Secret documents about detainees at Guantanamo Bay reveal new information about some of the men the US believes to be terrorists, according to reports about the files.

US defence secretary Robert Gates began a two-day visit with US troops, allied commanders and Afghan leaders today to gauge war progress as the Obama administration moves towards crucial decisions on reducing troop levels.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the “enemies of Afghanistan” today after roadside bombs killed nine people, including five children, as insurgents fight intensified Nato-led operations in the south.

Gunmen torched more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel to Nato troops and killed a driver today – the sixth attack on convoys taking supplies to Afghanistan since Pakistan closed a key border crossing almost a week ago.

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange said he believed the Pentagon could be behind a rape allegation against him that was swiftly dropped by Swedish authorities.

The next leak of secret Afghan war documents being planned by WikiLeaks will be even more damaging to US security and the war effort than the initial release of 76,000 war files, the Pentagon warned tonight.

The Pentagon demanded today that a website that solicits leaked government secrets stop publishing more secret military documents and pull back tens of thousands of secret Afghan war logs already posted on the internet.

US President Barack Obama today directed that no new offshore oil drilling leases can be issued unless rigs have new safeguards to prevent a repeat of the explosion that unleashed the massive spill threatening the Gulf Coast with major environmental damage.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s top commander in Afghanistan has told him that without more troops the US could lose the war that Obama has described as the nation’s foremost military priority.

The violence that has surged for two years in Afghanistan has reached a new high and more difficulty lies ahead, America’s top war zone commander said.

THE US and its Asian allies could look at tougher responses should diplomacy fail to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme, officials at a security conference said at the weekend.

IN a U-turn, US President Barack Obama is fighting the release of dozens of new photos showing US personnel allegedly abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a White House official said.

PAKISTANI airstrikes killed dozens of Taliban fighters in a fierce struggle to drive them from a district near the capital, while the militants took over police stations and kidnapped more than 50 security forces, the army said.

The senior military judge overseeing terror trials at Guantanamo Bay dropped charges against a suspect in the 2000 USS Cole bombing, marking the last active war crimes case there, the Pentagon said today.

A freed Guantanamo Bay terror detainee has re-emerged as an al-Qaida commander in Yemen, the US said today.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has asked for an updated proposal for closing the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp in case President-elect Barack Obama asks for one soon after taking office next month, officials said.

The Bush administration warned of “real consequences” for Iraq if it rejects a newly negotiated security pact.

The US military yesterday admitted that US airstrikes in Afghanistan on August 22 killed 33 civilians, far more than previously acknowledged.

An attempt to blast a crippled US spy satellite out of the sky using a navy heat-seeking missile may happen early tomorrow, the military says.

The US military’s attempt to shoot down a wayward spy satellite as it falls towards Earth could happen tomorrow night, officials said tonight.

The death of one of the world’s most wanted terrorists in a car bombing in Syria has been welcomed by the United States.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Iraq today to assess the progress that has been made since the build-up of US forces began to take hold and reduce violence in some parts of the country.

Nato is investigating claims that its planes killed 14 members of an Afghan civilian road construction crew while hunting Taliban fighters in a mountainous region.

US President George Bush is set to ask the US for more time to let success bloom in Iraq even as the assassination of a Sunni sheikh who revolted against al-Qaida sent a chilling reminder of the pervasive instability there.