded scores of Taliban insurgents in a joint air and ground operation in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

Two soldiers with the US-led coalition were killed in southern Afghanistan when their vehicle struck a mine planted on a busy road, the force announced.

LONDON, March 22 (Xinhua) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to inform British Prime Minister Gordon Brown next week of France’s plan to send some 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan, reported the Times on Saturday.

SHAJOY, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan police backed by U.S. troops killed three Taliban fighters and captured three more in a 40-minute gun battle in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.