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Charges pending against Afghans accused of prison abuse: Australia

By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Afghan authorities will lay charges against officials at a prison run by the country's internal security service, Australia said on Wednesday, just weeks after Canberra blocked prisoner transfers over fears of detainee mistreatment. Afghan authorities were taking action after Australia stopped handing over insurgent suspects to an NDS-run detention facility at the coalition base in Tirin Kot, in southern Uruzgan province, Australia's Defense Minister Stephen Smith said.

Afghan forces take over security from NATO

Afghan forces took control of security across the country on Tuesday, marking a major milestone as US-led combat troops prepare to withdraw after 12 years of fighting the Taliban. Speaking at a military academy outside Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said the police and army were ready to take on insurgents, but a bomb in the city underlined persistent instability. Three civilians were killed in the attack, which targeted a prominent lawmaker as his convoy travelled to parliament just before the handover ceremony began.

Afghan lawmaker escapes Kabul suicide attack

A prominent Afghan lawmaker escaped a suicide attack Tuesday, aides said, on the day that the handover of security from NATO to Afghan forces was to be announced. "The suicide attack was against Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq. It was in front of the Independent Human Rights Commission office. He is unhurt," a senior aide who declined to be named, told AFP. An AFP photographer reported there were casualties at the scene.

Seven Taliban dead in Kabul airport attack

Taliban insurgents on Monday launched a grenade and gun attack on Kabul airport, firing on military facilities before being overwhelmed in an operation hailed as a victory for Afghan security forces. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and all five other attackers were killed when elite Afghan troops stormed two multi-storey buildings where the militants were holed up near the airport's perimeter fence.

Kabul airport targeted in ongoing Taliban attack

Taliban militants launched a grenade and gun attack on Kabul airport early Monday, taking over two nearby buildings which security forces attempted to storm as blasts and shooting rocked the Afghan capital. Loud explosions and bursts of small-arms fire erupted for at least three hours after the US embassy sounded its "duck and cover" alarm and its loudspeakers warned that the alarm was not a drill.

Kabul demands British forces transfer prisoners within weeks

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday demanded that Britain hand over within two weeks more than 80 prisoners of war being held in a British base in the south, saying the detention was against Afghan law and a breach of sovereignty. The issue of prisoner transfers is an irritant in the relationship Karzai between and his Western backers, and has become more pronounced as the NATO-led international force prepares to pull out most of its troops by the end of next year.

Three Americans killed in Afghan 'insider attack'

An Afghan soldier shot dead two US soldiers and one US civilian on Saturday, the latest "insider attack" to shake efforts by the two armies to work together to defeat the Taliban insurgency. The killings in the eastern province of Paktika came on the same day that one Italian soldier died when a grenade was thrown into an armoured vehicle in Farah province, in the far west of the country.

Three US troops killed in Afghan 'insider attack'

An Afghan soldier shot dead three US troops on Saturday in the east of the country, the latest "insider attack" to shake efforts by the two armies to work together to defeat the Taliban insurgency. The killings in Patika province came on the same day that one Italian soldier died and three others were wounded when a grenade was thrown into their armoured vehicle in the western province of Farah.

Taliban claim attack on Georgians in Afghanistan

The Taliban on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan that killed seven Georgians and wounded nine others. The head of the Georgian army announced the deaths on Thursday, saying the men died in a truck bombing outside a base in the restive province of Helmand. The Taliban, leading the 12-year insurgency against the government of President Hamid Karzai and NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), claimed the attack on their "Voice of Jihad" website.

Taliban claim attack on Georgians in Afghanistan

The Taliban on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in southern Afghanistan that killed seven Georgians and wounded nine others. The head of the Georgian army announced the deaths on Thursday, saying the men died in a truck bombing outside a base in the restive province of Helmand. The Taliban, leading the 12-year insurgency against the government of President Hamid Karzai and NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), claimed the attack on their "Voice of Jihad" website.
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