Afghan policewoman kills US aide

24 December 2012 Last updated at 07:58 GMT Many women are being recruited into Afghanistan's police force An Afghan policewoman has shot dead a US military adviser inside Kabul police headquarters, Afghan officials say.

It is the first reported incident in which a female member of Afghanistan's security forces has opened fire on a Nato soldier.

The attacker has been detained. Officials say they suspect she has links with the Taliban.

There has been a rise in incidents in which foreign troops have been killed by Afghan troops or policemen.

In Monday's incident, officials say the woman - an officer at the interior ministry - came looking for the police chief at the heavily secured headquarters.

The US adviser was thought to have been on his way to a canteen when she shot him with her pistol.

More than 50 members of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan have been killed by male Afghan troops or police this year.

In September the US suspended training for local police recruits because of such "insider attacks".

It said it was carrying out checks on whether recruits had links to the Taliban.

Training Afghan security forces is an essential part of Nato's strategy before foreign combat troops pull out in 2014.

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VIDEO: Blast kills one in Kabul

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Blast kills Pakistan politician

22 December 2012 Last updated at 17:38 GMT The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack in Peshawar

A suicide bomber has killed at least eight people at a political rally in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say.

A senior provincial minister and anti-Taliban figure, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, was among those killed.

The blast happened at the house of a leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), which is part of the national governing coalition, local media said.

The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack.

The Taliban has repeatedly targeted members of the ANP, which holds power in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Provincial information minister and ANP member, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, condemned the attack.

"Terrorism has engulfed our whole society," he said. "They are targeting our bases, our mosques, our bazaars, public meetings and our security checkpoints."

'Smoke and dust'

Some 100 people had gathered in Peshawar for the meeting of the ANP, which is part of the Pakistan People's Party-led national coalition government.

Mr Bilour had delivered the keynote speech and was leaving when the attack occurred, Nazir Khan, a local Awami National Party leader, told Associated Press news agency.

"There was smoke and dust all around, and dead and wounded people were lying on the ground," he said.

Mr Bilour, 69, was severely wounded in the chest and stomach and died from his injuries in hospital.

A senior police official told Agence France-Presse that Mr Bilour's secretary and a policeman were among the dead, as well as other ANP officials.

At least 18 people were injured in the blast, hospital and police officials said.

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