NATO forces ‘may abandon most of northern Helmand’

October 27th, 2009 KABUL - Eight US soldiers were killed in a series of attacks in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, making October the deadliest month of the war for US forces since the invasion in 2001 to oust the Taliban. A spokesperson of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said eight soldiers were killed Tuesday in bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan.

October 17th, 2009 KABUL - Three US soldiers were killed in bomb blasts, while Afghan and NATO forces killed 25 militants in Afghanistan's volatile southern and eastern regions, officials said Saturday. The two US soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in the east of the country while another was killed in a similar explosion in a southern province, the US military said in a statement.

October 8th, 2009 KABUL - Afghan and NATO-led forces killed at least 27 Taliban militants in separate clashes in the south of the country without loss, the Afghan defence ministry said Thursday in a statement. The clashes, in Helmand and Gomal provinces, came on the day that US operations in Afghanistan entered their ninth year, an anniversary marked by the Taliban leadership with a statement that they had "no agenda to harm any country", but that they were prepared for a "prolonged war".

October 6th, 2009 KABUL - Ten Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban ambush in southern Afghanistan while the defence ministry said Tuesday that more than 100 Taliban militants were killed and wounded elsewhere in the country. The militants attacked an army patrol Monday in the Gerishk district of Helmand province, sparking a battle that lasted for an hour, said Shir Mohammad Zazai, army commander in south-western Afghanistan.

September 4th, 2009 KABUL - Up to 90 people were feared dead and wounded after a Nato air strike hit two fuel tankers stolen by insurgents in northern Afghanistan. The blast was thought to have burned alive villagers as they gathered to collect fuel from the tankers when one became stuck in a river.

August 21st, 2009 LONDON - A former British special forces commander has been appointed to mastermind a program of reconciliation with members of the Taliban, General David Petraeus, the US military chief, said overnight. Lieutenant-General Sir Graeme Lamb, who retired recently from the British Army, was personally requested by General Stanley McChrystal, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, to take on the role, which is considered crucial to reduce the impact of the insurgency.

August 13th, 2009 KABUL - Three British soldiers serving in a NATO-led international military force were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, officials said Monday. The soldiers died Sunday during a military patrol in the Sangin district of volatile Helmand province, the British defence ministry said in a statement.

August 12th, 2009 KABUL - Hundreds of Afghan and US forces launched an operation in a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan Wednesday to flush out militants before next week's presidential election. About 100 Afghan soldiers and 400 US marines began the offensive, dubbed Operation Eastern Resolve II, in the Naw Zad district of Helmand province ahead of the Aug 20 vote, the US military said in a statement.

July 24th, 2009 Brown, Obama urge allies to share Afghan burdenLONDON — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday urged NATO allies to share the burden of heavy combat in Afghanistan amid the deadliest month of the war.

July 20th, 2009 KABUL - Eleven civilians including a woman and a child were killed in a bomb blast in southwestern Afghanistan, while NATO-led German forces killed three civilians after mistaking them for Taliban militants in the northern region, officials said Monday. The 11 civilians were travelling in a minibus in Gulistan district of Farah province Sunday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, spokesman for police forces in the western region, said.

July 14th, 2009 KABUL - A helicopter of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Tuesday crashed in Afghanistan's Helmand province, an official said. "The helicopter was supplying two packages, apparently food staff, to ISAF base in Sangin district," said Fazal Haq, a district official.

July 14th, 2009 KABUL - Six foreign civilian contractors were killed in a helicopter crash Tuesday in southern Afghanistan after two US marines were killed in an insurgent attack in the same region, officials said. The contractors were killed in the Sangin district of Helmand province, a NATO spokesman in Kabul said.

July 2nd, 2009 KABUL - Almost 4,000 United States Marines, backed by helicopter gun ships, are attempting to regain control of the volatile Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan, which currently is occupied by the Taliban. The valley is known for its poppy harvests and opium smuggling.

June 24th, 2009 KABUL - Thirty Taliban militants were killed in clashes with NAvTO and Afghan forces in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday. A statement from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said 25 Taliban fighters were killed in the southern Kandahar province Tuesday night in a raid on rebel hideouts.

June 13th, 2009 KABUL - A suicide attack against a convoy of fuel tankers bound for NATO forces in southern Afghanistan killed eight drivers and wounded 21 others, while a NATO soldier was killed in a roadside attack in the same region, officials said Saturday. The attack near the main market of Geriskh district in southern Helmand province took place late Friday when a bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the convoy parked near a NATO military base, district chief Abdul Ahad said.