Foreign Troops

A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up close to a convoy of foreign troops in Kabul, but instead wounded three civilians, officials said. The bomber in a white Toyota Corolla died in the blast in the Afghan capital's western outskirts shortly after a convoy carrying foreign troops passed, said a regional police chief, Zalmai Khan. No casualties were reported among those in the convoy. Separately, police clashed with a group of insurgents in the western province of Ghor, leaving six Taliban fighters dead, said provincial Police Chief Shah Jahan Noori.

BRUSSELS - The United States and its allies are promising to provide more than $4 billion a year for Afghanistan's army and police after international forces depart in 2 1/2 years, but they still lack firm financial pledges to meet the target, U.S. officials said. As a result, Afghan officials fear that they won't have the resources necessary to fight what is expected to be a still-virulent insurgency after most foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. The escalating financial crisis in Europe and uncertainty about how long Afghanistan's cash-strapped government will need major military aid are making it difficult to nail down contributions, U.S. officials acknowledged.

Uganda and Zimbabwe have begun their pledged troop withdrawals from Congo, a rare concrete step toward ending Central Africa's four-year, six-nation war, the United Nations confirmed Wednesday. Both nations--enemies in the Congo war--have pulled out hundreds of troops in recent days, U.N. mission spokesman Hamadoun Toure said here in the Congolese capital. "We hope all the parties will do the same.

The brazen and well-coordinated attacks by insurgents against four embassies and other key sites in the heart of Afghanistan's capital were aimed less at inflicting high numbers of casualties, analysts said, than at humiliating the government and its foreign allies as Afghan forces take increasing responsibility for protecting their own homeland. Taking positions on high-rise construction sites, attackers on Sunday rained down rocket-propelled grenades, bullets and fear on Kabul, targeting major symbols of Afghan and foreign power, including the U.S., British, German and Russian embassies and NATO headquarters.

More than 1,200 French, Italian and Spanish soldiers landed in Albania by air and sea Tuesday, the first real muscle in a European push to provide humanitarian aid and ease three months of unrest. Insurgents in the southern port of Vlore, fearing President Sali Berisha might be emboldened by the troops' presence, grabbed their guns and took up defensive positions around the city. Vlore, one of the ports to be secured by the foreign troops, is the heart of the rebellion by Berisha's opponents.

South Africa was urgently seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis here as foreign troops flowed in to back beleaguered Congolese President Laurent Kabila. South African President Nelson Mandela called the leaders of Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda and Congo to a meeting in Pretoria today. Regional stability hung in the balance as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe sent forces to support Kabila, who faces a rebellion by Rwandan-backed Tutsi troops. Uganda and Rwanda warned the Zimbabweans to keep out.

U.S. Marines have scaled back plans to send hundreds of troops into Indonesia to build roads and clear debris from last month's tsunami, Marine Corps officials said Wednesday, after Indonesian officials said they hoped to have all foreign troops off their soil by late March.

President Bush expressed optimism Friday about the prospects of persuading other nations to send troops to Iraq, even as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that if the U.S. wants more help in the volatile country, it must be more flexible about sharing authority. "We do need, and welcome, more foreign troops into Iraq. And there will be more foreign troops into Iraq," Bush told reporters at Seattle's King County Airport.

The Pentagon's plan for defeating insurgents in Iraq relies heavily on applying "a full-court press" to persuade more countries to send troops to relieve overstretched U.S. forces, senior defense officials said Thursday. In separate appearances at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B.

Shaken by the growing violence in this capital city, ordinary Haitians said Sunday that they want President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to remain in office and foreign troops to stay in their country. Haitians spending a leisurely afternoon at the Champ de Mars park outside the Presidential Palace said they prefer the status quo because they are worried about what change could mean for public safety and the nation's stability. Although Aristide has promised to step down early next year and the U.N.

How should we measure success in Afghanistan? It's a crucial question, but there isn't much agreement on an answer. In mid-January, this newspaper ran a story on the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan, a classified assessment drafted by analysts at more than a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies. According to The Times, the report "warns that security gains from an increase in troops have been undercut by pervasive corruption, incompetent governance and Taliban fighters operating from neighboring Pakistan.

  President Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement Friday that France was suspending joint combat and training programs and considering an early withdrawal from Afghanistan may be a sign the Taliban's efforts to discourage its foes from continuing a long and unpopular war are paying off. Sarkozy said his country would review its role in the U.S.-led war after four French soldiers were killed and more than a dozen wounded by an Afghan soldier who...

A top U.S. envoy arrived in Libya's capital Wednesday bearing best wishes but no promises of cash, no battalions of troops, no stocks of armored Humvees or blast barriers — and no blueprints for rebuilding a nation. It is early yet, less than a month since Tripoli fell and Moammar Kadafi disappeared. He is still out there somewhere, urging allies who retain control of several cities to "turn Libya into true hell," as his spokesman said in a new audio message. The future is uncertain.

A message allegedly written by the leader of the Afghan Taliban predicts imminent victory as more foreign troops die and Taliban fighters better understand NATO tactics, acquire more weaponry, shoot down more aircraft and kill more senior officials. The lengthy statement released Monday, signed by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the movement's reclusive, one-eyed leader, follows President Obama's announcement in June that 10,000 American troops will leave this year. The U.S. drawdown is part of an accelerated withdrawal by foreign troops ahead of a 2014 deadline for transferring security to the Afghans.

Sorosh Tokhi's wallet is a lot fatter since foreign troops moved into Afghanistan in 2001. As an interpreter for the U.S. military earning $700 a month, he has bought a flat-screen TV and a sport utility vehicle, helped his parents out and paid for relatives' tuition. So President Obama's recent announcement that U.S. troops will step up the pace toward a 2014 departure makes him nervous. "Life's been good, hell yeah," said Tokhi, 24, shopping with friends on upscale Shar-e-Naw Street in Kabul, the capital.

In late May, a NATO soldier was killed as he emerged from his tent. Two weeks earlier, two NATO soldiers were killed while eating a meal. In late April, eight U.S. troops were shot dead at a meeting at Kabul airport. The attacks had one thing in common: The killers all wore Afghan military or police uniforms. Foreign troops serving in Afghanistan say they're increasingly concerned about the "enemy within. " Yet they emphasize the importance of keeping anxiety in check amid a climate of deepening mutual distrust.

BRUSSELS - The United States and its allies are promising to provide more than $4 billion a year for Afghanistan's army and police after international forces depart in 2 1/2 years, but they still lack firm financial pledges to meet the target, U.S. officials said. As a result, Afghan officials fear that they won't have the resources necessary to fight what is expected to be a still-virulent insurgency after most foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. The escalating financial crisis in Europe and uncertainty about how long Afghanistan's cash-strapped government will need major military aid are making it difficult to nail down contributions, U.S. officials acknowledged.

A top U.S. envoy arrived in Libya's capital Wednesday bearing best wishes but no promises of cash, no battalions of troops, no stocks of armored Humvees or blast barriers — and no blueprints for rebuilding a nation. It is early yet, less than a month since Tripoli fell and Moammar Kadafi disappeared. He is still out there somewhere, urging allies who retain control of several cities to "turn Libya into true hell," as his spokesman said in a new audio message. The future is uncertain.

Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Saturday after a 15-year-old boy was killed by U.S. forces in a volatile eastern province. At least one protester died in the melee. The teen was shot to death late Friday in Nangarhar province while trying to pull a gun on Afghan and U.S. troops, Western military officials said. On Saturday morning, villagers carried the body to an administrative center, where protests broke out. Demonstrators started throwing rocks, then burned police vehicles before some fired on police, according to local reports.