Karzai secures second term

President Hamid Karzai effectively secured a second term on Sunday when his only challenger dropped out of the race.

The Obama administration said it was prepared to work with the man it has previously criticized to combat corruption and confront the Taliban insurgency.

President Barack Obama has been waiting for a new government in Kabul to announce whether he will send tens of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, where the war has intensified.

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White phosphorus ‘used' in battle between United States, Taliban

Doctors voiced concern over "unusual" burns on Afghan villagers wounded in an already controversial US Taliban battle and the country's top human rights groups said on Sunday it is investigating the possibility white phosphorus was used.

The American military denied using the incendiary in the battle in Farah province - which President Hamid Karzai has said killed 125 to 130 civilians - but left open the possibility that Taliban militants did.

The United States says Taliban fighters have used white phosphorus, a spontaneously flammable material that leaves severe chemical burns on flesh, at least four times the last two years.

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