Afghan women attend a seminar on domestic violence in Herat, western Afghanistan yesterday.

The attacks brought to 30 the number of people killed since President Karzai was sworn in for another five years yesterday, pledging to try to bring peace to the nation and take over security from foreign forces in five years.

A former Taliban fighter hands over his arms to join government troops in Herat.

HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzaia s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into the US-led war.

A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle blew himself up in the heart of Afghanistan's southwestern town of Farah, killing six people and wounding 36 civilians, the provincial police chief said.

Some within the White House fear Afghanistan is a potential Vietnam. Any conflict has the potential for disaster if it lacks direction and the military lacks proper support from the government.

NATO and Afghan forces killed several insurgents, including an armed woman, in a search operation in western Afghanistan on Saturday, the alliance said.

But government-declared state of emergency seen by some as motivated more by political interests than health concerns.

NATO and Afghan forces killed several insurgents, including an armed woman, in a search operation in western Afghanistan on Saturday, the alliance said.

Some officials say Herat frontier checkpoint giving Taleban a backdoor into Afghanistan.

I came to this city of clean, tree-lined streets, near the Iranian border, to write about Afghan women.

Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters Fears grew in Afghanistan today that supporters of the failed presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah , may resort to violence to protest over what they regard as a stolen election.

A A A' Hundreds of Afghan and international troops already battling a rising militant insurgency are facing a new fight A A A' recovering from swine flu, the virus that has left 11 people dead in the country.

In my column today I write about the Voice of Women Organization in Herat, Afghanistan, which runs shelters for abused women, helps women in prison, and runs workshops to help sensitize men to respect women more in accordance with Islamic values.

The news that Hamed Karzai had been declared the winner of Afghanistan's troubled presidential election came as no surprise to most of his countrymen.

Four Italian soldiers were wounded in a blast this morning in the western Afghanistan province of Herat, an Italian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

The Italian Air Force will deploy four AMX fighter-bombers to Afghanistan on Nov.

More than 250 Afghan National Police graduated from basic training Oct. 29 at the police headquarters in Herat, Afghanistan.

An Afghan security man stands, near an election poster of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, is seen on the background during a rally in Herat, Afghanistan on Oct.

The reality of modern politics is that ten words are seven too many, writes Lyndal Curtis.