Government proposals to overhaul the family law system have been welcomed by legal experts and family groups.

Taliban fighters killed 15 Afghan guards working for a US security company who were guarding a convoy of fuel tankers driving through western Afghanistan, an official said today.

A British security guard kidnapped by the Taliban was apparently killed as American soldiers neared the hideaway on a search and rescue mission in Afghanistan, an inquest heard today.

A suicide bomber on foot blew himself up outside a compound for security contractors in southern Afghanistan today, killing two Americans and five Afghans, an official and witnesses said.