BBC News with Kathy Clugston
An American general says President Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next July is encouraging Taliban insurgents. The head of the US Marine Corp General James Conway said that after that date the insurgents would find US forces still attacking them.
"If you accept that marines will be there after 2011, what's the enemy going to say then? What's he going to say to his foot troops when you've got the leadership outside the country, trying to direct operations within because it's too dangerous for them to be there? And the foot troops have been believing what he's saying that they're all going to leave in the summer of next year. And come the fall, we're still there
hammer
ing them like we have been. I think it could be very good for us in that context
in terms of
the enemy
psyche
."
A BBC correspondent says the general's comments suggest there may be a debate between American politicians and generals over how quickly security responsibilities can be
handed over
to Afghan forces.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he's seriously concerned about the potential spread of epidemic disease because of the floods. Mr Gilani said a special emergency section of the Ministry of Health would take a leading role in coordinating relief efforts. Jill McGivering reports.
There is no doubt that the need will be huge. About a third of the country's female health workers have themselves been