General Tommy Franks, the American commander of the war in Afghanistan, hopes to complete the training of between 2, 000 to 3, 000 soldiers for the new Afghan army within six months.

ECONOMIST: Searching for stability | The

The king's arrival has been welcomed not only by fellow members of the Pushtun ethnic majority, like Mohammed Ali Jalali, of the eastern province of Paktika, but even by General Wasequllah, an ethnic Tajik and former Northern Alliance commander, who has just been named a general in the new Afghan army.

ECONOMIST: America to the rescue? | The

It warns that the growth of a lucrative private security industry has drawn new recruits away from the Afghan police and army, where salaries are lower.

BBC: Afghan security contractors 'fund Taliban'