Kabul - An attack in western Afghanistan Thursday marked the beginning of a new countrywide offensive by the Taliban aimed at countering the arrival in the coming months of US and NATO reinforcements, the Islamist rebels said.

Mullah Brodar, deputy to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, said the new operation, dubbed Nasrat, which means victory, is similar to the Taliban's spring offensives in previous years and would include an increased number of suicide attacks, ambushes and offensive assaults.

New York, Apr. 30 : Under immense pressure from the United States and the international community, Pakistan has decided to shift around 6000 troops from its eastern border with India to the western Afghan border, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper, quoted a Pakistani official as confirming the movement of forces to a pre-Mumbai attack position.

Peshawar, Apr 30 : A large number of Taliban leaders have shifted from Quetta to Karachi, Peshawar and other cities and are maintaining a low profile fearing fresh US drone strikes.

Taliban leaders after discussing in detail the situation, caused by recent threats of drone attacks by the United States, United Kingdom and other allies, have decided to vacate Quetta with immediate effect, sources have said.

The sources said that majority of the top leaders have shifted to Karachi, Peshawar and other areas of Pakistan and are now living in a low profile.

Kabul - The US military claimed Wednesday that its forces killed 42 suspected Taliban militants in operations in Afghanistan while a NATO soldier and a civilian were killed in other incidents. A coalition airstrike killed 23 suspected Taliban militants Wednesday in the Langar area of Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of the southern province of Uruzgan, after the militants attacked an Afghan and US-led coalition patrol in the area, the US military said in a statement.

Canberra (Australia), Apr. 29 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that his government will send 450 extra troops to beef up security in troubled Afghanistan.

However, there will be no combat troops among the latest contingent. The extra troops will assist in military training, governance and reconstruction, Rudd said, adding "Australia concurs with the United States that the current civilian and military strategy is not working."

Kabul- An Afghan civilian was shot dead by NATO-led troops near Kabul while an alliance soldier and 10 Taliban militants were killed in separate incidents elsewhere in the country, officials said Wednesday. Soldiers in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed the civilian Tuesday when he failed to stop at a checkpoint in the Sayed Abad district in the central province of Wardak despite several verbal and visual signals, an ISAF statement said.

The man died later in hospital.