The Pentagon argues that killing two military advisers in Afghanistan is unacceptable

Killing two U.S. military advisers in Afghanistan is unacceptable, said on Saturday a spokesman for the Pentagon, urging the authorities in Kabul to better protect international coalition forces in the field.
At least two U.S. military advisers of the NATO Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) were shot dead Saturday in an attack at the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, causing NATO to withdraw its personnel working in Afghan ministries.
"This act is unacceptable and I condemn with the greatest power," he said, quoted in a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense George Little.

He announced that the Pentagon chief Leon Panetta decision support General John Allen, commander of ISAF, to withdraw all personnel and added that Afghan Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak has apologized on the phone, U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Panetta "appreciated the call (by phone), urged the Afghan government to take decisive measures to protect coalition forces and to end violence in Afghanistan," said Little in press.
Wardak Panetta assured the "fullest cooperation to investigate this tragedy," the statement said. Afghan Minister also promised the creation of "strong measures to protect the ISAF personnel."
Five days after the burning of copies of the Koran in the U.S. military base in Bagram north of Kabul, violence continued in this country. The Taliban claimed responsibility for killings committed by the Ministry of the Interior by a "hero", Abdul Rahman, saying it acted "against the invaders disrespect to the sacred objects of Islam".

Pakistan: NATO Attack Killed 24 Soldiers

A predawn attack by North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces Saturday killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers and injured 13 others, the Pakistani military said, adding further stress to the U.S.'s troubled relationship with Pakistan and complicating efforts to push forward peace talks with the Taliban.

Pakistan's army reacted angrily, calling the "unprovoked" raid on two Pakistani border posts an "irresponsible act." The army said NATO helicopters and fighter aircraft, under the cover of darkness, had bombed the posts in Mohmand tribal region, a lawless border area that which abuts Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.

"Pakistan's sovereignty was attacked early this morning," said Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. "This is our Pakistan and we have to defend it."

In retaliation, Pakistan's security forces began to turn back scores of Pakistani-owned trucks that carry NATO supplies into Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said it was looking into the latest Pakistani claim. The incident took place hours after Gen. John R. Allen, the coalition commander, met with government officials and army officers in Pakistan to discuss border issues.

"This incident has my highest personal attention and my commitment to thoroughly investigate it to determine the facts," said Gen. Allen. "My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan Security Forces who may have been killed or injured."

The U.S. claims Pakistan, while waging a three-year-old war against militants in the tribal regions, has continued to shelter some factions of the Taliban as a way to maintain influence inside Afghanistan after most international troops leave in 2014. U.S. military officials say NATO troops have repeatedly come under attack from Taliban forces based over the border and have urged Pakistan to do more about militants in its tribal regions.

But President Barack Obama's administration is also nudging Pakistan to use its influence over the Taliban, which Pakistan's military helped create in the 1990s, to bring them to the negotiating table to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought this dual message to Pakistan during a visit to Islamabad, the capital, in October, asking for stepped-up military action on Pakistan's side of the border but promising to keep Pakistan fully abreast of developments in Afghanistan, including nascent peace talks.

Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, faced with growing anti-U.S. sentiment, deepened by incidents like the one on Saturday, faces limited room to accede to any U.S. demands at the moment, said Talat Masood, a retired general and defense analyst.

"Those who have been more moderate, even those people are asking is it worth having a relationship with the U.S.," Mr. Masood said. "It will be very difficult for Gen. Kayani to defend the alliance."

Mr. Masood said he had taped a television chat show Saturday after the attack on the border posts during which he was the only participant arguing the U.S. wouldn't have targeted Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand as a deliberate act of aggression.

Western diplomats in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, said Saturday the raid is likely to hurt efforts to get Pakistan to play a significant role in forging peace talks, which are expected to take center stage at an international conference on Afghanistan to be held in Bonn, Germany, next month.

U.S. and Afghan officials say Pakistan continues to hold sway over the Taliban group controlled by Mullah Mohammed Omar, believed to be based in the western Pakistani city of Quetta, and the Haqqani faction, which shelters in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region on the Afghan border. Pakistan denies this and blames the U.S.'s war in Afghanistan for sparking a war on its side of the border in which more than 3,000 Pakistani soldiers have died.

Few observers, though, expect a complete breakdown in relations. Pakistan might close its borders for a few days, temporarily hurting NATO's supply chain, but the country will continue to rely on billions of dollars in military and civilian aid from the U.S. Washington, likewise, needs Pakistan to keep up pressure on Taliban militants in the tribal region, and as a supply route, as it tries to work out an exit strategy from Afghanistan.

"This is a need-based relationship. It will have its temporary hiccup, probably in the form of the suspension of NATO cargo," said Imtiaz Gul, director of the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank.

In September 2010, a NATO helicopter attack on a Pakistani border post in the tribal regions killed two soldiers. Pakistan closed traffic for NATO convoys for a few days but later reopened the route. The U.S., wary of its part-time ally, begun moving more supplies for Afghanistan through Central Asia. The Pakistan land route, from the port city of Karachi across country to two major borders with Afghanistan, still accounts for roughly half of NATO supplies coming in to Afghanistan.

Since that incident, which blew over, the U.S.-Pakistan relationship has deteriorated. Pakistan' army was embarrassed and angered by the covert raid by U.S. Navy SEALs in May that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani army garrison town. That came after a Central Intelligence Agency contractor shot dead two armed men in Lahore in January and was briefly jailed.

Just last week, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. was forced to resign amid allegations he had sought Washington's help to reduce the power of Pakistan's army, which plays a large role in domestic politics.

Pakistan's army, in response to growing anti-U.S. feeling, has began to more forcibly challenge the U.S. in public, including attacking Washington's policy of stepped-up unmanned drone strikes against Taliban targets in the tribal regions.

10 Killed in Taliban Attack on Luxury Kabul Hotel

Afghan officials say 10 Afghan civilians were killed in a Taliban attack on a luxury hotel in the capital, Kabul, Tuesday night.
The officials said early Wednesday the figure did not include at least six suicide bombers who either blew themselves up or were killed by security forces. They cautioned the death toll could still rise.
Early Wednesday, Interior Ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi declared the five-hour siege of the

Intercontinental Hotel over, saying Afghan security vehicles and ambulances were removing the dead and wounded from the building.
A spokesman for the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan said earlier two of its helicopters were called in and fired on the roof of the hotel where three militants had taken up positions, successfully eliminating them. The NATO operation appeared to have ended the standoff between the insurgents and security forces.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the group was targeting foreign guests.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department condemned the Taliban attack and said the action once again demonstrated the terrorists' complete disregard for human life. The State Department extended condolences to the families of the victims and indicated that all U.S. diplomatic staff were safe.
The attack occurred on the eve of a conference about the gradual transition of civil and military responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans.
In other violence Tuesday, NATO said three of its service members died in separate insurgent and bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan.
Also in the south, authorities said a roadside bomb killed two women and wounded a child in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

Suicide car bomber kills 35 at Afghan clinic (Photo-Video)

A suicide car blast has ripped through a medical clinic in east Afghanistan, killing at least 35 people.
Saturday's attack left more than 50 OTHERS wounded, including women and children. Afghan authorities say the bomber blew up his sport utility vehicle outside the clinic, bringing the building down on those inside.
An official at the clinic said guards had tried to prevent the attacker from driving his vehicle into the medical compound, 40 kilometers east of Kabul. An Afghan army helicopter was dispatched to the area to deliver

medical supplies and to take survivors to other hospitals. The Taliban has denied responsibility for the attack.

Blue Angels’ chief screws up, steps down

The commanding officer of the elite Blue Angels flight demonstration team stepped down Friday after a making a “lower-than-normal maneuver” during a recent air show, the Navy said. Because the team has been grounded since the May 22 incident in Lynchburg, Va., its performances at the Rockford Airfest next weekend and an air show in Evansville, Ind., on June 11-12 were canceled. “With deep personal regret I shared with my command today that I will be voluntarily leaving the greatest

flight demonstration team. I performed a maneuver that had an unacceptably low minimum altitude,” Koss wrote in a statement released by Naval Air Forces. “This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard . . . led to my decision to step down.” Koss will be replaced by Capt. Greg McWherter, previous commanding officer of the Blue Angels, for the rest of the season. The commanding officer is assigned to the No. 1 jet in demonstrations. Koss, who assumed command of the Blue Angels in November, is a 1991 Naval Academy graduate and veteran naval aviator with more than 3,000 flight hours and 740 arrested landings on carriers. He took part in late 1990s flight operations over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina and flew missions over Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar killed, Taliban deny

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan, many private television channels in Afghanistan reported on Monday, while Taliban denied the report.

"Mullah Omar was killed on way from Quetta to North Wazirustan, " TOLO television aired in its news bulletin. Several other local TV channels including Shamshad, Ariana and Noor also reported it as the same.

However, the local media did not say the details on how he was killed and by whom.

Meantime, a security official contacted by Xinhua confirmed the incident, saying "it is correct that Mullah has been killed."

The official also emphasized that Mullah Omar was killed inside Pakistan.

"The report about the death of Mullah Omar is merely a propaganda to demoralize Mujahideen. Mullah Omar is alive. He is inside Afghanistan and is leading Mujahideen against foreign troops," Zabihulla Mujahid told media on Monday.

Mullah Omar had escaped the massive U.S. military manhunt in the region since the collapse of his regime in late 2001 by U.S- led military campaign would be a big blow to his fighters operating in Afghanistan.

U.S. forces during a special operation killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan on May 2.

Royal wedding: Prince invites brothers and sisters in arms to the abbey

Prince William has paid a deeply personal tribute to colleagues in the Armed Forces who were killed or wounded in battle through the invitations to his wedding.

The guest list includes close relatives of two of the Prince's friends from his training at Sandhurst and a Household Cavalry comrade who suffered terrible burns after he was ambushed in Afghanistan.

L/Cpl Martyn Compton, 27, was so badly injured in the Taliban attack in 2006 that his heart stopped three times and he lost his ears and nose.

He suffered burns to 75 per cent of his body, and was in a coma for three months before he regained consciousness.

Prince William, who served alongside L/Cpl Compton in the Household Cavalry and knows him by his nickname of Compo, paid tribute to him in 2008, joking that he was "more famous" than the Prince.

He will attend the royal wedding with his wife of three years, Michelle, who nursed him back to health as he underwent more than 60 hours of operations.

Also among the 1,900 guests at Westminster Abbey will be Holly Dyer, 30, the sister of 2nd Lt Joanna Dyer, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq in 2007.

Lt Dyer, 24, was a close friend of the Prince during his training at Sandhurst, and he was said to be "absolutely devastated" when he heard of her death.

She and three colleagues were killed when an explosion tore through the armoured vehicle in which she was travelling in Basra. Her family's ordeal was worsened by the fact that Holly, an officer in the Army Intelligence Corps, had to return to Iraq to complete her own tour of duty after the funeral.

2nd Lt Dyer, an Oxford graduate, passed out in the same company as Prince William in December 2006.

After her death, the Prince described her as a "close friend" and said he was "deeply saddened to hear the tragic news".

The guests will also include Susie Roberts, the widow of the Prince's platoon commander at Sandhurst, Major Alexis Roberts. Major Roberts, 32, a father of two and known as Lex, was killed by a bomb in Afghanistan in 2007.

After his death, the Prince, who regarded him as "a good friend" as well as a mentor, said he remembered him with "great fondness and respect".

Major Roberts's mother-in-law, Carol Deans, said: "Susie feels so proud to be going to the wedding. She knows that Lex would be very proud, too, as he had a real bond with Prince William."

The Prince attended Major Roberts's funeral and has stayed in touch with Mrs Roberts.

At the time of his death, Major Roberts was the most senior Army officer to die in Afghanistan.

Other guests will include Bryn Parry, the former soldier who founded the charity Help for Heroes with his wife, Emma.

Both Princes William and Harry are supporters of the charity.

Prince William has also invited all 27 members of his RAF Search and Rescue flight to the wedding, all of whom have been given three days leave to travel to London from their base at RAF Valley on Anglesey.

Brig Ed Smyth-Osbourne, who was Prince William and Prince Harry's commanding officer in the Household Cavalry and acted as a military mentor, will also be at the wedding.

He was also Prince Harry's commanding officer when he completed a 10-week tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Suicide Bomber Attacks Funeral in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up in the country's northwest, killing at least 34 people and wounding at least 60 others.

Officials say the attack Wednesday targeted a group of about 200 mourners attending a funeral near the city of Peshawar. The funeral was for the wife of an anti-Taliban tribal militiaman from an area known for bloody clashes between Taliban and pro-government fighters.

The bombing comes a day after a car bombing killed at least 24 people near the offices of Pakistan's main intelligence agency in the eastern city of Faisalabad.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blast, which also wounded more than 125 people.

A Taliban spokesman said the group was targeting the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, in retaliation for the killing of a Taliban commander in the city.

The car bomb ignited gas cylinders at a nearby service station, triggering an even bigger blast that damaged several buildings -- including an office of Pakistan's state airline.

Piles of bricks from the destroyed service station and scraps of metal from damaged cars littered the scene as rescue workers pulled victims from the rubble.

Faisalabad is home to Pakistan's textile industry.