Oz PM to send 450 troopers to beef up Afghan security

October 5th, 2009 Adviser says troops only part of Afghan policyWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's national security adviser, retired Gen. James Jones, says decisions on how best to stabilize Afghanistan and beat back the insurgency must extend beyond the issue of troop levels to improved governance and how best to foster economic development.

October 5th, 2009 2 NATO soldiers reported killed in AfghanistanKABUL — Bombs killed two NATO troopers, including one American, following the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in more than a year, military officials said Monday.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States will likely need to send more troops to Afghanistan, the US' top military commander said Tuesday. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate committee that more US troops are needed to train Afghan forces to maintain security.

July 30th, 2009 4 Afghan guards killed in blastKABUL — The government says a roadside blast has killed four Afghan guards in the south of the country. An Interior Ministry statement says the explosion hit the guards' vehicle in Helmand province on Thursday.

July 15th, 2009 NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council Wednesday called for "free, fair, transparent, credible, secure and inclusive" provincial and presidential elections next month in Afghanistan. "The Security Council also calls upon the people of Afghanistan to exercise their vote in this historic opportunity and for all Afghans to make their voices heard," the council said in a statement after a discussion on the situation in that country.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Thursday launched a massive operation, considered one of the largest since the Vietnam war, against the Taliban in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province as part of a new initiative under President Barack Obama. About 4,000 US marines and 650 Afghan troops, supported by NATO combat aircraft, are taking part in the offensive.

June 17th, 2009 LAHORE - After claiming the responsibility for carrying out the suicide attack on Jamia Naeemia here, in which the country's top religious scholar Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi was killed, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has now warned of more such strikes against other important religious leaders in the country.

May 30th, 2009 KABUL - Twenty-four people, including 18 suspected Taliban insurgents, were killed as fighting flared up in Afghanistan's northwest Badghis province, its governor said Saturday. "Taliban fighters ambushed a unit of national army soldiers in Balamurghab district Friday and troops returned fire, leaving 18 Taliban rebels dead," Governor Dulbar Jan Arman told Xinhua.

May 11th, 2009 US trade chief: beef deal with EU '99 pct there'GENEVA — A top U.S. trade official says a long-running trade clash between the United States and the European Union over hormone-treated U.S.

May 8th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to form a joint border security force. Addressing a press conference, the Interior Ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan also said that both the countries would exchange prisoners.

April 29th, 2009 Australia to send 450 more troops to AfghanistanCANBERRA, Australia — Australia announced Wednesday it will increase by almost one half its troops in Afghanistan to about 1,550 as part of the U.S.-led surge of international forces to bolster the faltering fight against Taliban insurgents. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has mostly played down prospects of increasing Australia's commitment against Afghan insurgents since taking office in 2007, said he had been persuaded to increase the deployment during discussions last week with President Barack Obama.

April 29th, 2009 Australia to send 280 more troops to AfghanistanCANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia will send 280 additional troops to Afghanistan, increasing the overall Australian deployment there to about 1,380. It is the first increase by Australia — the biggest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition outside NATO — since Rudd took office in 2007.

April 29th, 2009 Britain to send 700 extra troops to AfghanistanLONDON — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he'll temporarily send 700 extra troops to Afghanistan to boost security for August elections. Brown told lawmakers that Britain will increase its forces in Afghanistan from 8,300 to 9,000, but will reduce numbers to current levels by November.

February 26th, 2009 DHAKA - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in an address to the nation Thursday afternoon, asked the mutinous Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers to lay down their arms and warned that she would take 'strong action if compelled to do so'. Hasina, in the address at about 2.30 p.m., said she had granted general amnesty to the rebels and assured them that they would not be harmed in any way if they give up their 'suicidal' mission.

January 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Friday that the Afghan government has changed its attitude towards Pakistan and the relations between the two governments are currently improving. 'There is a radical change in Afghan government's way of thinking.