Dushanbe, Feb. 20 : Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have approved the transportation of non-military NATO supplies for Afghanistan via their territory, a US military commander said on Tajik state television.
"Tajikistan has allowed (NATO) to use its railways and roads to transit non-military goods to Afghanistan," said Rear Admiral Mark Harnitchek of the US Transportation Command.
Washington is looking for alternative supply routes for NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan after militants in Pakistan stepped up their attacks on supply fleets.
New York, Feb 20 : Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, has said that the Swat peace agreement will not affect his country's resolve to fight terrorism.
Addressing a gathering at the New York University on Tuesday night, Haroon said the accord between the NWFP Government and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi should not be taken as a "paradigm shift" in Islamabad's position on the struggle to rid its soil of terrorism.
He said President Asif Ali Zardari had clearly stated that he would not sign the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation unless peace is restored in the valley, the Daily Times reported.
Krakow, Poland - The Afghan army is leading an increasing number of counter-insurgency operations, but NATO needs to provide it with far more trainers if it is to meet its target of expanding to 134,000 by 2010, alliance officials said Thursday.
"We are frankly not where we had hoped to be by now," Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the NATO defence ministers meeting in Krakow, Poland.
New Delhi, Feb 19 : According to an annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board, rising opium cultivation in Afghanistan has successfully been curbed by 19 per cent this year.
Member of Central Board of Excise and Customs J K Batra disclosed this while releasing the 2008 annual report of International Narcotics Control Board in New Delhi on Thursday.
London - European NATO allies need to provide more troops for Afghanistan but Britain believes it has already made contributions above its weight, defence secretary John Hutton said Thursday.
In a BBC interview from Krakow, where NATO defence ministers were meeting Thursday, Hutton said that no decision been made about an increase of British troop levels in southern Afghanistan.
However, if and when an official request was made by the US, he would "look at whether the UK could do more."
Kandahar, Feb. 19 : Only 25 percent of residents of Kandahar feel secure under the Hamid Karzai Government, as against last year's 55 percent, a top Canadian commander has claimed.
"People''s sense of security has absolutely plummeted," Brigadier-General Denis Thompson said while speaking at the end of his nine-month duty-tour.
Thomson cited regular polls conducted by the military in Kandahar since March 2007, but the results were previously kept secret, The Guardian reported.
Dushanbe, Feb. 20 : Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have approved the transportation of non-military NATO supplies for Afghanistan via their territory, a US military commander said on Tajik state television.
Krakow, Poland - The Afghan army is leading an increasing number of counter-insurgency operations, but NATO needs to provide it with far more trainers if it is to meet its target of expanding to 134,000 by 2010, alliance officials said Thursday.
New Delhi, Feb 19 : According to an annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board, rising opium cultivation in Afghanistan has successfully been curbed by 19 per cent this year.
London - European NATO allies need to provide more troops for Afghanistan but Britain believes it has already made contributions above its weight, defence secretary John Hutton said Thursday.
Kandahar, Feb. 19 : Only 25 percent of residents of Kandahar feel secure under the Hamid Karzai Government, as against last year's 55 percent, a top Canadian commander has claimed.
