US officials are treating with scepticism the Taliban’s claim Osama bin Laden has left Afghanistan.

Taliban forces appeared to be fleeing Kabul tonight as the opposition Northern Alliance said their troops had pushed to the gates of the Afghan capital.

In a crackdown against its former allies, Pakistan has ordered the Taliban to close its consulate in the port city of Karachi.

A Taliban official is reported to have said his government will never hand over Osama bin Laden and will fight America if necessary for 100 years.

The Taliban has pleaded for UN help for refugees inside Afghanistan, as US heavy bombers hammer front line positions.

Several hundred Pakistani tribesmen have entered Afghanistan to join the Taliban in their battle with the US.

The Taliban claim to have arrested some Americans in Afghanistan.

The United Nations has confirmed that the US bombed a military hospital near the northern Afghan city of Herat yesterday, but said it has no information on casualties.

It has been reported that US sources cannot confirm or deny that American warplanes bombed a hospital in the Afghan city of Herat.

The Ministry of Defence in Britain today dismissed Taliban claims that British warplanes had been involved in what the hardline Afghan regime claimed was a missile attack on a hospital.

The Taliban claimed today that US and British planes struck a hospital in the Afghan city of Herat, killing more than 100 people.

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

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers today defiantly rejected US President George Bush’s "second chance" offer to surrender terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden.

The Taliban are accusing the US of targeting civilians with their bombing campaign.

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has issued a defiant statement saying that US claims to have crippled Afghan defences are untrue.

The Taliban says Osama bin Laden is alive after the latest raids on Afghanistan.

Anti-aircraft fire crackled in the night sky over Kabul, signalling the start of a second night of attacks by the US and British coalition.

News agencies say more than 30 people are dead after the air strikes on Afghanistan but the Taliban says there are no casualties.

It was coming up on 9 pm, a clear night in Kabul, and few Afghans were on the streets of their capital. Curfew was beginning in a half hour, and the Taliban militia who run the capital don’t take curfew-breaking lightly.

Afghan authorities have offered to try Osama bin Laden under Islamic law.

The Taliban regime has altered its position on ‘‘prime suspect’’ Osama bin Laden repeatedly since the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11.

The Taliban are prepared to put Osama bin Laden on trial. They want the US to provide proof of his involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Tony Blair was today turning his attention to Pakistan as part of Western efforts to solidify Islamic backing for strikes on terrorists in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have pronounced themselves ‘‘ready for negotiations’’ over Osama bin Laden’s fate - something the United States says is now impossible.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have claimed Osama bin Laden is under their control and called on the United States to open negotiations to lift the threat of military action against their country.

The White House chief of staff has rejected negotiations with the Taliban over Osama bin Laden.

Afghan authorities have delivered a message to Osama bin Laden advising him of a decision by the country's clerics that he leave the country voluntarily.

There are reports that the US has admitted losing an unmanned spy plane over Afghanistan.

US officials have cast doubt on a claim that bin Laden is missing from his Afghanistan hide-out.

Alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is missing and Taliban authorities have been unable to locate him for the past two days, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said today.