Tallinn - NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer restated the military alliance's desire to see Ukraine join its ranks at a high-level conference being held in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, on Thursday.

In his opening speech, de Hoop Scheffer said the talks were taking place at a special moment in NATO-Ukraine relations.

Islamabad, Nov 11 : Pakistani security forces retrieved all the 15 trucks which were hijacked by the Taliban earlier on Monday while they were en route to Afghanistan to deliver goods to US-led coalition forces.

At least two Taliban fighters were killed in the operation carried out to retrieve the trucks. “We have successfully recovered all the trucks ... two militants were killed and five wounded in the operation,” a foreign news agency report quoted official Rahat Khan as saying.

13 of the trucks contained wheat and two were carrying military vehicles. The trucks were seized at four places along a road leading to the Afghan border, the Daily Times quoted official sources as saying.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Monday for a NATO summit next year to give a sign to Russia that NATO valued it as an important partner.

Addressing an annual conference hosted by the German Atlantic Society, she said she had high expectations of the cross-border NATO summit to be held next April in Kehl, Germany and Strasbourg, France.

It is to mark the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Berlin - NATO's military operations in Afghanistan are a decisive test of the military alliance, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday in Berlin.

Addressing a conference of the German Atlantic Society, she said NATO's acceptance, success and worldwide standing depended on what it achieved in Afghanistan.

She added she had high expectations of the cross-border NATO summit to be held next April in Kehl, Germany and Strasbourg, France, marking the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Islamabad - Jets from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Sunday bombed hills in Pakistan's Khyber tribal district, killing at least five people, Pakistani authorities quoting locals said.

The attack took place in Morga area in the remote Tirah valley, located close to the volatile Afghan border.

"The airstrike killed at least five people from the Qambar Khel tribe, while four or five more were wounded," an official in the area told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on condition of anonymity.

Kabul - At least 35 militants including two rebel commanders were killed in separate clashes with Afghan and coalition forces, and 14 others were detained, officials said Saturday.

Two commanders were among 20 militants killed in a fight with Afghan ground forces and an airstrike by NATO forces in the Aab Band district of southern Ghazni province on Friday, Asmail Jahangir, spokesman for the provincial governor said.