US-led coalition aircraft killed up to 80 suspected Taliban militants in a night airstrike on a rebel stronghold in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said today. The local governor said 16 civilians also died.

THE face of evil can rarely have looked so ordinary. Shehzad Tanweer loved football and cricket and often worked in his family’s fish and chip shop.

Suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a US combat patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier, the military said today.

The al-Qaida terror network may turn to using women for surprise attacks after having its ranks thinned by a series of recent arrests, FBI officials warned today.

Two US special forces soldiers were killed today and another wounded in an ambush in southern Afghanistan, the US military said.

US bombers blasted the cavernous mountains of eastern Afghanistan for a third day today, pressing a new offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters believed to be regrouping in the area.