Oslo  - Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store arrived Tuesday in Afghanistan on his first visit since a suicide attack in mid-January forced him to cut short his visit.

The suicide attack on a hotel in Kabul that claimed eight lives including that of a Norwegian newspaper reporter.

Kabul- Afghan and international forces killed more than 60 Taliban militants in southern and western Afghanistan, while coalition forces and Afghan spy agents arrested four militants including a rebel commander, officials said Tuesday.

The combined forces were patrolling in Qalat district of the southern province of Zabul on Sunday when it took rebel fire from heavy weapons, assault rifles and snipers, the military said in a statement.

Kabul- Afghan and US-led coalition forces killed 43 suspected Taliban militants in a clash in southern Afghanistan, the military said on Tuesday.

The combined forces were patrolling in Qalat district of the southern province of Zabul on Sunday when it took rebel fire from heavy weapons, assault rifles and snipers, the military said in a statement.

Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved Tuesday a 14-month extension of German troop deployment in Afghanistan.

Germany currently has 3,500 soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but the number is expected to increase to 4,500 under a bill due to go before parliament later in the day.

A vote is not due until mid-October, but the measure is expected easily to pass in the legislature, where Merkel's broad-based coalition enjoys a secure majority.

Sydney, Oct 7: British Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has reportedly supported comments by the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, that the war against the Taliban was “invincible”.

The Brigadier had earlier said that a military victory over the Taliban was “neither feasible nor supportable”.

The Brigadier, who will this month hand over control of British forces in Afghanistan after a six-month tour of duty in which 32 of his troops have been killed and 170 injured, said there would be “no peace” unless a political accommodation was reached with the Taliban.

London, Oct. 7 : US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has accused the British ambassador and top military commander in Afghanistan of being "defeatist" for saying the Taliban could not be beaten.

"While we face significant challenges in Afghanistan, there certainly is no reason to be defeatist or to underestimate the opportunities to be successful in the long run," The Telegraph quoted Gates as saying onboard a military aircraft flying to Europe for NATO meetings.