Pakistani attack helicopters and artillery resumed pounding hundreds of al Qaida suspects and tribesmen besieged in mud fortresses where al Qaida number two Ayman al-Zawahri is believed hiding in a Pakistani border region early today.

The Taliban claim to have arrested some Americans in Afghanistan.

Taliban leaders threw the hanged corpse of an Afghan opposition leader into a hasty grave in Taliban territory today, leaving Afghanistan’s opposition in exile to mourn - and vow revenge - without him.