Kabol, Afghanistan News

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is declining to renew the endorsement he gave Barack Obama two years ago, when he called Obama "a transformational figure." Pressed in a network interview to say whether he's... Former Secretary of State Colin Powell declined Tuesday to renew the presidential endorsement he gave Barack Obama four years ago, ... (more)

A U.S. soldier stands next to a line of military vehicles during a ceremony on the outskirts of Kabul.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand says it will withdraw its small contingent of troops from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned.

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.

Veteran U.S. diplomat Ryan Crocker is expected to step down soon from his post as President Barack Obama's envoy to Afghanistan, departing the U.S. mission in Kabul as the United States negotiates a host of challenges on its course out of the long, costly war.

As NATO leaders met Monday in Chicago to discuss the alliance's exit from Afghanistan and their commitment to the restive nation afterward, Afghans expressed a mixture of optimism, cynicism and fatalism about the future of their country.

We have reached an endpoint of sorts in the decade-long Afghanistan War. President Obama will not keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and force them to accept terms of any kind.

Members of a U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan reaffirmed on Monday their commitment to help rebuild Afghanistan into a viable, peaceful, and functional state during a decade following the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen , Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and US President Barack Obama, at the NATO summit in Chicago, 21 May 2012.

The photograph of Aesha Mohammadzai, whose nose and ears were hacked off as punishment for attempting to flee an abusive forced marriage, came to embody the appalling abuse suffered by many at the hands of the brutal Taliban regime.

On her recent trip to China, Bangladesh, and India, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was eager to trumpet America's 'New Silk Road' strategy, which she unveiled last September.

CHICAGO - As thousands of protesters marched in the streets, President Obama welcomed more than 60 world leaders to his heavily guarded hometown for a NATO summit that will start the clock for America and its allies to begin pulling combat troops from Afghanistan .

Host Rachel Martin talks with NPR's Julie McCarthy in Islamabad and Quil Lawrence in Kabul about the situation on the ground in that region of Afghanistan.

President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaffirmed their commitment to creating a "transformational decade" in Afghanistan - despite reports Obama has all but abandoned hopes of reforming the corrupt and ineffective Afghan army before with withdrawal of U.S. ground troops.

The international community must decide who is going to pay for Afghan security forces, including soldiers, after NATO withdraws forces in 2014.

The New York Times 05/20/2012 By Rod Nordland [Printer Friendly Version] KABUL - A new, more radical insurgent group has begun a campaign aimed at terrorizing both Afghan officials and moderate insurgents, according to Afghan officials.

Kobe Bryant didn't miss on 18 free throws and scored 14 of his 36 points in the... The month of April has to go down as one of the best months in our city's history for stewardship.

Lt. Col. John Church, pictured with dog Rudy, returned to his home in Mount Airy in late April after a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

Iran, Pakistan and other South Asian countries are a fast-rising force in the global methamphetamine market, with drug cartels thriving off the weak governance and law enforcement that have long fueled the region's heroin trade.

President Barack Obama's dramatic arrival in Kabul aboard Air Force One under the cover of darkness was fitting finale to the cloak-and-dagger operation that eliminated Osama bin Laden a year earlier.