Germany's conservative President Horst Koehler tendered his immediate resignation yesterday.

Al Qaeda says its top leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, has died, according to a group that monitors Islamist websites.

Most New Zealanders want Special Air Service (SAS) troops withdrawn from Afghanistan, a poll has found.

In an attempt to take the pressure off bomb disposal officers in Afghanistan, combat engineers will now be tasked with blowing up many improvised devices rather than having to dismantle all of them.

John Key's decision to attend the funerals of three Air Force servicemen has been criticised as "short-sighted and irresponsible".

NZ SAS troops took part in an operation in Kabul that saw a terror cell busted and a quarter tonne of explosives seized, John Key told media during his secret visit to Afghanistan.

Wearing body armour and a helmet, Prime Minister John Key has spent the past three days in war-torn Afghanistan on a top-secret visit to NZ troops.

Humanitarian help has become a huge industry, buffering corrupt regimes and perpetuating war, claims the author of a new book.

Increases in terror attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan triggered a spike in the number of civilians killed or wounded there last year.