30 November, 2009 09:40:00 M-W Font size: Afghan police backed by NATO air support has killed at least 27 Taliban-linked militants in clashes near the border with Pakistan. Afghan border police said Sunday that the violence broke out after militants stormed police outposts in the Tani district of the country's Khost province. Police then launched a counter-attack backed with NATO air support. Afghan officials also claim that ... Read Full Story

30 November, 2009 09:38:00 Kim Landers Font size: A new report says the US military's failure to kill or capture Osama bin Laden eight years ago forever altered the course of the conflict in Afghanistan.The report has been released by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just days before President Barack Obama unveils his Afghanistan troop decision.Republicans say it is an attempt by the Obama administration to shift blame for... Read Full Story

30 November, 2009 09:32:00 Ryan Cormier Font size: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan says he's confident the current Canadian process for holding and transferring detainees has enough checks and balances to ensure they are treated properly by Afghan authorities.At the Kandahar Airfield on Sunday, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard said that a combination of military and civilian monitoring, inspections and in... Read Full Story

30 November, 2009 09:30:00 Aislinn Laing Font size: The medal is presented to bureaucrats who have spent time at Camp Bastion, the British headquarters, by ministers at official ceremonies. But critics said it was "offensive" that civil servants who work only at Army bases or accompanying ministers on walkabouts should be given the same medal as the troops who face the Taliban on a daily basisA total of 235 British forces p... Read Full Story

30 November, 2009 09:29:00 BBC/News Font size: The UK's armed forces have the vehicles and equipment needed to commit 500 more personnel to Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has said. A ministerial committee is expected to be told by the chief of the defence staff that kit supplies are adequate. This was one of three conditions Gordon Brown said must be met before he would send more troops. He will say if the others have b... Read Full Story

29 November, 2009 01:12:00 Neil Chandler Font size: TWO soldiers have told how they cheated death when they were blown up by a landmine in Afghanistan.The blast flipped an eight-tonne Scimitar armoured vehicle on its side “like a toy” and hurled one squaddie three metres into a ditch.  Miraculously, the gunner and squaddie received only minor injuries in the explosion, which destroyed the vehicle.  Lance Corpora... Read Full Story

29 November, 2009 01:11:00 David Harrison Font size: Joanne Goody-Orris and her partner Maurice Benton, both 79, from Somerset, began sending packages to serving soldiers two and a half years ago. Since then they have sent over 6,000 parcels containing everything from treats such as chocolate and crisps to necessities such as wet wipes and thick socks. They drive hundreds of miles every week, collecting donations from local businesse... Read Full Story

29 November, 2009 01:09:00 DENIS D. GRAY Font size: FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHANK, Afghanistan — Veterans of Iraq recall rolling to war along asphalted highways, sweltering in flat scrublands and chatting with city-wise university graduates connected to the wider world.Now fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers invariably encounter illiterate farmers who may never have talked to an American as they slog into remote villages on d... Read Full Story

29 November, 2009 01:08:00 RZS/MMA Font size: The US military will soon send up to 9,000 marines to southern Afghanistan doubling the number of US troops present in the area, a report says. A Saturday report by The Washington Post said the deployment of the forces to the Helmand province will take place just days after US President Barack Obama is scheduled to announce his new war strategy in Afghanistan. The Post also cites ... Read Full Story

29 November, 2009 01:06:00 Louise Ireland Font size: About 30 Taliban insurgents were killed in a NATO-led air strike in eastern Afghanistan after they attacked an Afghan police post, a police official and the alliance said on Sunday. Afghan border police commander Sayed Nabi Mullahkhil said a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province, which shares a border with Pakistan, was attacked by militants overnight.The privately o... Read Full Story