Washington, Mar. 11: While President Barack Obama''s administration is still reviewing US strategy in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that America, "at a minimum," must make efforts to ensure that the Taliban does not return to power in Afghanistan after being ousted in 2001.

Kandahar - Four civilians were killed and six others were wounded Tuesday when a bomb hit a passenger mini-van in southern Afghanistan, a government spokesman said.

The incident happened in the Jenjar area of Nad Ali district in southern province of Helmand on a road recently frequented by Afghan anti-narcotics forces, Daoud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan - Possible negotiations with moderate elements of the Taliban are a decision for the Afghan government, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Tuesday during a visit to the Central Asian country.

But President Hamid Karzai's government must also make certain that any Taliban partners in such talks would distance themselves from violence, Jung said while visiting German troops in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

Washington, Mar 10: The killing of innocent civilians, including women and children in Afghanistan, has forced a commander of America''s Special Operations force to order a two-week halt on commando missions.

According to the New York Times, the stand-down was ordered by Vice Admiral William H. McRaven, the head of the military''s Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees the secret commando units.

The order covered all commando missions except those against the highest-ranking leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, military officials said.

Islamabad, Mar. 10: In a bid to come clean on the Lahore terror attack, Pakistan has reiterated the role of a foreign hand in it, and accused India of using Afghanistan's soil against Pakistan.

Addressing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior Affairs, Advisor on Interior matters, Rehman Malik, said investigations have not found any evidence of the Lashkar-e-Toiba's involvement.

Rehman asserted there is enough evidence to prove that a `foreign hand' was behind the attack.

"India was using Afghanistan's soil against Pakistan," The Daily Times quoted Rehman, as saying.

Malik also admitted that security personnel guarding the Lankan convoy were not well equipped to counter the attack.

Kabul  - It was around 6 pm when hospital director Muhammed Hashim Wahaaj left his office in downtown Kabul to go home.

A car followed his vehicle. Wahaaj stopped to let the car pass.

As the car pulled up, a shot rang out, and the bullet hit the 47-year-old in his upper arm.

Three or four men, Wahaaj said, emerged from the car, blindfolded him and tied him up, forced him into the vehicle and had him crouch on the floor.

This event began a painful ordeal of torture and a fear of death for the doctor.