Taliban step up attacks in besieged Afghan town (AP)

Karzai: Afghanistan, US in contacts with Taliban (AP)
AP - President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that Afghanistan and the United States are engaged in peace talks with the Taliban, even as insurgents stormed a police station near the presidential...

Afghan government says kidnapped diplomat released (AP)
AP - Afghanistan's former ambassador-designate to Pakistan, seized by gunmen two years ago in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, has been released and is back home safe, the president's office...

NATO launches airstrikes into Pakistan, 50 dead (AP)
AP - NATO helicopters in eastern Afghanistan launched rare airstrikes into Pakistan, reportedly killing more than 50 militants after an outpost near the border came under attack from...

Polls opens for Afghanistan parliamentary election (AP)
AP - Polling stations formally opened for voting in Afghanistan's parliamentary election Saturday, though scattered rocket attacks struck in the early morning and Taliban insurgents managed...

Security ramps up ahead of Afghan vote (AP)
AP - Police set up extra checkpoints across Afghanistan on Friday to scan for suicide bombers and insurgents a day ahead of parliamentary polling that will test the government's ability to...