Thousands of US servicemen have been told to pay back enlistment bonuses, a decade after signing up for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gunmen opened fire on Shiite worshipers at a shrine in the Afghan capital, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 40 others

Watch NZH Focus: A Kiwi face transplant surgeon has lead his team in transplanting two donor arms to a retired marine who lost all four limbs in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully to attend a major conference hosted by Afghanistan just a fortnight after criticising its leadership as "dysfunctional."

Afghanistan has shot back at New Zealand after Foreign Affairs Minister made stinging remarks about its government at the United Nations Security Council.

Gunmen stormed the offices of an international charity and suicide bombers set off twin blasts in a shopping area near the Defense Ministry in a chaotic 24 hours.

When police stopped a van travelling across central Afghanistan to the city of Herat, they were really surprised: it was full of Western tourists.

Islamic State has suffered a blow after the leader of the group's Afghanistan and Pakistan branches was killed in a US drone strike, the Pentagon says.

The American University of Afghanistan reopens its campus after the kidnapping of two foreign professors.

A deployment of New Zealand military trainers will stay in Afghanistan until June 2018 and their number will be increased from eight to 10.

After plunging off one of the world's most dangerous roads, our car slammed into a river engorged by melting snow and days of spring rains, writes Tim Craig.

German scientists think they have found the solution for young refugees who have entered Germany from war-torn countries and are seeking a better life.

At least four Afghan policemen and one Spaniard have been killed in an hours-long Taliban siege near the Spanish embassy in Kabul.

A mother and an Auckland community will gather today to salute their fallen soldier.

Fallen Kiwi soldier, Luke Tamatea, was remembered in a touching moment last night, that left his 8-year-old daughter shedding "happy tears".

At least 124 people have died in north-eastern Afghanistan, after heavy winter snow caused an avalanche which buried and killed residents across four provinces.

Afghanistan came from nowhere to qualify for the World Cup. In their case that might be more than a pat phrase.

The war is officially over, victory secured. And Afghanistan, once again, has been rebuilt. But for many, life in the restive provinces is much as it ever was.

There is a scene in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass in which Alice meets the White Knight who is wearing full armour and riding a horse which he keeps falling off.

In the film Zero Dark Thirty, she was the persistent, conscientious CIA officer who finally tracked Osama bin Laden to his lair.

A former Guantanamo Bay detainee posed no threat during an awards ceremony confrontation, his target says.

"I was tortured for 5-and-a-half years!" Ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks heckled Australia's Attorney-General at an awards ceremony last night.

New Zealand could further extend its mission training security forces in Afghanistan beyond next year after the United States announced it was delaying the planned withdrawal of 1000 troops from Afghanistan.

Prince Harry returned to Afghanistan today on behalf of the Queen as he led emotional tributes to his friends who died in the name of war.

Three NZ Defence Force personnel have already left for the Middle East to scope out a role for New Zealand forces to help train Iraqi forces fight ISIS.

The Prime Minister's landmark speech on national security has two messages for New Zealanders, but they are somewhat discordant.

John Key says any NZ commitment to the campaign against Isis in the Middle East would be for a long time, pointing to the 10-year deployment of troops to Bamiyan.