06/15/2013 02:40 GMT

by Ben Sheppard

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, June 15, 2013 (AFP) - The guns may be wooden but learning how to conduct a security patrol is a deadly serious business for soldiers at the Camp Shaheen training school in north Afghanistan.

The school teaches its recruits key basic skills such as how to search cars for explosives, man checkpoints, frisk suspects and set up guard posts -- all routine duties designed to tackle a surge in Taliban violence.

06/10/2013 17:07 GMT

KANDAHAR, June 10, 2013 (AFP) - Afghan authorities on Monday accused Taliban militants of beheading two children for spying, but insurgency leaders denied the gruesome charges.

The boys, aged 10 and 16, were beheaded on Sunday in the southern province of Kandahar after they collected left-over food from a police post, provincial police spokesman Ghorzang Afridi told AFP.

06/03/2013 11:16 GMT

by Sardar Ahmad

KABUL, June 03, 2013 (AFP) - A suicide bomb attack targeting NATO and Afghan forces killed two foreign soldiers and 10 children who were heading home after school in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.

One policeman was also killed and 15 other children were wounded in the attack near the school in Paktia province, the latest militant strike to cause civilian casualties in the 12-year war against the US-backed government.

05/29/2013 08:50 GMT

by Shah Marai

BAZARAK, Afghanistan, May 29, 2013 (AFP) - Afghan security forces killed six militants who stormed the Panjshir provincial governor's office early Wednesday in a brazen assault in one of the country's most stable areas.

Panjshir northeast of Kabul was a bastion of anti-Taliban resistance during the extremists' 1996-2001 regime, and has been largely peaceful since they were ousted.

05/24/2013 19:26 GMT

by Usman Sharifi

KABUL, May 24, 2013 (AFP) - Explosions rocked central Kabul for several hours on Friday after Taliban gunmen launched a major suicide and gun attack centred on a compound of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

One police officer was killed and five militants were shot dead as security forces hunted down the attackers, with prolonged bursts of gunfire and grenade blasts heard across the Afghan capital.

05/20/2013 12:03 GMT

by Enayat Najafizada

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, May 20, 2013 (AFP) - A suicide bomber struck outside government buildings in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 14 people including a local politician in the latest attack to target provincial officials.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and took the wounded to hospital after the bomber, who was wearing police uniform, blew himself up next to Rasoul Mohseni, the head of Baghlan's provincial council.

05/16/2013 13:31 GMT

by Sardar Ahmad

KABUL, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - A suicide car bomb targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year, officials said.

The powerful explosion, which struck at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) in the Shah Shaheed southeastern residential district, also injured about 40 passers-by including many children going to school, officials said.

05/08/2013 13:52 GMT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 8, 2013 (AFP) - At least six people were killed during clashes with police at a protest in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.

There were differing accounts of what happened.

Authorities said most of the dead were Taliban insurgents who infiltrated what they described as the latest in a series of protests against alleged border intrusions by the Pakistan military.

04/25/2013 11:27 GMT

KABUL, April 25, 2013 (AFP) - A powerful earthquake and flash floods which struck Afghanistan this week killed at least 38 people and damaged hundreds of homes, the presidential palace said Thursday, offering aid to victims.

Wednesday's quake killed 17 and injured 126 in the eastern province of Nangarhar while 300 homes were damaged, a statement said. In neighbouring Kunar province, one person was killed, four injured and 45 homes damaged.