The official says the alliance has helped secure passage of Taliban commanders to Kabul for high-level contacts with the government.  The official said it would be very difficult for Taliban leaders to travel safely to Kabul without NATO’s consent.

The NATO official,  who spoke in Brussels on the condition of anonymity, said the contacts mark a preliminary step toward reconciliation talks.

Meanwhile, the Taliban on Wednesday denied reports that its leaders were talking to the Afghan government about ending the insurgency.

Earlier this week, President Hamid Karzai said his government had been holding unofficial talks with the Taliban.

U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said the United States is not involved in the talks, but supports reconciliation efforts on condition that insurgents respect the Afghan constitution, renounce al-Qaida and lay down their weapons.

Six NATO service members were killed in Afghanistan Wednesday, in what already has been the deadliest year for coalition forces since the war began nine years ago.

The alliance says five troops were killed by roadside bombings in the south, and the sixth was killed by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

NATO commanders have warned of an increase in violence as Afghan and coalition forces go on the offensive against insurgents.  More than 30 NATO service members have been killed this month.

In Brussels Wednesday, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, spoke with NATO ministers about a plan to transfer security responsibilities to Afghan forces starting next year.

After the briefing, NATO’s civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, told reporters that while the plan calls for completing the transition by 2014, it ultimately will depend on conditions on the ground.  Sedwill added that some allied troops likely will still remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

Separately, the U.N. Security Council renewed the mandate for NATO forces in Afghanistan for one more year, until October 13, 2011.  

The council also expressed concern about Taliban and al-Qaida violence and the increased number of civilian casualties.

In other violence Wednesday, Afghan and coalition forces say they killed a Haqqani network leader, Ansari Khan, in Khost province.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Elsewhere on Saturday, NATO says Afghan and coalition forces who were pursuing a suspected insurgent have killed an Afghan adult male and a child. The coalition says another adult civilian was wounded.

The alliance says a patrol thought the suspected militant was about to fire a weapon when the shootings happened in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

A team of Afghan and coalition members is investigating the shootings.

NATO also says an air strike destroyed an insurgent compound in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province Saturday.

Alliance officials say they believe the compound contained more than 1,200 kilograms of explosives, enough to make 50 bombs.

NATO says Afghan and coalition forces captured a Taliban senior leader Saturday who was a bomb expert. NATO says the Taliban leader, who was apprehended in the village of Kesh-ano Kalachec in Kandahar district, was preparing a suicide attack.

Australia’s newly elected prime minister arrived in Afghanistan Saturday on her first foreign trip as leader. Julia Gillard met with President Hamid Karzai, reassuring him of Canberra’s intention to continue helping the Afghan government meet its security needs.

The Australian leader shared a meal with the Australian troops stationed at Tarin Kowt and paid tribute the 21 Australian troops who have died fighting insurgents in Afghanistan.

The prime minister also met with U.S. General David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan. The two discussed plans for transferring the responsibility for security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces.

Officials say Operation Dragon Strike is an air-and-ground phase of an anti-Taliban offensive that has involved weeks of fighting.

NATO spokesman Josef Blotz, a German brigadier general, says Afghan and coalition forces expect tough battles in the coming days.  He says the goal of the operation is to destroy Taliban positions around Kandahar and force the militants to leave or to fight and be killed.

There are no reports of casualties among Afghan or NATO forces since the operation began in recent days. But seven U.S. troops have been killed in other incidents in Kandahar province this month.

Clearing the southern region of militants is a key part of the U.S.-led strategy to help Kabul extend its authority over the country.

In other developments, a roadside bomb blast killed a Polish soldier Monday in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni.

Britain on Monday identified one of three NATO service members killed in bomb attacks on Saturday as a British soldier. It says the soldier was killed when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

NATO says it is investigating the killing of an Afghan civilian by a coalition service member Sunday in the eastern province of Laghman. It gave no details of the circumstances of the civilian’s death and said it makes every effort to protect civilians in its operations.

Afghan authorities also are searching for a British aid worker and her three Afghan colleagues kidnapped Sunday by militants in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

The four hostages were working for Development Alternatives Inc, a U.S.-based contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

The Washington Post and The New York Times both published excerpts Wednesday of an upcoming book by Bob Woodward, an associate editor at the Post, who interviewed President Obama and his advisors on the war strategy.

The accounts say Mr. Obama was pushing for an “exit” and no long-term “nation-building” in Afghanistan, while top military commanders only offered options of sending in more U.S. troops to fight the Taliban insurgency.

The president eventually agreed to send an additional 30,000 troops to the country, but announced a deadline for U.S. forces to begin withdrawing in July of 2011.

The U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, was quoted as saying the new strategy will not work.

Excerpts from the book also highlight deep personal rifts between administration officials.

An unnamed senior administration official downplayed the division Wednesday, saying President Obama comes across in the war review as a leader who is analytical, strategic and decisive.

The Washington Post says the book also discloses that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has a 3,000-man paramilitary army made up of mostly Afghans.  The elite force is said to conduct sensitive, covert operations into Pakistan against al-Qaida and Taliban havens.

Another excerpt says U.S. intelligence reports show Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been diagnosed with manic depression.

Obama’s Wars is set to be released on Monday.

Woodward is best known for his work, along with journalist Carl Bernstein, uncovering the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of former president Richard Nixon.

Threat one is the Taliban. The militant group said Thursday it plans to attack polling stations throughout the country and urged Afghans to boycott the September 18 elections. More than 10 million people are eligible to vote for some 2,500 candidates.

Insurgents have already killed at least three candidates and several campaign workers in the run-up to the vote.

Amnesty International said Thursday that female candidates are at particular risk.  It says some women have told the rights group that local security forces refuse to offer them protection or investigate incidents of violence.

More than a thousand of the planned 6,800 polling places will remain closed due to security fears, thereby disenfranchising many of Afghanistan’s voters.

More than 250,000 Afghan police and troops will be deployed to protect polling centers.  They will be backed by international troops.

Fazil Ahmad Manawi, the chief of Afghanistan’s Independent election Commission, said “Security is the first challenge, it’s also the second challenge and it will also be the third challenge.” He added, “If you ask me, the other problems are solvable”

Not so, says Afghanistan’s main opposition leader.  Abdullah Abdullah said “People are worried, people are concerned about the possibility of massive fraud and unfortunately, in spite of the experience that we all went through in the presidential elections, measures have not been taken in order to provide an opportunity for free and fair general elections. There are lots of shortcomings,”

That view is reinforced by Candace Rondeaux. She is a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group who is in Kabul. “There’s no doubt that there will be massive electoral fraud this time around,” she said.”We will definitely see a repeat of last year’s election fraud, perhaps even on a larger scale.”

The difficulty will be, however, because there will be so many candidates this time around and because the results are quite localized, that ultimately, it will hard to tell just how much fraud is taking place until several months from now.

Rondeax said “Last year, with the provincial council elections, there was massive fraud, of course, and it’s only just now, one year later, that we’re finding out about the real meaning of that fraud and how it affected certain candidates in certain areas of the country. So that will be really problematic and that will also cause some delays in finding out if this parliament is really, truly legitimate.”

And that, says analyst Rondeaux, will leave Afghanistan where many say it has been for decades, unable to move forward.

“Given the number of candidates who are backed by Mafia warlords, drug traffickers and other power brokers; it seems very unlikely that this new parliament, whenever it comes to fruition, will be able to confront the many challenges here in terms of corruption and insecurity. So that’s really unfortunate and it really, I think, ultimately affects the way Afghans view democracy and the democratic experiment,” she said.

Last year’s presidential election was marred by allegations of widespread fraud, with one-third of ballots cast for President Hamid Karzai thrown out.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters that the balloting is just for the benefit of the foreigners who he says are occupying the country. And he urged the Afghan people to boycott the election.

Some 2,500 candidates are competing for 249 seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament.

The Taliban’s threat to derail the election follows plans by the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to open peace talks.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai called the creation of the High Peace Council a “significant step” in efforts to end a war that is nearing the end of its ninth year. The council is to include former members of the Taliban, leading Afghan civilians and women.

The council’s formation was approved by Afghan leaders and tribal elders in June. But so far the Taliban has shown little interest in any peace negotiations.

And Taliban attacks continue. NATO says two coalition soldiers have been killed in insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan.

One of them belonged to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The second was not identified.

A Japanese journalist, freelancer Kosuke Tsuneoka, who was reportedly detained by insurgents in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz several months ago has been released and is now at the Japanese embassy in Kabul. He is said to be in good condition.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Secretary Gates called Wednesday’s formal handover in Baghdad the moment both countries have been working for and hoping for, a moment he said was “made possible by the dramatic security gains of the last three-and-a-half years.”

He said attacks are at their lowest levels since the beginning of the war in 2003, in spite of the recent series of incidents. He also noted that U.S. forces have not had to call in an air strike anywhere in Iraq for more than six months, and he said the remnants of al-Qaida’s Iraqi organization have been cut off from its commanders abroad.

Still, he warned, all is not well in Iraq. He noted the ongoing political stalemate and lingering sectarian tensions, and he said al-Qaida in Iraq is “beaten, but not gone.”

“This is not a time for premature victory parades or self-congratulation, even as we reflect with pride on what our troops and their Iraqi partners have accomplished. We still have a job to do and responsibilities there,” said the defense secretary.

Gates said the U.S. military will continue to work with the Iraqi Army and police forces, to train the Iraqi Navy and Air Force, and to help with operations against terrorist groups. He noted that so far 4,427 U.S. troops have been killed in the war, and more than 34,000 have been injured, some of them very seriously.

The secretary also said the Iraq War diverted American attention and resources from Afghanistan, where he said U.S. troops defeated the Taliban in 2001 and 2002, only to see the group reestablish itself and escalate its insurgency. That is a problem the United States is able to address only now, with a decreased troop commitment in Iraq.

The last of the additional forces President Barack Obama ordered to Afghanistan are just arriving, and the next 12 months will be critical in the effort to demonstrate the same type of counterinsurgency approach can work there that worked in Iraq. The troop increase, designed to fight the insurgents and enable engagement with local people in key areas, brings the American total close to 100,000, with nearly 50,000 more from other allied countries. Secretary Gates noted that is more than three times as many as when he took office not quite four years ago.

Still, he he said a “tough, hard campaign” lies ahead in Afghanistan, “with its share of setbacks and heartbreak.” “Success there is not inevitable. But with the right strategy and the willingness to see it through, it is possible. And it is worth the fight,” he said.

Gates called victory in Afghanistan “essential to the safety of the United States.” He said it would deliver “a strategic defeat to al-Qaida,” roll back Taliban gains, and build Afghanistan’s ability to defend itself and prevent the re-establishment of terrorist safe havens like the one the Taliban provided to al-Qaida to plan and launch the September 11th attacks on the United States in 2001.

NATO said four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the east, while the fifth died in a gunfight with insurgents in the south.

On Monday, seven American troops and an Estonian soldier were killed in bomb attacks in the south, while another seven U.S. soldiers died in separate attacks on Saturday and Sunday.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Tuesday of a “tough fight” ahead in Afghanistan, with more casualties likely.   

The head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, acknowledged Tuesday that the Taliban are expanding their influence, even as coalition forces close in on their southern strongholds.

Petraeus said the last of the additional 30,000 troops Mr. Obama ordered to Afghanistan will arrive in the next few days, bringing the number of U.S. and NATO forces in the country to nearly 150,000.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday voiced support for Afghan forces to begin taking charge of the country’s security in 2011.  He said during an official visit to his native Denmark the issue would be taken up during the upcoming NATO summit in November.

In violence Tuesday, gunmen on a motorcycle killed three Afghan Supreme Court employees traveling on a bus near Kabul. At least 12 others were wounded.

And British aid group Oxfam said it was temporarily suspending operations in northern Badakhshan province after a roadside bomb killed two of its Afghan staff workers and a volunteer Monday.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

Authorities issued the warning Thursday after the Indus River breached an embankment in Sindh province.  Officials say the residents of Sujawal, Mir Pur Batoro and Daro are at risk.  Authorities in the Thatta district are working to shore up other levees and the military has been called in to help with evacuations.

While floodwaters have receded in some parts of Pakistan, officials say high tides in the Arabian Sea have heightened the risk of new flooding in Sindh. Monsoon rains triggered the floods that began almost one month ago, killing an estimated 1,600 people and affecting up to 20 million others.

Pakistani and U.S. officials have warned that Islamist militants may try to exploit the disaster.  On Thursday, an unnamed U.S. official told news agencies that the Pakistani Taliban may target foreign aid workers engaged in relief efforts. United Nations humanitarian spokesman Maurizio Giuliano called any such possible attacks inhumane.

Charities linked to Pakistan-based militant groups also have been providing assistance to flood victims.

Officials say the new evacuations on Thursday may worsen conditions in some already overcrowded relief camps, where clean water and food are said to be in short supply.

The U.N. says 800,000 people are still cut off by the floods and can only receive aid by air.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

The report quotes unnamed Afghan and U.S. officials as saying Afghan National Security Council official Mohammed Zia Salehi appears to have been receiving CIA money for many years.

It says it is not clear whether Salehi is being paid for information or to advance U.S. views inside the administration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, or both. There was no immediate comment from Salehi on the allegations.

The New York Times says Salehi’s alleged ties to the CIA reflect deep contradictions in U.S. policy on Afghanistan.  It says Washington is demanding that President Karzai root out government corruption while the CIA allegedly subsidizes the officials suspected of perpetrating it.

Afghan police arrested Salehi last month. They said a wiretap caught him soliciting a bribe in exchange for impeding a U.S. investigation of a company suspected of moving money for Afghan leaders, drug traffickers and insurgents. President Karzai intervened in the case, securing Salehi’s release after seven hours in prison.

In other developments, Afghan officials say insurgents killed eight Afghan policemen Thursday in raid on a police post in the northern city of Kunduz. They say one policeman survived the attack but was wounded.

Taliban militants traditionally based in southern and eastern Afghanistan have been increasing their attacks on Afghan and international forces in the country’s usually peaceful north.

Elsewhere, NATO says one of its reconnaissance drones crashed Thursday in the southern province of Kandahar after losing engine power. NATO says it recovered the drone but could not find the aircraft’s camera. It says residents reported that insurgents seized the device.

NATO says the camera had no recording capability and was used only to transmit images.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

In an interview aired Sunday on NBC Meet the Press, General Petraeus said the goal is to defeat the Taliban and prevent the country from again becoming a sanctuary for transnational extremists.

Petraeus says that reconciliation in Afghanistan will ultimately involve the government sitting down with the Taliban and members of other insurgent groups.

Petraeus’ comments come as U.S. troops in Afghanistan have suffered some of the highest number of casualties in months.

U.S. President Barack Obama has set July 2011 as the date when U.S. forces will begin leaving Afghanistan. Petraeus says he will give the president his best professional military advice and would not hesitate to tell him if the date was unrealistic.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Taking part in the meeting in the White House Situation Room, either in person or by video link, were some 22 civilian and military officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Vice President Joe Biden and CIA Director Leon Panetta.

President Obama’s national security adviser, General James Jones, was there.  Participating from afar were the new U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The AF-PAK meeting, as it is called, came near the end of a difficult week in which President Obama and others in his administration assessed potential damage from the disclosure of tens of thousands of secret war documents by the WikiLeaks web site.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs indicated to reporters at the White House news briefing that the president and his advisers did not allow the leaks issue to dominate the meeting.

“The WikiLeaks [matter] was not something that took up any real measurable amount of time in today’s meeting,” said Robert Gibbs. “I think each of the principles, including the president has commented on the operational security risks that 90,000 plus secret documents, classified documents, being put on the Internet poses to our troops, poses to those who are cooperating with our efforts to make Afghanistan and Pakistan more secure.”

Defense Secretary Gates told reporters at the Pentagon that the FBI will assist in the criminal investigation of the leak.  The documents, he said, do not fundamentally call into question the efficacy of U.S. strategy or prospects for success, but could have potentially severe and dangerous effects for U.S. troops, allies and Afghan partners.

White House spokesman Gibbs said the regular Afghanistan-Pakistan session discussed the recent strategic dialogue Secretary of State Clinton held in Pakistan, and U.S. efforts to support Pakistani military actions against violent extremists in Pakistan.

The meeting also focused on what the Obama administration calls the success of the recent Kabul conference and steps to strengthen governance and pursue the re-integration of Taliban forces.

NATO said Saturday that the U.S. service members left the compound in a vehicle Friday and never returned.  

Afghan officials said Saturday the two sailors were seen driving an armored vehicle in the country’s eastern Logar province, which borders Kabul to the south.  They said the sailors drove into the insurgent-controlled Charkh district.

Taliban officials claimed Saturday to have captured two members of the U.S. military in that same area.  Taliban officials also told reporters that one of them had been killed.  

Local radio stations were broadcasting offers from the United States to pay $20,000 for information leading to their release.

Only one U.S. service member is known to have been captured by insurgents.  Bowe Bergdahl disappeared June of last year after leaving his base in Paktika province with three Afghans.  He has since appeared in videos posted on Taliban websites.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission in Kabul tells VOA’s Afghan service that three Bangladeshi workers and their Afghan driver have been kidnapped in the country’s northern Samangan province.  

Civil Affairs Officer Reza Hassan said the Bangladeshis were working for a South Korean construction company and were driving to a construction site when they were attacked.

Afghan officials blamed the incident on the Taliban but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, NATO officials said five U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate bombings in southern Afghanistan, where international forces are stepping up their fight against the Taliban.

The International Security Assistance Force said Saturday that four of its troops were killed by the blast of an improvised explosive device, which is commonly used by the Taliban insurgency.  

Later, NATO announced the death of a fifth soldier in a separate IED attack.

Seventy-five international troops have now died this month, including 56 Americans.

More than 100 international troops were killed in Afghanistan in June, the deadliest month for international forces in Afghanistan since 2001.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

NATO said Saturday that the U.S. service members left the compound in a vehicle Friday and never returned.  

Afghan officials said Saturday the two sailors were seen driving an armored vehicle in the country’s eastern Logar province, which borders Kabul to the south.  They said the sailors drove into the insurgent-controlled Charkh district.

Taliban officials claimed Saturday to have captured two members of the U.S. military in that same area.  Taliban officials also told reporters that one of them had been killed.  

Local radio stations were broadcasting offers from the United States to pay $20,000 for information leading to their release.

Only one U.S. service member is known to have been captured by insurgents.  Bowe Bergdahl disappeared June of last year after leaving his base in Paktika province with three Afghans.  He has since appeared in videos posted on Taliban websites.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission in Kabul tells VOA’s Afghan service that three Bangladeshi workers and their Afghan driver have been kidnapped in the country’s northern Samangan province.  

Civil Affairs Officer Reza Hassan said the Bangladeshis were working for a South Korean construction company and were driving to a construction site when they were attacked.

Afghan officials blamed the incident on the Taliban but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, NATO officials said five U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate bombings in southern Afghanistan, where international forces are stepping up their fight against the Taliban.

The International Security Assistance Force said Saturday that four of its troops were killed by the blast of an improvised explosive device, which is commonly used by the Taliban insurgency.  

Later, NATO announced the death of a fifth soldier in a separate IED attack.

Seventy-five international troops have now died this month, including 56 Americans.

More than 100 international troops were killed in Afghanistan in June, the deadliest month for international forces in Afghanistan since 2001.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

NATO said Saturday that the U.S. service members left the compound in a vehicle Friday and never returned.  

Afghan officials said Saturday the two sailors were seen driving an armored vehicle in the country’s eastern Logar province, which borders Kabul to the south.  They said the sailors drove into the insurgent-controlled Charkh district.

Taliban officials claimed Saturday to have captured two members of the U.S. military in that same area.  Taliban officials also told reporters that one of them had been killed.  

Local radio stations were broadcasting offers from the United States to pay $20,000 for information leading to their release.

Only one U.S. service member is known to have been captured by insurgents.  Bowe Bergdahl disappeared June of last year after leaving his base in Paktika province with three Afghans.  He has since appeared in videos posted on Taliban websites.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission in Kabul tells VOA’s Afghan service that three Bangladeshi workers and their Afghan driver have been kidnapped in the country’s northern Samangan province.  

Civil Affairs Officer Reza Hassan said the Bangladeshis were working for a South Korean construction company and were driving to a construction site when they were attacked.

Afghan officials blamed the incident on the Taliban but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, NATO officials said five U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate bombings in southern Afghanistan, where international forces are stepping up their fight against the Taliban.

The International Security Assistance Force said Saturday that four of its troops were killed by the blast of an improvised explosive device, which is commonly used by the Taliban insurgency.  

Later, NATO announced the death of a fifth soldier in a separate IED attack.

Seventy-five international troops have now died this month, including 56 Americans.

More than 100 international troops were killed in Afghanistan in June, the deadliest month for international forces in Afghanistan since 2001.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

The string of new projects unveiled by Clinton during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Memood Qureshi are designed to help Pakistan meet its energy needs and boost power generation, health and agricultural development.  The programs are the first to be launched under U.S legislation passed last year tripling civilian aid for Pakistan to $7.5 billion during the next five years.

Secretary Clinton said the United States hopes the new aid will translate into real life improvements for families and communities, describing them as long-term investments in Pakistan’s future.

“We are committed to building a partnership with Pakistan that of course strengthens security and protects the people of Pakistan, but goes far beyond security,” Clinton said. “We want to help you drive economic growth and prosperity, strengthen your democratic government institutions and expand access to the tools of opportunity.”

Pakistan is playing a key role in the international fighting against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.  But public opinion in Pakistan still views U.S. motives with a considerable amount of suspicion.  The skepticism stems from the U.S decision to abandon support for Pakistan after Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

But Secretary Clinton says she can see positive change resulting from what she called deeper and broader bilateral engagements in recent years.

“We have moved beyond a standoff of our misunderstandings that were allowed to fester and not addressed… to a position where we are engaged in the most open dialogue that I think our two countries have ever had,” she said.

Foreign minister Qureshi also agreed that the enhanced U.S cooperation in various fields such as energy, power, health, agricultural and education sector is critical for changing the public perception in Pakistan.

“The opinion of the United States will change when the people of Pakistan see that their lives have changed,” said Mr. Qureshi.

Sunday, Clinton attended the signing of a landmark trade deal reached by Pakistan and Afghanistan, after years of negotiations.  The United States has been pushing Afghan and Pakistani leaders to improve bilateral relations it says will contribute to the fight against extremists.  

Secretary Clinton’s next stop as part of her Asia trip will be Kabul, where she will attend an international conference on Tuesday.

At the news conference in Islamabad, she reiterated that insurgents who wish to reconcile must lay down their arms, renounce partnership with al-Qaida and accept Afghanistan’s constitution.

“It seems to us that there will be some who are willing to meet those conditions and others who are not.  And we would strongly advise our friends in Afghanistan to deal with those who are committed to a peaceful future where their ideas can compete in the political arena through the ballot box, not through the force of arms.”

Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks against Afghan and U.S-led coalition forces in recent months.  More than 50 foreign troops have died in July while the previous month was the deadliest for international forces since the war against Taliban and its allies began nine years ago.

Security forces were deployed throughout Kabul Monday, as top officials from more than 60 countries and international groups, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, gather in the Afghan capital for Tuesday’s conference.

Afghan officials say the government will outline its commitments to improving governance, economic and social development and the rule of law, while seeking greater control of billions of dollars of international aid that flows into the country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is hosting the summit, is also expected to lay out a timeframe for Afghan police and military to take responsibility for the country’s security.

Before departing for the conference Monday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for the transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan forces by 2014. Afghan officials are also expected to lay out details of a government program aimed at re-integrating Taliban fighters who agree to lay down their weapons.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Afghan officials say the police officers were killed and four others wounded Monday when a bomb ripped through their vehicle in the Khakrez district of Kandahar province.  The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two American soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks in the south Monday.  NATO did not give details.

Militants have stepped up attacks as U.S.-led NATO and Afghan forces work to clear Kandahar and surrounding areas of Taliban insurgents.

The latest violence comes as the Afghan government prepares to host a major international conference on Afghanistan in Kabul Tuesday.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.