A roadside bomb hit a tractor in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing seven civilians and wounding four others, officials said. The tractor and trailer hit the anti-vehicle mine in the Mali Zai area of Zabul province, the ministry of interior said in a statement. "Seven civilians were killed and four other civilians were wounded. The wounded were taken to the hospital by Afghan National Police," the statement said.

Preesident Barack Obama has spoken by phone with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discussed progress toward handing over security operations to Afghan forces, reports APThe White House said the two leaders on Tuesday also discussed preparations for next year's Afghan elections, plus Karzai's recent meeting with the emir of Qatar. That meeting focused on the possible opening of a Taliban office in Qatar.The White House said Karzai also welcomed the U.S. handover of the Parwan detention facility last month. Karzai had demanded control as a matter of national sovereignty.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai travelled to Qatar on Saturday to discuss Taliban militants opening an office in the Gulf state for peace talks that could end more than a decade of war, his office said. "We will discuss the peace process, of course, and the opening of an office for the Taliban in Qatar," presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP before Karzai left Kabul with several senior members of his government. bgs/pdh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States agreed on Saturday to transfer to Afghan control a prison that houses insurgents and other dangerous inmates adjacent to Bagram airfield, the Pentagon said. The agreement, reached after a week of intensified negotiations between U.S. and Afghan officials, calls for the formal transfer to take place on Monday and includes assurances that inmates who pose a danger to Afghans and international forces will continue to be detained under Afghan law.