Afghanistan’s finance minister warned today that the release of leaked US diplomatic cables will damage US-Afghan relations, and denied a report that he called President Hamid Karzai an “extremely weak man”.

Nato nations have formally agreed to start reducing troop levels in Afghanistan next year and hand over control of security to the Afghans in 2014.

Nato helicopter attacked a Pakistani security post near the Afghan border today, killing three troops, officials in Pakistan said.