With a Taliban suicide attack claiming seven lives in Kabul on August 15, there are renewed fears about security ahead of Afghanistan's presidential election next week.
While security has been a key focus of NATO and Afghan government troops during the past year, Taliban militants have waged their own campaign of threats and intimidation ahead of the August 20 ballot.
The United States and some European countries have for years expressed concern that Iran's nuclear-power ambitions could be used as cover for a nuclear-weapons program.
The United States and some European countries have for years expressed concern that Iran's nuclear-power ambitions could be used as cover for a nuclear-weapons program.
The year 2008 saw a shift of focus in the war on terrorism -- with attention moving away from Iraq toward South Asia, and consensus developing among Western leaders that Pakistan must be at the center of the global counterterrorism strategy.
When U.S. or NATO soldiers need to communicate with Afghan villagers, they rely on translators provided by private contractors. But for various reasons -- regional dialects, cultural misunderstandings, or even ethnic animosities -- translators in Afghanistan often don't relate everything they hear.
AP reported this week that rival jihadist groups in Pakistan have agreed to work together to fight against NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.
The meeting of some 300 jihadist fighters took place in early June in Rawalpindi -- a military garrison city where the headquarters of the Pakistani army is based.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's threat to send troops after Taliban militants in neighboring Pakistan has kindled debate about cross-border military incursions and international law.
A contract has been signed for a $100 million highway project in Afghanistan intended to dramatically reduce travel time from Kabul to border areas near Pakistan's volatile tribal region of North Waziristan.
Azerbaijan's government has raised concerns with US officials that militants from Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are expanding from northern Iraq into the Caucasus and could be setting up cells in Azerbaijan.
