The only American soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed and is in US custody, according to US officials.

The Taliban’s reclusive leader has said his group is willing to start peace negotiations – even as he urged more attacks on foreign troops.

Pakistani militants killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials yesterday said, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups.

A suicide bomber has blown himself up near Nato headquarters in Kabul, killing at least six people, according to Afghan authorities.

A brazen, 18-hour Taliban attack on the Afghan capital ended today when insurgents in two buildings were overcome by heavy gunfire from Afghan-led forces and pre-dawn air assaults from US-led coalition helicopters.

Afghanistan’s Taliban said they launched a spring offensive yesterday with multiple attacks against Western embassies in the central diplomatic area and at parliament in Kabul, with heavy explosions, rockets and gunfire rattling the city.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Iran have convened in Pakistan for a three-way summit that is expected to focus on steps Islamabad can take to bring about peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.

Thirteen people killed when a suicide bomber rammed a military convoy in Afghanistan included five coalition troops and eight civilian contractors, Nato has said.

The Obama administration should rethink its commitment to the fight in Afghanistan, according to American politicians furious with Afghan president Hamid Karzai for saying his country would back Pakistan in a war with the United States.

PAKISTAN’S security service provides weapons and training to Taliban insurgents fighting US and British troops in Afghanistan, despite official denials, Taliban commanders say, in allegations that could worsen tensions between Pakistan and the US.

An estimated 200 insurgents were killed or captured in two Nato military operations that have just ended in eastern Afghanistan.

An American missile strike has killed a senior member of the militant Haqqani network in north-western Pakistan, intelligence officials say.

Afghan intelligence officials said today that they have broken up a cell which was plotting to kill President Hamid Karzai, arresting six people in Kabul whom they claimed were affiliated with al-Qaida and the Haqqani militant group.

AFGHANISTAN’S intelligence agency said last night it had thwarted a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai after arresting a bodyguard and five people with links to the Haqqani network and al-Qaida.

A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a police truck outside a bakery in southern Afghanistan today, killing at least two civilians, officials said.

The Taliban have rejected claims that they or any of their allies have ties to the Pakistani government.

Pakistan’s army chief will convene a special meeting of senior commanders today following US allegations that the military’s spy agency helped militants attack American targets in Afghanistan, the army said.

Pakistan is “exporting violence” to Afghanistan, the top US military officer said today.

A 20-hour attack in the heart of Kabul ended this morning after a final volley of helicopter gunfire as Afghan police ferreted out and killed the last few assailants who had taken over a half-built property to fire on the nearby US Embassy and Nato compounds.

Suspected US drones fired missiles at a vehicle and a house in north-west Pakistan today, killing at least seven people in a rare attack in an area where some of Nato’s fiercest enemies have reportedly travelled, Pakistani officials said.

A day-long clash between militants from Afghanistan who crossed the border and attacked a Pakistani checkpoint left 23 troops and 35 insurgents dead, police said today, underlining the challenges facing Pakistan as it tries to stamp out insurgents in its north-west.

At least 28 people, including civilians, have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a government office in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, police said today.

Two suspected US missile strikes targeting the same building killed eight people in a region near Afghanistan today, including at least two people who were retrieving bodies from the first attack, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

A suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's north west has killed at least 12 people today, intelligence officials said.

Six Nato service members were killed today in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the international alliance said in a statement.

Two suicide bombers wearing police uniforms blew themselves up at an Afghan police headquarters today, killing at least 12 officers in a deadly border region that has long been a refuge for Islamist extremists from around the world.

Seven people were killed today when suspected US drones fired missiles at a house and a vehicle in a militant-infested area of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.

The Afghan government has been holding secret talks for months with a Taliban group linked to al Qaida, a source said today.

Five US troops were killed in Afghanistan today, the latest casualties in a savage spell that has left 19 dead since Saturday.

Six children were killed by a suicide car bomber who blew himself up next to a police truck in southern Afghanistan today.

One of two US sailors missing in Afghanistan since last week has been confirmed dead and his body recovered, a Nato spokesman said today.

Pakistan's intelligence agency today denied claims that they secretly aid the Taliban, detailed in leaked US military reports.

Two US Navy service members disappeared in a dangerous area of eastern Afghanistan, prompting a massive search and appeals for their safe return, Nato and Afghan officials said today.

Eight foreigners face the death sentence in Afghanistan after being accused of spreading Christianity.