THE Friday night slot on the National Geographic channel was a favourite with Abdul Razzak, showing gripping documentaries on natural disasters.

Taliban militants attacked a government office in southern Afghanistan, sparking a gunbattle that left five people dead, including a rebel commander, an Afghan official said today.

Osama bin Laden personally ordered the assassination of Afghan opposition leader Ahmed Shah Massood just days before the September 11 attacks, a former senior Taliban official has said.