A New Zealand soldier has been killed and two others injured in an attack on a routine patrol in Afghanistan, the Defence Force announced today. A local interpreter with the patrol was also injured during the attack.

A senior volunteer for Wikileaks in the US was detained as the FBI steps up its investigation into the leak of thousands of Afghanistan war secrets.

Wayne Mapp has confirmed the WikiLeaks report of a missile threat faced by an RNZAF Hercules in Afghanistan last year.

Brigadier Richard Felton points to the maps on the wall of his office in Lashkar Gah, dotted with markers for impending military operations over the long, hot, Afghan fighting season.

The three Gurkhas who died stood no chance. Two - believed to be British nationals - died in the operations room when it came under attack by a rocket-propelled grenade.

General David Petraeus has formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan.

Republican chief Michael Steele has drawn fire from his own party for calling the commitment of US troops to Afghanistan a 'war of Obama's choosing'.

Some Pakistanis are saying that the solution to the country's terror threat is a US exit from Afghanistan.

New Zealand defence personnel and a Television New Zealand film crew in Afghanistan were involved in a bomb scare while on bomb disposal patrol.

David Petraeus has become Obama's third commander of the war since April last year.

General Stanley McChrystal deserved to be fired as the United States commander in Afghanistan, writes Gwynne Dwyer.