Nato will soon assume direct control over most military operations in Afghanistan, a move that will place 12,000 more US troops under its authority, a spokesman for the alliance has said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a Nato convoy in Kabul today, wounding three soldiers and three civilians.

Police killed 11 suspected Taliban in two separate operations in southern Afghanistan overnight as a purported insurgent spokesman claimed today that militants killed a Turkish national kidnapped last month.

A string of suicide bombings across Afghanistan killed 18 people, including four Canadian soldiers, today and wounded scores of others a day after Nato announced a victory over insurgents in a southern Taliban stronghold.

A suicide bomber on a bicycle attacked Canadian troops handing out sweets to children in southern Afghanistan today, killing four Nato soldiers and wounding many others, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.

A coalition forces airstrike killed a local Taliban commander and 15 other militants in fighting in southern Afghanistan, the US military said today.

Taliban insurgents attacked a Danish camp in southern Afghanistan today, seriously wounding one Nato soldier, in the third assault on Denmark’s contingent since it deployed to the volatile region last week.

An explosion in Kabul today destroyed a car belonging to the Afghan Finance Ministry, killing the driver and wounding a passenger and a bystander, officials said.

A Russian-made helicopter crashed in bad weather in the eastern Afghan mountains yesterday, killing all 16 on board, including at least two American civilians and two Dutch military officers, officials said today.