HILLARY CLINTON was in Afghanistan yesterday to visit troops who have been stationed in the country since the toppling of the Taliban regime.

Five US soldiers were killed and seven injured when their helicopter crashed near the American military headquarters north of the Afghan capital.

Afghan and US troops overran three suspected Taliban positions in the mountains of southern Afghanistan today, while American bombing echoed through the rugged region, where hundreds of Taliban holdouts have been offering a week of fierce resistance.

Military officials in the United States were today investigating what caused a Black Hawk helicopter carrying 13 soldiers to crash during a training mission in upstate New York.

US president George Bush answered a soldier’s shout of ‘‘Let’s get Saddam!’’ with a promise to defeat the ‘‘mounting danger’’ of terrorist regimes.

Gunmen have attacked US coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, touching off a firefight that lasted several hours.

Advancing coalition forces today claimed control of the Shah-e-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan, sweeping all but a few small groups of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters as allied troops worked their way through the warren of mountain caves.

Hundreds of US and allied Afghan fighters swept into the mountains of eastern Afghanistan today, moving tanks into position for a final push to eradicate al-Qaida fighters making a last stand.

Hundreds of weary US soldiers descended from the Afghan mountains after a gruelling eight-day battle against enemy holdouts. US bombers pounded the caves where the remaining fighters were hiding.

The major fighting is over in the week-long operation to clear al-Qaida and Taliban forces from eastern Afghanistan, the US Army confirms.

US fighter jets have pounded the mountains sheltering al-Qaida holdouts in eastern Afghanistan today amid reports that hundreds of fighters concentrated near two cave complexes were running low on ammunition.

Afghan troops and tanks rushed to the mountain battle zone today to bolster US led coalition forces against determined pockets of al-Qaida militants fulfilling their vow to fight to the death.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told US troops in Afghanistan they are ‘‘bringing the consequences to the terrorists’’, but it was impossible to know how long it would take to finish the job.

The Taliban’s supreme leader reportedly urged his forces to ‘‘fight to the death’’ today as US forces strengthened their presence near his stronghold in southern Afghanistan.

General Tommy Franks, commander of the US campaign in Afghanistan, today said the battle against the Taliban has not reached a stalemate.

US forces today completed their first ground operation in southern Afghanistan, opening up a new phase in the war on terrorism.

The Taliban was tonight preparing to free British journalist Yvonne Ridley as Prime Minister Tony Blair said everything was now in place for a military strike.

The US today confirmed reports that more than 1,000 troops have been sent to the Afghan border in the former Soviet state of Uzbekistan.

US intelligence has an idea where Osama binLaden, the world’s most wanted man, is hiding in Afghanistan, the American Defence Secretary said today.