Kabul- A suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan killed two Afghan officials and wounded three others, while 46 militants were killed in clashes with Afghan and foreign troops in the country's south, officials said Friday.

The suicide bomber targeted government officials in Bak district of the province of Khost on Friday morning, killing two government officials and wounding two police officers and a civilian, said Provincial Governor Arsala Jamal.

Washington, Oct. 10 : The chairman of the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, has said that U. S.-led forces are "not going to be able to kill our way to victory in Pakistan and Afghanistan", and added that a new strategy is needed to suppress a resurgent Taliban movement before it''s too late.

Violence has increased markedly since 2006 and "the trends are going in the wrong direction unless we take significant steps," Admiral. Mullen told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Kabul - The start of secret talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban might have sparked hope among many war-weary Afghans who see negotiations as the only solution to end the conflict, but deep-seated scepticism remains whether the government took the right approach.

The meeting between Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives was held in late September in Mecca in the presence of Saudi King Abdullah, according to several Afghan officials.

Washington  - The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in Afghanistan, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said he fears the situation in the country will worsen, according to reports Friday.

In light of the poor economic situation and an intensifying Taliban insurgency, he told US media: "I would anticipate next year would be a tougher year."

Budapest - NATO was expected to approve a controversial plan to help Afghanistan fight its thriving drugs industry, whose profits are used by the Taliban to fund the insurgency, diplomats said Friday.

"We are confident that a deal can be reached," a source close to the negotiations told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

On Thursday, Afghan Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Wardak asked his NATO colleagues meeting in Budapest to target drugs laboratories and seize imports of the chemicals that are needed to turn opium into heroin.

"We have asked NATO to support our efforts to destroy the laboratories and to interdict the chemical precursors which are coming from outside the country," Wardak said.

Kabul, Oct 10 : The elder brother of President Hamid Karzai has said that his visit to Saudi Arabia last month was part of an Afghan push for the kingdom to convene peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

Qayoum Karzai, the elder brother of the Afghan president, confirmed that no representatives of the militia were present at the meeting although the Afghan delegation had included former Taliban leaders.

“The Saudi king wants to help the people of Afghanistan in bringing peace so our trip was in that connection,” The News quoted Qayoum Karzai, as saying.

“We briefed them about Afghanistan’s situation, we told them about what is going on here, about our misery and asked them to mediate as an impartial country,” he said.