At least 35 Taliban insurgents, including three Arab fighters, were killed and 42 insurgents injured in two separate operations in the western Herat and Badghis provinces, local officials said Tuesday.

An operation was launched last week in the Kishk-e-Kohna district of Herat and the Moqor district of Badghis province, said Herat Deputy Governor Asiluddin Jami, who added that the Taliban district governor of Gulran, Mawlawi Abdul Khaliq Baloch, was also detained.

An Afghan soldier and a policeman were killed in the operations.

"We hope the operation can secure the different parts of the districts in order for people to live in peace," Jami said.

Security officials in Badghis said that they had cleared several districts of insurgents and that they were confident in the improving abilities of the province's police.

"Our security forces have become more capable and we are ready to undertake any kind of operations," said Badghis police chief Gen. Sharafuddin Sharaf.

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 An inclusive negotiation process that builds national consensus is necessary for a successful peace settlement, said Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, head of the Transition Coordination Commission.

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A suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Afghan soldiers to work in Kabul city early Wednesday, injuring 10, including 4 civilians, local officials said.

The attack took place at about 07:00 am local time in the Kart-e-Say area in western Kabul. The bomber was waiting for the target and detonated his explosives as the bus drew near, Defence Ministry Spokesman, Zahir Azimi told TOLOnews.

"Six Afghan National Army soldiers and 4 civilians were injured in the attack. The victims have been taken to a nearby hospital," he said.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Afghan government uses buses to ferry soldiers, police and office workers into the center city for work every day.

The bomber was wearing a black overcoat and carried an umbrella as he crossed the snowy street toward the bus, an eyewitness said.

"I was waiting for the car to go to work. I saw a man near a national army vehicle and then there was a blast and then flames," the eyewitness told TOLOnews.

The attack comes three days after a suicide car bomber was shot dead by police in downtown Kabul. The bomber was driving a vehicle packed with explosives, and officials said he appeared to be targeting an intelligence agency office nearby.

The US Senate confirmed Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defence, ending a long and acrimonious nomination process and handing President Barack Obama a boost as he fills his second-term cabinet.

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An initial probe into a hot air balloon crash that killed up to 19 tourists in Egypt has ruled out any criminal activity as a cause of the accident, state media said on Wednesday.

"Investigations so far by the general prosecution show no suspicion of criminal activity," the official MENA news agency reported, citing the preliminary findings of the investigation.

Four investigating teams were formed after Prime Minister Hisham Qandil ordered a probe into Tuesday's balloon crash in the ancient temple city of Luxor that killed tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, France and Hungary.

Luxor Governor Saad Ezzat and a delegation of Egyptian officials, as well as tourism industry professionals, visited the scene of the crash where they placed three bouquets of white flowers before observing a minute's silence.

Investigators have inspected the area in the dense sugar cane fields of Luxor, spoke to witnesses and residents and reviewed the operating company's paperwork and licences.

According to the investigating teams, the company that operates the balloon rides, Sky Cruise, had passed a routine inspection by the Civil Aviation Ministry on February 13-15.

"The minister of aviation checked the documents of the company operating the balloon. He found everything is okay. The technical requirements were okay," Governor Ezzat told reporters at the crash site.

Civil Aviation Minister Wael al-Maadawi said, meanwhile, that he had agreed to a request by British authorities to attend the probe.

"Things are very fresh at the moment. As the governor said, the investigations are ongoing, but if there is anything we could do, we will be happy to do so," British Consul John Hamilton told AFP from Luxor.

"Our main concern at this time is with the people who suffered such horrific accident and I extend our deepest condolences to their families," he said.

The balloon had been floating over the west bank of Luxor, one of Egypt's most renowned archaeological sites and home to the famous Valley of the Kings and the grand Temple of Hatshepsut, when it exploded.

A video shot by a passenger on another flight appears to show smoke pouring from the balloon's basket for some time before the balloon itself collapses, leaving the basket full of tourists to freefall to earth.

The pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket at some point before it hit the ground, said an employee of Sky Cruise. Both were taken to hospital.

Thousands of children under the age of five across the eastern province of Kunar couldn't be vaccinated due to insecurity, health officials said.

Farooq Sahak, head of Kunar's central hospital, said 20-25,000 children were not vaccinated because workers are unable to carry out the polio campaigns in areas where the government's control remains contested.

But the provincial governor contradicted Mr. Sahak's assertion about insecurity and said snowfall was the main reason behind the vaccination impediments.

"The health department started the vaccine programme at a time when there was snowfall, and I also think that the figures they provided are inaccurate," said Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi.

Afghanistan, along with Pakistan and Nigeria, are the only countries where polio remains endemic.

At least 10 Afghan local policemen and six civilians were poisoned and killed in the eastern province of Ghazni Tuesday night, local officials said.

The incident took place in the Gado area of Andar District yesterday night when the policemen ate poisoned food, deputy provincial council chief Abdul Jameh Jameh told TOLOnews.

"Ten police and their six civilians guests [The civilians were the guests of the local police?] were poisoned and killed at the check post," he said.

Provincial police chief Zorawar Zahid, who visited the area, confirmed the report.

"We have started an investigation into the incident," Zahid said.

No group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Andar District is among the most insecure districts in Ghazni province. A recent uprising against the Taliban in the district left a number of people dead on both sides.

The Independent Elections Commission (IEC) sent to the ministries of interior and defense a list of 17,000 polling centers it has chosen for the 2014 presidential election, officials said.

The IEC has asked the security institutions to specify within four months the areas they are capable of securing so that the final precinct list can be finalized prior to the elections, IEC Spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said.

"[The security institutions] should specify the areas that they can't secure so that the commission could consider alternative options," Noor said.

This is the first time the Afghan ministries of interior and defense are responsible for providing security for the elections.

"With the increase in the capacities and capabilities of the Afghan forces, and with our experiences from previous elections, the forces are capable of providing security for the elections," said General Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

The Ministry of Interior expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Afghan police and said it will promptly begin inspecting the voting center sites and report to IEC.

"We will begin our inspections to see which areas are facing security threats. We will report our conclusions to the [election] commission," said Seddiq Seddiqi, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

"Considering the capabilities of the Afghan forces, they will be able to provide security for the elections," he added.

According to the IEC, voter registration will start in late April and finish by late July. Voting cards will be provided to people who do not have one already, either because they have lost their cards or have recently returned to Afghanistan from abroad.

At least one person was killed and six others injured in a blast at a commercial market in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, local officials said.

Speaking to TOLOnews, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said that the incident occurred in Ghanikhil District at around 4:00 pm local time.

"The attacked occurred as a result of the explosion of IEDs planted under the stairway of a commercial market in Ghanikhil District," Abdulzai said. All the victims were civilians, he added.

One person was detained after police found a suspicious object in front of his shop in the same market.

No groups, including the Taliban, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Suicide attacks and insurgent activities are increasing across the country as the spring fighting season starts.

Also on Wednesday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives under an army bus in the capital Kabul, wounding 10 people, including four civilians.

A would-be suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan security forces near a diplomatic enclave in central Kabul on Sunday. A car full of explosive devices was seized and defused.

Security facilities in Kabul, Nangarhar and Logar have come under attack this week.

Isaf admitted Wednesday that it made a clerical error in reporting a seven-percent decrease in insurgent attacks in 2012, promising to release a corrected version of the report in due time.

"It is true that last year we had in our data bank that enemy-initiated attacks went down seven percent, but during a routine quality control check of our database, we found out that some of the data have been incorporated in the system incorrectly," said Isaf Spokesman General Gunter Katz.

There has been no decrease to insurgent attacks, Katz emphasized, and added that the error was first spotted by Isaf itself.

"We always try for transparency and accuracy, and that's why we decided to change the data, so we took the system down and incorporated the new data. And indeed, we found out that in terms of sheer numbers, the enemy initiated attacks were comparable to 2011," Katz said.

He emphasized that security across Afghanistan is increasing, especially in large population centers and urban areas. He said 80 percent of insurgent attacks are executed in areas where 20 percent of the people live.

"Take Kandahar district as one prominent example. Compared to 2011 we managed to decrease the attacks in Kandahar district by 63 percent and those are the corrected numbers. So that is a significant example in terms of how successfully we pressured the insurgency out of the cities and to areas that used to be safe havens and we continue to fight them in those remote areas," he said.

But Afghan analysts criticized the error and urged the international forces to be more precise in their reports. They also took issue with Isaf's position that security is improving.

"[Isaf] only wants to show that they are active and carry out their responsibilities properly, and show that they are confident about the situation. But the truth is hidden. The truth is that the attacks are increasing," said General Noorulhaq Oloomi, military affairs analyst.

"There are incidents taking place in Afghanistan on a daily basis," said General Noorulhaq Oloomi, military affairs analyst," he said.

Top news in this Bulletin:

A suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Afghan soldiers to work in Kabul city early Wednesday, injuring 10, including 4 civilians, local officials said.

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Azerbaijan will provide technical assistance to modernize the Afghan customs sector, Afghan officials announced Wednesday following a visit from the Azerbaijan Customs Committee.

The visiting delegation said Azerbaijan's existing cooperation with Central Asian countries will be useful in the work with Afghanistan.

"Customs work started in 1999 in Azerbaijan, and we want to share the experience of our country with Afghanistan," said Aiden Aliov, head of the Azerbaijan Customs Committee.

Afghan officials added that the Azerbaijan delegation gave two information registration machines for the Kabul Air Port and offered assistance with brochures and publicity materials.

"Our main aim is to make Afghanistan a place where everyone comes for investment, and that will be possible if we bring reforms in the customs and borders regulations," said Sayed Mobin Shah, deputy minister for revenue and income tax at the Ministry of Finance.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday urged the visiting Pakistani president to press ahead with a much-delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline project despite US opposition.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry hinted at greater US support for Syria's opposition Wednesday, saying it needs "more help" in the struggle against Bashar al-Assad and that Washington wants to speed up a political transition.

In Paris on the eve of a meeting in Rome of the Friends of Syria group, Kerry said boosting support for the opposition would be a key part of the talks Thursday bringing together foreign powers and the main opposition National Coalition.

"We are examining and developing ways to accelerate the political transition that the Syrian people seek and deserve, and that is what we will be discussing in Rome," Kerry said at a joint press conference with French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

He said he wanted to hear from the opposition about how best to end the violence in Syria, where the United Nations says at least 70,000 have died and hundreds of thousands have been uprooted in the two-year conflict.

"That may require us to change president Assad's current calculation. He needs to know he can't shoot his way out of this," Kerry said. "I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that and we are working together to have a united position."

Kerry said there was a desire to help the opposition deliver assistance and basic services in areas it has "liberated from the regime" and also to "protect the legitimate institutions of the state".

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the White House was considering a policy shift to supply rebels with "non-lethal" aid, including armoured vehicles and perhaps even military training.

CNN ran a similar story on its website.

Kerry's remarks also came ahead of a weekend opposition gathering in Istanbul to elect a prime minister and government to run "liberated" parts of Syria.
-- Opposition's 'struggle' important --

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for more support from the international community for Syria's opposition, saying the lack of a clear leader among the opposition was no reason to back Assad's "cruel" regime.

"The struggle of the opposition is important and should be appreciated. Their effort is the way to prepare the ground for a democratic process to take hold for the Syrian people," Erdogan said at a United Nations event in Vienna.

But combatants in Syria seemed deaf to the diplomacy, with fighting and bombardment reported near Damascus as the regime renewed its campaign to suppress the insurgency.

Kerry had on Tuesday met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks in Berlin and while initially at odds over the two-year-old conflict, Washington and Moscow have sought to find common ground.

Russia, the most powerful supporter of Assad, this week urged his regime to open talks to end the conflict, with Lavrov also urging the opposition to "declare itself in favour of dialogue".

Washington has recently toned down its criticism of Moscow's perceived intransigence despite Russia having vetoed UN Security Council resolutions which threatened sanctions against Damascus.

"We've been absolutely clear that there needs to be a political transition, and we felt that Russia could play a key role in convincing the regime... that there needs to be that political transition," a State Department official said.

The umbrella opposition National Coalition cancelled a planned boycott of the 11-nation meeting in Rome after the US and Britain "promised specific aid to alleviate the suffering of our people".

Meanwhile, Damascus has decided to renew the passports of any Syrians abroad, in an apparent concession after Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib demanded such a move as a condition for talks.

Washington is expected to use the Rome meeting to boost the morale of the opposition, which has grown frustrated at the lack of progress on the diplomatic front.

In Rome, "the Americans want to boost the opposition's morale... because they are aware negotiations with the Russians could last several months," said Karim Bitar of the French Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

On Saturday in Istanbul the Coalition is to appoint the head of an interim cabinet in a secret ballot.

Among those tipped to fill the post are Burhan Ghalioun, the former head of opposition faction the Syrian National Council and ex-prime minister Riad Hijab who defected in mid-2012.

On the ground, fierce battles rocked towns near Damascus as the regime renewed its campaign to crush the insurgency around the capital, a watchdog said.

Tanks pounded the rebel-held town of Daraya, southwest of Damascus, while new clashes broke out in Irbin to the northeast, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The conflict has at times spilled over Syria's borders, notably with Lebanon and Turkey, and a stray mortar shell landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday, Israel's military said.

An initial probe into a hot air balloon crash that killed up to 19 tourists in Egypt has ruled out any criminal activity as a cause of the accident, state media said on Wednesday.

"Investigations so far by the general prosecution show no suspicion of criminal activity," the official MENA news agency reported, citing the preliminary findings of the investigation.

Four investigating teams were formed after Prime Minister Hisham Qandil ordered a probe into Tuesday's balloon crash in the ancient temple city of Luxor that killed tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, France and Hungary.

Luxor Governor Saad Ezzat and a delegation of Egyptian officials, as well as tourism industry professionals, visited the scene of the crash where they placed three bouquets of white flowers before observing a minute's silence.

Investigators have inspected the area in the dense sugar cane fields of Luxor, spoke to witnesses and residents and reviewed the operating company's paperwork and licences.

According to the investigating teams, the company that operates the balloon rides, Sky Cruise, had passed a routine inspection by the Civil Aviation Ministry on February 13-15.

"The minister of aviation checked the documents of the company operating the balloon. He found everything is okay. The technical requirements were okay," Governor Ezzat told reporters at the crash site.

Civil Aviation Minister Wael al-Maadawi said, meanwhile, that he had agreed to a request by British authorities to attend the probe.

"Things are very fresh at the moment. As the governor said, the investigations are ongoing, but if there is anything we could do, we will be happy to do so," British Consul John Hamilton told AFP from Luxor.

"Our main concern at this time is with the people who suffered such horrific accident and I extend our deepest condolences to their families," he said.

The balloon had been floating over the west bank of Luxor, one of Egypt's most renowned archaeological sites and home to the famous Valley of the Kings and the grand Temple of Hatshepsut, when it exploded.

A video shot by a passenger on another flight appears to show smoke pouring from the balloon's basket for some time before the balloon itself collapses, leaving the basket full of tourists to freefall to earth.

The pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket at some point before it hit the ground, said an employee of Sky Cruise. Both were taken to hospital.

Thousands of children under the age of five across the eastern province of Kunar couldn't be vaccinated due to insecurity, health officials said.

Farooq Sahak, head of Kunar's central hospital, said 20-25,000 children were not vaccinated because workers are unable to carry out the polio campaigns in areas where the government's control remains contested.

But the provincial governor contradicted Mr. Sahak's assertion about insecurity and said snowfall was the main reason behind the vaccination impediments.

"The health department started the vaccine programme at a time when there was snowfall, and I also think that the figures they provided are inaccurate," said Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi.

Afghanistan, along with Pakistan and Nigeria, are the only countries where polio remains endemic.

At least 10 Afghan local policemen and six civilians were poisoned and killed in the eastern province of Ghazni Tuesday night, local officials said.

The incident took place in the Gado area of Andar District yesterday night when the policemen ate poisoned food, deputy provincial council chief Abdul Jameh Jameh told TOLOnews.

"Ten police and their six civilians guests [The civilians were the guests of the local police?] were poisoned and killed at the check post," he said.

Provincial police chief Zorawar Zahid, who visited the area, confirmed the report.

"We have started an investigation into the incident," Zahid said.

No group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Andar District is among the most insecure districts in Ghazni province. A recent uprising against the Taliban in the district left a number of people dead on both sides.

The Independent Elections Commission (IEC) sent to the ministries of interior and defense a list of 17,000 polling centers it has chosen for the 2014 presidential election, officials said.

The IEC has asked the security institutions to specify within four months the areas they are capable of securing so that the final precinct list can be finalized prior to the elections, IEC Spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said.

"[The security institutions] should specify the areas that they can't secure so that the commission could consider alternative options," Noor said.

This is the first time the Afghan ministries of interior and defense are responsible for providing security for the elections.

"With the increase in the capacities and capabilities of the Afghan forces, and with our experiences from previous elections, the forces are capable of providing security for the elections," said General Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

The Ministry of Interior expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Afghan police and said it will promptly begin inspecting the voting center sites and report to IEC.

"We will begin our inspections to see which areas are facing security threats. We will report our conclusions to the [election] commission," said Seddiq Seddiqi, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

"Considering the capabilities of the Afghan forces, they will be able to provide security for the elections," he added.

According to the IEC, voter registration will start in late April and finish by late July. Voting cards will be provided to people who do not have one already, either because they have lost their cards or have recently returned to Afghanistan from abroad.

At least one person was killed and six others injured in a blast at a commercial market in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, local officials said.

Speaking to TOLOnews, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said that the incident occurred in Ghanikhil District at around 4:00 pm local time.

"The attacked occurred as a result of the explosion of IEDs planted under the stairway of a commercial market in Ghanikhil District," Abdulzai said. All the victims were civilians, he added.

One person was detained after police found a suspicious object in front of his shop in the same market.

No groups, including the Taliban, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Suicide attacks and insurgent activities are increasing across the country as the spring fighting season starts.

Also on Wednesday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives under an army bus in the capital Kabul, wounding 10 people, including four civilians.

A would-be suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan security forces near a diplomatic enclave in central Kabul on Sunday. A car full of explosive devices was seized and defused.

Security facilities in Kabul, Nangarhar and Logar have come under attack this week.

Isaf admitted Wednesday that it made a clerical error in reporting a seven-percent decrease in insurgent attacks in 2012, promising to release a corrected version of the report in due time.

"It is true that last year we had in our data bank that enemy-initiated attacks went down seven percent, but during a routine quality control check of our database, we found out that some of the data have been incorporated in the system incorrectly," said Isaf Spokesman General Gunter Katz.

There has been no decrease to insurgent attacks, Katz emphasized, and added that the error was first spotted by Isaf itself.

"We always try for transparency and accuracy, and that's why we decided to change the data, so we took the system down and incorporated the new data. And indeed, we found out that in terms of sheer numbers, the enemy initiated attacks were comparable to 2011," Katz said.

He emphasized that security across Afghanistan is increasing, especially in large population centers and urban areas. He said 80 percent of insurgent attacks are executed in areas where 20 percent of the people live.

"Take Kandahar district as one prominent example. Compared to 2011 we managed to decrease the attacks in Kandahar district by 63 percent and those are the corrected numbers. So that is a significant example in terms of how successfully we pressured the insurgency out of the cities and to areas that used to be safe havens and we continue to fight them in those remote areas," he said.

But Afghan analysts criticized the error and urged the international forces to be more precise in their reports. They also took issue with Isaf's position that security is improving.

"[Isaf] only wants to show that they are active and carry out their responsibilities properly, and show that they are confident about the situation. But the truth is hidden. The truth is that the attacks are increasing," said General Noorulhaq Oloomi, military affairs analyst.

"There are incidents taking place in Afghanistan on a daily basis," said General Noorulhaq Oloomi, military affairs analyst," he said.