The US has confirmed that American troops are holding a senior Pakistani Taliban commander.

A series of operations by US forces in eastern Afghanistan targeted an al-Qaida leader and a bomb-making cell, killing 19 militants, the coalition said today.

A raid by US forces has killed six civilians in eastern Afghanistan, including two children and a woman, an Afghan official said today.

Taliban militants wearing Afghan army uniforms attacked a remote Nato base in eastern Afghanistan today, leaving two Afghan soldiers dead and 11 alliance soldiers wounded, a statement from Nato said.