Afghanistan War News Updates -- April 12, 2010

HERCULES MISSION - A C-130 Hercules takes off on a support mission from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, April 6, 2010. The air crew, assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, provides combat support to U.S. and coalition forces. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeromy K. Cross

U.S. Seeks To Ease Strained Relations With Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

The Obama administration realizes it has little choice but to mend differences as there is no obvious leadership alternative aside from Karzai -- and it's a particularly bad time for a diplomatic spat

Senior American officials on Sunday sought to smooth over a sharply quarrelsome interlude in U.S.-Afghan relations, with the special U.S. envoy to the region describing President Hamid Karzai's administration as "a government we can work with."

Speaking to reporters in Kabul, Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, pointed to Karzai's participation in a major planning conference with Afghan, American and coalition officials.

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More News On Afghanistan

U.S., Afghanistan's Karzai take steps to end feud -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Obama Administration Calls Karzai 'A Reliable Partner' -- Voice of America
Karzai, McChrystal Meet Elders in Northern Afghanistan -- Voice of America
Poison swirls around Hamid Karzai and Barack Obama -- Times Online

Blast kills Canadian soldier, hurts another -- Vancouver Sun
Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan -- Yahoo News/AFP
U.S. Troops Fire on Afghan Bus, Killing at Least 5 Civilians -- New York Times
Afghan official: 4 civilians killed by NATO troops -- AP
NATO troops kill Afghan civilians, sparking protest -- AFP
Nato troops accused of opening fire on civilian bus in Kandahar -- Times Online
Suicide Bombers Hit Afghan Spy Building In Kandahar -- New York Times/Reuters
Suicide attacks in S. Afghanistan wounds 9, two bombers killed -- Xinhuanet
Attackers target Kandahar intelligence office -- DAWN
Blasts hit southern Afghan city -- Al Jazeera
Blasts, gunfire in Afghanistan's Kandahar - witness -- Reuters
Insurgency in Afghanistan claims over 170 lives in past week -- People's Daily
FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, April 11 -- Reuters

Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, threatens to block Nato offensive -- Times Online
Key Afghan town still at risk, U.S. general says -- L.A. Times
Afghan air force struggles to take off -- AP
Kazakhstan to allow U.S. troops flying to Afghanistan over its territory -- People's Daily
Italians 'confess' to murder plot in Afghanistan -- Times Online
Italian medics 'in suicide plot to kill Afghan governor' -- The Daily Mail
Civilian shuffle: Cdn diplomats, development staff to leave Kandahar 2011? -- Canadian Press

Compromising with the Taliban -- Doyle McManus, L.A. Times
Learning to work with our man in Afghanistan -- Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post
The U.S. can't ignore Karzai's tantrum -- Kathleen Parker, Washington Post
How to End the War in Afghanistan -- David Miliband, New York Review Of Books