London, Oct 18 : Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a political movement for the re-establishment of Khilafat, banned in Pakistan but politically very active in Britain, has asked Islamabad to sever all its relations with the US and Britain, and also stop supporting Washington’s war against “the people of Afghanistan and Pakistanis living in the tribal belt”.

Its spokesmen said that the west and the US wanted to destroy Pakistan.

They said the US at the moment was “not in a position to retaliate” considering its current economic woes and its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and its saber rattling against Iran.

London - A British general who is believed to be backing a major troop "surge" in Afghanistan was Friday named the new head of the British army.

General David Richards, a former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, was reported by the Independent newspaper Friday as advocating a troop "surge" of 30,000 to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.

London, Oct 17 : A British General who will take over as British Army’s new head in Afghanistan today, has demanded an increase in the number of troops in the strife-torn country by nearly 30,000 in order to combat the Taliban there.

General Sir David Richards, who will take over from General Sir Richard Dannatt, is believed to favour sending up to 5000 more British troops to Afghanistan on top of the 8000 already in the country. The other 25,000 troops would be made up of US reinforcements and newly trained Afghan soldiers. General Richards also believes that a negotiated settlement may be necessary to end the conflict, but that any talks must take place with the Afghan government and NATO in a position of strength, reported The Independent.

Berlin - Germany authorized Thursday a bigger peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, with the Bundestag parliament agreeing in a 442-96 vote to raise the maximum personnel level from 
3,500 to 4,500.

The Bundestag also extended the term of authorization for a further 14 months until December 2009.

The Germans, the third largest contingent in the 53,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after US and British troops, have been peacekeeping in Afghanistan for nearly seven years.

Kabul - An Afghan policeman was killed after he shot dead a US soldier in eastern Afghanistan, while elsewhere in the country "friendly fire" killed a coalition soldier and an Afghan civilian was killed in a rocket attack, officials said Thursday.

The Afghan policeman opened fire from a tower and threw a hand grenade toward US military forces in Bermal district of south-eastern Paktika province on Thursday, killing a US soldier, the military said in a statement.

The soldiers, who were on patrol, returned fire and killed the attacker, it said.