Ten years after Nato’s invasion, the Taliban are stronger that ever, and hopes for peace a long way off, writes Katherine Haddon.

In a holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama has told US troops in Afghanistan they are succeeding "in their vital mission fighting terrorism".

TALIBAN fighters will not wreck Afghanistan’s presidential election today, President Hamid Karzai said last night, after fighters clashed with police in the centre of Kabul and threatened to shut the country’s roads.

US vice president Dick Cheney landed at the largest US military base in Afghanistan this afternoon for consultations with American military leaders, but a planned meeting with President Hamid Karzai was cancelled because of inclement weather.