"The influential US-based Afghanistan Study Group has meanwhile warned that the progress made in the six years since the end of the Taleban regime "is under serious threat from resurgent violence, weakening international resolve, and a growing lack of confidence on the part of the Afghan people".

"And the US think-tank, the Atlantic Council of the United States, starts its report with the words: "Make no mistake, Nato is not winning in Afghanistan."

"US Afghan stand-off puzzles Nato allies."

"Three separate reports published on Thursday warned that the country was in danger of sliding backwards without a renewed international effort."

"The blocking by Afghan President Hamid Karzai of the nomination of British peer Lord Ashdown as the new UN envoy to Kabul has led to fears of a rift between the Afghan government and the international community."

Arf