| The US-led NATO force said on Thursday that two insurgents had been arrested for posing a "direct threat" to a major international conference due to take place in the Afghan capital next week. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior officials from over 60 countries and international organisations are scheduled to attend next Tuesday's conference to discuss the rebuilding of the troubled nation. Afghan and NATO security forces have already stepped up security in Kabul to guard against possible Taliban attacks from marring the gathering. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said its troops along with Afghan security forces raided a house and detained two "facilitators" of insurgent attacks in Kabul. One was wanted over three suicide attacks on the city and both "were considered a direct threat to the international Kabul conference," ISAF said. The men surrendered peacefully after troops used a loudspeaker to call on them to exit the house, ISAF added. Tuesday's conference is a bid by Afghan government officials to call for a start to the spending of billions of dollars of pledged development funds. Officials will present donors with their long-term national development strategy, following a donors' meeting in London in January. Afghanistan is trying to rebuild with the help of international community, mainly Western powers following the overthrow of the Taliban regime in a US-led invasion in late 2001. The efforts have however, been hampered by an insurgency launched by the Taliban following their ouster. |