Isaf's new commander in Afghanistan said the coalition supports President Hamid Karzai's ban on the Afghan army calling for Isaf air support during military operations, giving an assurance that the operations can still be effective.

Gen Joseph Dunford told a group of senior reporters Sunday morning that the US-led foreign troops will continue to support the missions within the new framework declared by Karzai on Saturday.

"We are prepared to provide support in line with the president's intent," he said, adding that he will meet with Defence Minister Bismillah Mohammedi and Chief of Army Staff Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi at midday to discuss the "technical" aspects of how the president's directive would work.

"Keep in mind that there are other ways we can support our Afghan partners other than air ordnance," he said. "I believe we will provide the support to the Afghan forces consistent with the coalition tactical directive."

Dunford, who only took charge of the Afghan mission a week ago, pointed out that the Afghan army for its part will also have to factor the directive into their operations.

"It's not about what happens in the middle of operations, it's how you plan operations. What the Afghan security forces will do is plan their operations to factor that guidance in. I am confident we can continue to conduct effective operations within the president's guidance," he said, adding that the details will be worked out in the coming days.

Karzai said Saturday that the Afghan army can no longer call for air support during military operations after at least 10 civilians were reportedly killed last week in a Nato airstrike during a joint Afghan-coalition night raid in eastern Kunar province.

It is not the first time that an airstrike has mistakenly killed a number of civilians.

Former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh backed the president's decision and urged for air missions to only be carried out against possible threats from outside the country and not in Afghan civilian areas.

"It is not necessary for a small mission to expect jets to bombard an area. Even if there is a tactical success after it, there will be a big strategic loss resulting. If civilians are killed, there will be a larger gap between the people and the government and this is harmful," Saleh told TOLOnews Sunday.

But the decision received some criticism from at least one political party which suggested it will give the insurgency more strength in the villages.

"The president has almost legitimatised the Taliban. Our ground troops cannot fight the Taliban – they are not as equipped as the Taliban. This means that the Taliban will gradually take over villages and then districts," the leader of the National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said Sunday.

Civilian harm has been one of the most controversial issues between Afghanistan and Nato.

It was civilian casualties that led the Karzai government to push for Afghans to take control of military night raids in a signed agreement last year. It is also one of the reasons that Karzai has frequently voiced his desire to see foreign forces withdrawn from outposts in provincial villages.

The government must make it very clear what it expects the Taliban will want from a peace deal and what the government is willing to give them, a number of political parties said Sunday at a gathering of the Youth Network for Change in Kabul.

"The government must present a plan for the people for what the Taliban will want and what they [the government] will give them. The political process is a process of giving and taking and during this process independence, sovereignty and the current democracy should be protected," Afghan National Party leader Astana Gull Shirzad said.

Some present at the conference rejected any negotiation plan with the Taliban, saying the group was extremist and will never respect the will of the people.

"The Taliban wants to bring the authority of the Church [as in the past] into the current living conditions of the people and wants to impose it on the people of Afghanistan. So should we share with the Taliban their terms of politics? Who can accept such a leader, especially the young generation?" National Party leader Ahmad Zia Masooud told the crowd.

The politicians also reiterated a warning to the government to ensure it prevents any fraud or cheating in the upcoming presidential election or risk destabilising Afghanistan even to the point of civil war

"This election must be very transparent and held carefully and the nation must be assured that the next president was elected by the votes of people," Astana Gull Shirzad said.

The political parties said the government should change its decision to allow the old voting cards in the 2014 poll to ensure there is no fraudulent votes.

Students of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) returned to Kabul Sunday after a much-lauded music tour in the United States.

The orchestra presented another face of Afghanistan with their appearances given massive support by American officials and citizens, including performances in the historic King Hall of New York and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

ANIM director Nasser Sarmast said that the students, who were described by US Secretary of State John Kerry as "ambassadors of peace", were able to convey this message to Americans of a fresh view of Afghanistan that was far from war and violence.

"The aim of our trip was to introduce a new face of Afghanistan that was far from war and violence to the world. Because in the minds of the public there is always the covered face of a man with a gun," Sarmast said.

All 62 students returned to Kabul, a feat in itself, Sarmast added.

"Fortunately of all the 62 students [who went to the US], all of them returned to their country. This is our great achievement because as in the past, many athletes escaped or they didn't came back. But we didn't lose any of our students and they returned to their homes," he said.

During the 15-day trip, the students had special performances in US government institutions including the White House, the State Department, Congress and the World Bank.

President Barak Obama expressed his appreciation with a letter to the students.

Top news in this Bulletin:

Isaf's new commander in Afghanistan said the coalition supports President Hamid Karzai's ban on the Afghan army calling for Isaf air support during military operations, giving an assurance that the operations can still be effective.

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Gunmen stormed a construction site in northern Nigeria, kidnapping seven foreign workers and killing a security guard, police said, in one of the worst attacks on expatriates in the restive region.

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New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the country will keep a small team of military personnel in Afghanistan to help coalition forces after it formally withdraws from the country in April.

Key on Monday said the country remains committed to international efforts to improve the security and prosperity of Afghanistan.

A group of 27 including three elite special-forces troops will be primarily based in Kabul undertaking planning and intelligence duties.

The initial commitment will be for one year until April 2014.

Last year, the New Zealand announced it was withdrawing from the country in April 2013, five months earlier than previously planned.

The country has stationed about 145 soldiers in central Bamiyan province since 2003. Ten New Zealand soldiers have died in the Afghan war.

Afghan deputy foreign minister Jawed Ludin will lead the government delegation for tomorrow's trilateral meeting in Delhi between Afghanistan, India and the US.

The conference is expected to focus on regional consequences of the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, peace talks, India's investment's in Afghan mines, and the 2014 Afghan presidential election, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Janan Mosazai said Sunday.

The meeting is said to have raised the concern of some Pakistani officials and, according to some reports, Islamabad has called on Britain to apply some limitations to India's influence over Afghanistan.

The reports said that Pakistani officials discussed this matter with the British prime minister while at a recent London meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the UK.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to visit India on Monday, one day before the summit. Indian media has reported that Cameron will meet the India Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

"It is clear that Pakistan is distressed about this conference," Edris Rahmani, an international affairs analyst told TOLOnews Sunday.

"[But] from any viewpoint, this conference is beneficial to Afghanistan as all three countries do not have serious differences and the Afghan government should direct well the outcomes of this conference," he added.

Meanwhile, the New York Times has reported that despite efforts involving up to eight countries, there is even less hope for an agreement between Kabul and the Taliban as there has been in the past.

There is not much time left ahead of the Afghan presidential elections and the end of Nato's combat mission to secure a peace deal, it wrote.

One civilian has been killed and three more injured during clashes between Taliban insurgents and local police in northern Jawzjan province, official said Monday.

At least 10 Taliban insurgents were killed and another 10 injured in the two-day conflict in the Qoshtepa district, but the local police had no casualties, district governor Rahmatullah Ashar told TOLOnews.

The fight broke out Saturday and continued until Sunday afternoon, Ashar added, saying the insurgents were the instigators.

"The clash took place after the insurgents attacked the local police. There were no local police casualties," he said.

The victims have been taken for treatment to a nearby hospital in the district, he added.

Qoshtepa district is considered insecure in the northern province with insurgents frequently targeting local security forces.

A former Afghan soldier who killed a US soldier last year has been confirmed as one of the two Taliban insurgents killed last week in a joint military operation in eastern Kunar province, Isaf said Monday.

The former soldier, Mahmood, was killed along with his now-Taliban associate Rashid on Wednesday in Kunar's Ghaziabad district, Isaf said in a statement.

According to Isaf, Mahmood was responsible for the death of one American service member during the May 11 "insider attack" in Kunar province.

Rashid was also a former Afghan National Army soldier "who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution", the statement added.

The Associated Press reported that after shooting the US soldier dead last year, Mahmood was shown in a Taliban video as a hero in his army uniform with garlands of flowers around his neck while entering an insurgent camp. The Taliban claimed he had defected to their side.

Meanwhile, two local Taliban commanders were killed on Sunday in separate joint Afghan and Isaf operations.

Taliban commander Samiullah and another insurgent were killed during an operation in Panjwa'i district of southern Kandahar province while commander Zerkawai was killed during a security operation in eastern Logar province's Charkh district, Isaf said.

Two other Taliban commanders were arrested in joint operations in southern Helmand and eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday. Both leaders were responsible for attacks on Afghan and Nato troops, Isaf said.

A Haqqani attack facilitator has also been arrested Tuesday in a joint security forces operation in the Gardez district of eastern Paktiya province.

"The facilitator was allegedly involved with coordinating vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in the Khost and Paktiya provinces. He is also accused of conducting the movement of insurgent fighters between Gardez and Jalalabad districts to execute attacks against Afghan and coalition forces," Isaf said.

Afghanistan's Minister of Defence will address his 50 counterparts from the Isaf partner countries later this week in Brussels to discuss the drawdown of the Nato-led combat mission.

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, along with newly-appointed Isaf commander Gen Joseph Dunford and Nato Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) Maurits Jochems, will brief the 50 defence ministers on the latest situation in Afghanistan, the security transition, the sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces, and on the plans for the new Nato training mission after 2014, according to Nato.

"These meetings are critical to get the updates, to hear from Afghanistan what support do you want, what equipment do you want," Nato SCR spokesman Dominic Medley said Monday at a press briefing in Kabul.

"We already know that Nato has committed to that new [training] mission after 2014. And it is important to hear from the Secretary General, from senior defence ministers, that Nato continues to remain committed to that mission. It's important for those ministers to hear from Afghanistan's Minister of Defence as to where he sees it going as well," he added.

The meeting will run Thursday and Friday but Afghanistan will only be discussed on the second day when Mohammadi is expected to address the Isaf partners.

Isaf spokesman Brig. Gen. Gunter Katz said that the meeting will help determine the training and equipment needs ANSF after 2014.

"It will be decided how we train the Afghan National Security Forces, how we can assist them, and the individual nations can talk to the Afghan government, how they can continue their support in terms of equipment so that this is a seamless process ," Katz said at the briefing.

Further to this meeting, the Isaf foreign ministers will meet in Brussels in a few months, Medley said.

As the Western armies move towards the exit in Afghanistan, it seems the regional nations are vying to replace the influence exerted by the US and Nato over the past decade.

Fresh news reports from India reveal that New Delhi is planning to hold talks with Russia and China where the role of Pakistan in the Taliban negotiations is likely to be discussed.

India's National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon is expected to meet his Russian and Chinese counterparts later this month after a trilateral meeting with the Afghan government and the US tomorrow.

According to Indian newspapers, this meeting was flagged during last month's meeting of BRICS representatives in New Delhi where the three agreed that they will have a separate meeting to exchange views on the Taliban peace process and Afghanistan's situation.

It is likely that India will leverage the history of Pakistan as a "safe haven" for terrorists during Tuesday's meeting with Afghan and US representatives as a way to highlight itself as a more suitable peace partner, not only for Afghanistan but also for the US and UK's regional aims.

Afghan analysts, however, told TOLOnews that India cannot "replace" Pakistan because of Islamabad's unique situation with the insurgents mainly based in Pakistan's west on the Afghan border.

"India should really not be concerned about the cooperation of Pakistan in the peace process because Afghanistan's anti-government armed groups are located in Pakistan and they [Pakistan] should have a strong role in this regard," the Afghan High Peace Council's foreign relations advisor MuhammadIsmail Qasimyar told TOLOnews Monday.

Analyst and university lecturer Faizullah Jalal agreed, adding that few countries can really influence Pakistan to act.

"Pakistan and China have a close relationship and China is the only country that can really put pressure on Pakistan to fight against terrorism on the border with Afghanistan," he said.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently hosted Afghan and Pakistan presidents Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari in England to discuss a strategic partnership agreement between the two.

Afghanistan already has a similar agreement with India, but that has not stopped concerns from New Delhi that Pakistan's role in the peace process with the Afghan High Peace Council will give Pakistan a greater depth.

Reports suggest that Pakistan, for its part, is equally concerned about India seeking a greater role.

Afghanistan's National Security Council has ordered all legally armed groups fighting the insurgency to be integrated into the government security institutions.

In a Sunday meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the council has decided to "impede operations by all the armed groups and units established in some provinces by the coalition forces outside the Afghan armed forces' structures," according to a statement from the president's office.

"It was also decided that...a panel be created to soon ask the coalition forces to integrate all those groups and units into the security institutions of Afghanistan," it added.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi did not respond to phone calls asking for further explanation by Monday evening.

The statement said the meeting focused on the recent deaths of Afghan civilians in eastern Kunar province during an airstrike for a joint Afghan/Isaf military operation.

At least 10 civilians were killed in the Shigal district airstrike during the early hours of Wednesday morning, prompting Karzai on Saturday to ban the Afghan army from calling for US/Nato air support during military operations.

The council also discussed the US military's charges of drug smuggling against Afghanistan's private airline Kam Air.

The council statement said that if there is any evidence or proof from the US army proving their allegations, it should formally send this through the US Embassy to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs which will send it to the Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation (MoTCA) so that the MoTCA can refer this on to the country's Attorney General's office.

The US military had recently blacklisted any US personnel or military groups from doing business with Kam Air after an investigation concluded that the carrier had transported large quantities of opium on civilian flights to Tajikistan.

The US military has since suspended this ban until the Afghan government finalises its own investigation into the matter.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) warned Monday of a fraught 2014 election if security forces do not ensure the safety of voters.

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Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) warned Monday of a fraught 2014 election if security forces do not ensure the safety of voters.

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Afghanistan's biggest cement plant Ghori Cement in northern Baghlan province is running at only 80 percent capacity because of a lack of electricity, officials said Monday.

Producing around 1200 tonnes of cement a day, Ghori company chief the plant could produce more but is setback by its electricity needs which cannot be met by the output at Ghori Breshna Dam.

"Afghanistan still needs more electricity - the plant needs 8MW. The plant produces 1200 tonnes of cement a day but this is 80 percent of the plant's capacity," Islamuddin Ahmadi said, adding that there are efforts underway to fix this.

"Another part of the plant needs reconstruction which we have decided to work on in few days," he said.

Ahmadi said the plant sends most of its produce over north Afghanistan, with major customers in Balkh, Baghlan, Kunduz, Badakshan, Takhar, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces.

A former Afghan soldier who killed a US soldier last year has been confirmed as one of the two Taliban insurgents killed last week in a joint military operation in eastern Kunar province, Isaf said Monday.

The former soldier, Mahmood, was killed along with his now-Taliban associate Rashid on Wednesday in Kunar's Ghaziabad district, Isaf said in a statement.

According to Isaf, Mahmood was responsible for the death of one American service member during the May 11 "insider attack" in Kunar province.

Rashid was also a former Afghan National Army soldier "who facilitated and assisted with insider attack planning and execution", the statement added.

The Associated Press reported that after shooting the US soldier dead last year, Mahmood was shown in a Taliban video as a hero in his army uniform with garlands of flowers around his neck while entering an insurgent camp. The Taliban claimed he had defected to their side.

Meanwhile, two local Taliban commanders were killed on Sunday in separate joint Afghan and Isaf operations.

Taliban commander Samiullah and another insurgent were killed during an operation in Panjwa'i district of southern Kandahar province while commander Zerkawai was killed during a security operation in eastern Logar province's Charkh district, Isaf said.

Two other Taliban commanders were arrested in joint operations in southern Helmand and eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday. Both leaders were responsible for attacks on Afghan and Nato troops, Isaf said.

A Haqqani attack facilitator has also been arrested Tuesday in a joint security forces operation in the Gardez district of eastern Paktiya province.

"The facilitator was allegedly involved with coordinating vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in the Khost and Paktiya provinces. He is also accused of conducting the movement of insurgent fighters between Gardez and Jalalabad districts to execute attacks against Afghan and coalition forces," Isaf said.

Afghanistan's Minister of Defence will address his 50 counterparts from the Isaf partner countries later this week in Brussels to discuss the drawdown of the Nato-led combat mission.

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, along with newly-appointed Isaf commander Gen Joseph Dunford and Nato Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) Maurits Jochems, will brief the 50 defence ministers on the latest situation in Afghanistan, the security transition, the sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces, and on the plans for the new Nato training mission after 2014, according to Nato.

"These meetings are critical to get the updates, to hear from Afghanistan what support do you want, what equipment do you want," Nato SCR spokesman Dominic Medley said Monday at a press briefing in Kabul.

"We already know that Nato has committed to that new [training] mission after 2014. And it is important to hear from the Secretary General, from senior defence ministers, that Nato continues to remain committed to that mission. It's important for those ministers to hear from Afghanistan's Minister of Defence as to where he sees it going as well," he added.

The meeting will run Thursday and Friday but Afghanistan will only be discussed on the second day when Mohammadi is expected to address the Isaf partners.

Isaf spokesman Brig. Gen. Gunter Katz said that the meeting will help determine the training and equipment needs ANSF after 2014.

"It will be decided how we train the Afghan National Security Forces, how we can assist them, and the individual nations can talk to the Afghan government, how they can continue their support in terms of equipment so that this is a seamless process ," Katz said at the briefing.

Further to this meeting, the Isaf foreign ministers will meet in Brussels in a few months, Medley said.

As the Western armies move towards the exit in Afghanistan, it seems the regional nations are vying to replace the influence exerted by the US and Nato over the past decade.

Fresh news reports from India reveal that New Delhi is planning to hold talks with Russia and China where the role of Pakistan in the Taliban negotiations is likely to be discussed.

India's National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon is expected to meet his Russian and Chinese counterparts later this month after a trilateral meeting with the Afghan government and the US tomorrow.

According to Indian newspapers, this meeting was flagged during last month's meeting of BRICS representatives in New Delhi where the three agreed that they will have a separate meeting to exchange views on the Taliban peace process and Afghanistan's situation.

It is likely that India will leverage the history of Pakistan as a "safe haven" for terrorists during Tuesday's meeting with Afghan and US representatives as a way to highlight itself as a more suitable peace partner, not only for Afghanistan but also for the US and UK's regional aims.

Afghan analysts, however, told TOLOnews that India cannot "replace" Pakistan because of Islamabad's unique situation with the insurgents mainly based in Pakistan's west on the Afghan border.

"India should really not be concerned about the cooperation of Pakistan in the peace process because Afghanistan's anti-government armed groups are located in Pakistan and they [Pakistan] should have a strong role in this regard," the Afghan High Peace Council's foreign relations advisor MuhammadIsmail Qasimyar told TOLOnews Monday.

Analyst and university lecturer Faizullah Jalal agreed, adding that few countries can really influence Pakistan to act.

"Pakistan and China have a close relationship and China is the only country that can really put pressure on Pakistan to fight against terrorism on the border with Afghanistan," he said.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron recently hosted Afghan and Pakistan presidents Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari in England to discuss a strategic partnership agreement between the two.

Afghanistan already has a similar agreement with India, but that has not stopped concerns from New Delhi that Pakistan's role in the peace process with the Afghan High Peace Council will give Pakistan a greater depth.

Reports suggest that Pakistan, for its part, is equally concerned about India seeking a greater role.

Afghanistan's National Security Council has ordered all legally armed groups fighting the insurgency to be integrated into the government security institutions.

In a Sunday meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the council has decided to "impede operations by all the armed groups and units established in some provinces by the coalition forces outside the Afghan armed forces' structures," according to a statement from the president's office.

"It was also decided that...a panel be created to soon ask the coalition forces to integrate all those groups and units into the security institutions of Afghanistan," it added.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi did not respond to phone calls asking for further explanation by Monday evening.

The statement said the meeting focused on the recent deaths of Afghan civilians in eastern Kunar province during an airstrike for a joint Afghan/Isaf military operation.

At least 10 civilians were killed in the Shigal district airstrike during the early hours of Wednesday morning, prompting Karzai on Saturday to ban the Afghan army from calling for US/Nato air support during military operations.

The council also discussed the US military's charges of drug smuggling against Afghanistan's private airline Kam Air.

The council statement said that if there is any evidence or proof from the US army proving their allegations, it should formally send this through the US Embassy to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs which will send it to the Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation (MoTCA) so that the MoTCA can refer this on to the country's Attorney General's office.

The US military had recently blacklisted any US personnel or military groups from doing business with Kam Air after an investigation concluded that the carrier had transported large quantities of opium on civilian flights to Tajikistan.

The US military has since suspended this ban until the Afghan government finalises its own investigation into the matter.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) warned Monday of a fraught 2014 election if security forces do not ensure the safety of voters.

The IEC said the biggest challenge ahead of next year's poll is for voters to feel secure – indirectly disagreeing with political parties and parliamentarians who repeatedly state that the election will unravel because of the use of old voting cards.

"I emphasise that if there is no security then don't expect an inclusive and acceptable election. Where there is no security like in the 2010 parliamentary election, we will not put up the ballot boxes," IEC chief Fazil Ahmad Manawi said in a Kabul press conference.

The IEC will release a locations of 7000 voting centres around the country to security institutions in order for them to make the proper security precautions, Manawi added.

A number of political parties have reportedly claimed that if a new registration system and new voting cards are not introduced, these parties will boycott next year's election.

But Manawi responded that the IEC does not have any other alternative but to allow the use of the old cards and only electronically register new voters.

He also mentioned there was a dispute over who controls the election budget.

"The international community is committed to pay the budget of the 2014 election without any conditions but according to the Decree 45 of President Karzai, the budget of the election must be used by the Ministry of Finance but the Independent Election Commission has challenged this discussion. Our view is that if we use the budget according to the criteria of the Ministry of Finance we will not be able to complete our work on time," he said.

The key dates over the next 13 months in the lead up to the election were released by the IEC as follows:

Voter registration for those previously unregistered: 1 Sawr–31Asad 1392 (21 Apr-22 Aug 2013)

Election complaints commission to open in provinces: 2 Sonbola (24 August)

Registration of presidential and provincial council candidates: 25 Sonbola-14 Mezan (16 Sept-06 Oct)

Presidential candidate campaigns 26 Aqrab-13 Hamal (17 Nov 2013-02 April 2014)

Finalisation of campaigns: 14 Hamal 1393 (03 Apr 2014)

Election: 16 Haml (05 Apr 2014)

Vote count: 17 Hamal- 31 Hamal (06 April 2014-20 April 2014)