KABUL (Reuters) – Suicide bombers attacked a compound housing Westerners in Kabul on Wednesday hours after U.S. President Barack Obama signed a security pact during a short visit to a city that remains vulnerable to a resilient insurgency.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which involved a car bomb and insurgents disguised as women on the eastern outskirts of the capital, killing seven people, a Gurkha guard and six passers-by, and wounding 17.

KABUL (Reuters) – At least six people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the Afghan capital on Wednesday, officials said, hours after U.S. President Barack Obama left Kabul following an unannounced visit during which he signed a strategic partnership agreement.

The blast, and Obama’s visit, came a year after U.S. special forces troops killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks, in a raid in neighboring Pakistan.

KABUL (Reuters) – Just after news broke that U.S. special forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the top EU diplomat in neighboring Afghanistan received a flood of emails from jubilant Afghans.

The death of the al Qaeda leader a year ago raised hopes in Kabul, Brussels, Washington and elsewhere that a devastating blow had been dealt to Islamist militancy in one of the most unstable regions in the world.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s military, which has dominated the country for much of its turbulent history, has less sway over foreign policy, and a new power equation is emerging within America’s strategic ally, said the foreign minister.

Pakistan has been directly ruled by generals for more than half of its 64-year history and indirectly for much of the rest.

GULIBAGH, Pakistan (Reuters) – Hazrat Gul spent two years in detention for allegedly aiding the Pakistani Taliban when they publicly flogged and beheaded people during a reign of terror in the scenic Swat Valley.

Now he wiles away his time in pristine classrooms, a Pakistani flag pin on his crisp uniform, learning about word processing, carpentry and car repairs at the Mashal de-radicalization centre run by the army.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed who had a $10 million American bounty placed on his head this week has been helping Pakistan de-radicalise militants under efforts to stabilise the strategic U.S. ally, a top Pakistani counter-terrorism official said on Friday.

Saeed, suspected of masterminding an attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans, met government officials from the Punjab province and pledged his support for the drive, the official said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An Islamist leader who had a $10 million American bounty placed on his head this week has been helping Pakistan de-radicalise militants under efforts to stabilise the strategic U.S. ally, a top Pakistani counter-terrorism official said on Friday.

Hafiz Saeed, suspected of masterminding an attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on India’s financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans, met government officials from the Punjab province and pledged his support for the drive, the official said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An Islamist leader who had a $10 million American bounty placed on his head this week has been helping Pakistan de-radicalize militants under efforts to stabilize the strategic U.S. ally, a top Pakistani counter-terrorism official said on Friday.

Hafiz Saeed, suspected of masterminding an attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on India’s financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans, met government officials from the Punjab province and pledged his support for the drive, the official said.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Who wants to be a millionaire?

In Pakistan, all you have to do is give the United States information leading to the arrest or conviction of Hafiz Saeed – an Islamist leader whose whereabouts are usually not a mystery.

Saeed is suspected of masterminding the attack on India’s financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Who wants to be a millionaire? In Pakistan, all you have to do is give the United States information leading to the arrest or conviction of Hafiz Saeed – an Islamist leader whose whereabouts are usually not a mystery. Saeed is suspected of masterminding the attack on India’s financial capital Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

U.S. authorities placed a bounty on Monday of up to $10 million on Saeed, but on Wednesday he was openly wandering across Pakistan’s military garrison town of Rawalpindi, hanging out with some of the most anti-American characters in the country.