There were reasons for optimism on that February day, eight years ago, that Britain's Helmand force would not suffer the same fate as the French in Vietnam

One of the first things Andy Moles wanted to be assured about before he took the job of Afghanistan's new head coach was what the Taliban thought about cricket.

Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the US soldier held captive by the Taliban for almost five years, isn't emotionally prepared to reunite with his family.

The spring rainy season had already brought death and destruction to northern Afghanistan.

The star witness in the trial of a radical Islamic cleric has described how he received a hug from Osama bin Laden after he was given instructions for a "shoe bomb" plot.

With just days left in Afghanistan's presidential campaign, Abdullah Abdullah arrives in Kandahar for one of his last rallies before the election.

Aid worker Nicola Rounce - a project manager who has lived in some of the world's most dangerous places - has escaped a murderous attack in Afghanistan.

A New Zealand woman is safe and unharmed after an attack by gunmen on a Kabul hotel, despite initial reports she had been killed.

An Afghan who claimed he had been kidnapped and tortured by members of the Taliban after working as an interpreter for Kiwi troops has been denied asylum in New Zealand.

An Afghan interpreter vying for New Zealand citizenship has narrowly escaped execution by the Taliban.

A Kiwi soldier wounded by friendly fire in Afghanistan has paid tribute to a US Air Force search and rescue crew after they received one of the US military's highest honours.

An Afghan man is understood to have become the first atheist ever to secure asylum in Britain on religious grounds.

A young girl found wearing a suicide vest in Afghanistan has spoken about how her family "treated her like a slave" and tried to make her blow up a police checkpoint.

A 10-year-old Afghan girl has been apprehended while trying to carry out a suicide bombing attack against local police.

The mother of an SAS soldier honoured for his bravery in Afghanistan says nothing will compensate for his death but he "wouldn't have had it any other way".

An argument over a laptop is emerging as the incident which sparked the shooting of a New Zealand soldier in Afghanistan.

The exchange of gunfire that injured a New Zealand soldier in Afghanistan involved three rounds being fired towards the Kiwi from a lone Afghan soldier.

Former Labour MP Chris Carter says he was lucky to escape possible death after a suicide car bomb exploded metres away from his Afghanistan home.

Safe and sedate, Dunedin is a stark contrast to Afghanistan, where driving to work is risk and walking alone even more dangerous.

Militants in Pakistan's most populous province are said to be training for what they expect will be an ethnic-based civil war in neighbouring Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw in 16 months, according to analysts and a senior militant.

An Afghan man who spent years risking his life translating for New Zealand troops in Afghanistan is reportedly finding it hard to get a job in his new home.

Willie Apiata has paid tribute to his mother, calling her a hero who kept the family together through difficult times.