Afghanistan President Karzai has railed for years against the large number of "guns-for-hire" in the country, arguing that private security companies skirt the law. Today is the deadline for foreign private security firms in Afghanistan to hand over to government forces, meaning a force of 40,000 private guards will be replaced by around 6,000 Afghan government guards. How well trained are these local guards? How is this move being seen by those that have relied on foreign security firms?

Three way talks between the U.S. the Afghan government and the Taliban are reportedly underway. It's a significant development that suggests the Taliban were dropping longstanding objections to face-to-face discussions with the Afghan government. Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed the talks to The Wall Street Journal and we're joined now by Yaroslav Trofimov the Afghanistan editor at The Wall Street Journal.

Almost 1,000 delegates from Afghanistan, NATO, and neighboring countries met in Bonn, Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan. The talks happened in the context of the planned withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan by 2014. The meeting had a sense of deja vu; 10 years ago, in this same city, in the same hotel, Afghan leaders met to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Back then, it was just months after the 9/11 attacks, the American-led invasion of Afghanistan, and the fall of the Taliban. 

The Taliban is denying responsibility for a suicide bomb that took the lives of at least four people this morning at the funeral of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a powerful leader in Kandahar. The BBC's Bilal Sawary is on the ground in Kandahar and has the latest updates on this developing story.

A suicide bomb attack killed at least four people this morning at one of Kandahar's largest mosques during the funeral of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The deceased Karzai was the powerful provincial council chairman of Kandahar, before he was assassinated by a police commander and family friend earlier this week.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother and head of Afghanistan's Kandahar provincial council, was killed early Tuesday morning at his home. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the assassination, though their claims remain unconfirmed. Karzai was a powerful figure in Kandahar and his death may result in an unpredictable struggle for power, impacting U.S. goals in the region.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai was shot dead at point blank range this morning in Kandahar. As provincial council chairman of Kandahar, Karzai was thought of as a stongman leader, and perhaps the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan. He was also a deeply controversial figure, believed to be involved in Afghanistan's drug trade and central to the corruption that has marred the Afghan government by American military commanders.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the powerful half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was shot dead in Kandahar this morning, reportedly by a long-trusted member of his security detail. Karzai was the provincial chairman of Kandahar, making him the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan. For some time, American military officials believed Karzai to be involved in the Afghan drug trade and government corruption. In 2009, it was revealed that the C.I.A. had been paying Karzai for services including recruiting a paramilitary force for the previous eight years. Bilal Sawary, correspondent for the BBC, has the latest from Kabul.

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the powerful half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was reportedly assassinated by his own bodyguard this morning in Kandahar. Freelance journalist Matthieu Aikens has the latest on the story.

Freelance journalist Matthew Aikens has the latest details on Sardar Mohammed, the trusted member of Ahmed Wali Karzai's inner circle who killed him earlier this morning.

One of the most powerful men in Afghanistan was assassinated this morning when Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of President Hamid Karzai and provincial council chairman of Kandahar, was shot dead in his home by a police commander who was a close family associate. The assassin, Sardar Mohammed was killed by Karzai's security detail. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death almost immediately, though those claims could not be verified.

Details continue to come in after Ahmed Wali Karzai was shot and killed by a trusted friend and member of his security detail in Kandahar this morning. Karzai was the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The BBC's Bilal Sawary, who has met Ahmed Wali Karzai before, has the latest details of this developing story.

Freelance journalist Matthieu Aikens joins the program again with the latest on the assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

After many months of speculation and political pressure, President Obama layed out his plans for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last night. In a prime-time address from the White House, the president said 10,000 American would be home by year's end and 33,000 by next summer. Perhaps the most significant moment was when the president said American involvement in Afghanistan will end in 2014, when American forces turn over full security control to the Afghans. Analysts are questioning what this means for the Afghan government. 

Mohammad Zia Salehi, a close advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was arrested on corruption charges in July and then released after President Karzai intervened. The incident was a recent example of one of the country's biggest challenges in establishing stability: eradicating corruption. Some of those who are allegedly corrupt are also on the CIA payroll. Are we doing enough to get rid of corruption in that country, both in the government itself and in our dealings with people there?

One of the biggest threats to Afghanistan's security is corruption in the Afghan government. In July, a close advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai was arrested on corruption charges, and then released after President Karzai intervened. Are we doing enough to eradicate issues of corruption in that country, both in the government itself and in our dealings with people there?

Afghan president, Hamid Karzai meets with President Obama in Washington this week. High up on the agenda will be talking about the Taliban, particularly in the Afghan-Pakistan border regions. However, we look deeper into Pakistan with the BBC’s Owen Bennett-Jones. He has just returned from the Punjab, Pakistan’s economic powerhouse, which is a region far away from the border with Afghanistan where the Taliban is gaining in popularity among the poor and disenfranchised.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Washington today for a week of meetings with President Obama and other high-level U.S. officials. The tenor of this visit is vastly different from the last time the two leaders met when Obama flew to Kabul in late March to lecture Karzai on corruption in Afghanistan. 

The number of American troops in Afghanistan will outnumber those in Iraq by late May or early June, according to new reporting from the Brookings Institution. That news comes as the U.S. and Iraq mark five years of democratically elected government in Iraq and as U.S. and NATO allies prepare for an upcoming offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar.

The Takeaway talks to Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to both Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush Administration. He is now the President of Khalilzad Associates.

An international conference is taking place in London today aimed at charting a stable and secure future for Afghanistan. The focus will be on helping Afghanistan set milestones in improving its security forces, tackling corruption and building better cooperation with its regional neighbors.