NATO's withdrawal of its personnel from all Afghan ministries today is an indication that they are losing control of the situation in the country.

Earlier two senior NATO officials were shot dead in the most secure section of the Interior Ministry in Kabul, itself the the most heavily guarded building in the capital.

The shootings coincided with demonstrations across the country in protest at US soldiers burning copies of the Koran. Those protests in turn indicate an intense bitterness towards the NATO forces and that the Afghan people want the occupation to end.

This is hardly surprising. The level of violence in Afghanistan has been rising year on year since 2006. Afghans have become so used to NATO attacks on their public ceremonies that, in the most contested areas, traditional outdoor weddings have all but disappeared.

Meanwhile the much promised reconstruction has not materialised and the country remains near the very bottom of the UNDP development index.

Continuing the occupation will only prolong the violence and the immiseration of the country. Isolated as they are, the foreign forces are only being kept in Afghanistan to save face for the politicians who have backed the war.

NATO forces should be withdrawn immediately in order to allow the Afghans to determine their future.

Worcester News

Anti-war protesters held a vigil to mark the deaths of more than 400 troops killed in Afghanistan and made a fresh call for the withdrawal of British forces.

Members of Worcester Stop the War gathered by the war memorial at Worcester Cathedral on Saturday at 5pm, holding a banner containing the roll call of troops killed since the war began in 2001.

A wreath was also laid during the vigil, which came shortly after with the loss of six more servicemen in a Taliban explosion while they were on a security patrol, taking the total to 404.

Those to die from Worcestershire and Herefordshire include: Sergeant Paul McAleese, from Hereford; Private Jason Williams, 23, of Sunnyside Road, Barbourne, Worcester; Rifleman William Aldridge, 18, of Bredenbury, near Bromyard; Lance Corporal Richard Brandon, aged 24, of Offmore Farm, Kidderminster; and Private Robert Laws, 18, of Bromsgrove.

Louis Stephen, a member of Worcester Stop the War, said: “A lot of these people are very young. We have got to mark these milestones. We are also paying our respects.”

Neil Laurenson, secretary of the group, said: “Is it going to rise to 500 or 600 dead? When is the Government going to realise that the troops have to come home now? What have we achieved in Afghanistan in 11 years?

“People in general are saying to themselves, ‘Enough is enough, bring the troops home’.”

There is no victory in Afghanistan but hawks in Washington insist US forces stay till 2024, continue the nation-building project, and beat back the insurgency.

Why was one of the poorest countries in the world subjected to a decade of invasion and occupation, if the outcome was to talk to the very people the war was against?

With a popular product and thoughtful marketing, says Mark Steel, even in war-torn Afghanistan there are always opportunities for those with flair and vision.

On New Year's Eve in 2011, L/Sgt Collins put on his Army uniform, drove into the mountains, recorded a farewell video on his phone and then hanged himself. He was 29.

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, Greater London WC1R 4RL, 7pm

Public meeting to discuss the 12 year war in Afghanistan. Details TBC

Over 300 attended the highly successful conference on ten years of the Afghanistan, to hear speakers from abroad, including Arab Spring activists, students, artists, military family members, historians, and members of Parliament.