Pakistani intelligence agents have arrested five senior Taliban leaders, including a deputy to fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, a security official said tonight.

Osama bin Laden and fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar are alive and well, a 'Taliban commander' said in a TV interview, adding that he still receives orders from Omar.

A purported senior commander from Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban militia today claimed the radical group’s fugitive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden are alive and well.

US Marines tracked down a band of insurgents in eastern Afghanistan and sparked a battle that left about 12 rebels and two American troops dead, the US military said today.

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden called on Pakistani Muslims to fight in an internet message today – saying their country and neighbouring Afghanistan faced an American invasion.

With half the votes counted and interim leader Hamid Karzai still holding a 40-point lead, the race for the Afghan presidency could be virtually decided today, a top election official said.

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is facing “serious disagreements” with his commanders because of the rebel group’s failure to disrupt Afghanistan’s presidential election, the US military said today.

TALIBAN fighters ambushed a truck full of government soldiers in the southern province of Zabul, killing several, the provincial governor and a Taliban spokesman said yesterday.

AFGHANISTAN celebrated its Independence Day yesterday amid one of the bloodiest weeks in a year, with heavily-armed guerrillas killing at least nine policemen.

A Taliban commander, who had been the link-man with al-Qaida and might have knowledge of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and ousted Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, has been captured in Afghanistan.

Saddam Hussein has joined terror chief Osama bin Laden at the top of the list of America’s most wanted men, US officials said today.

A close ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot and killed in southern Afghanistan in what appeared to be the latest in a wave of attacks by resurgent Taliban, a provincial government official said today.

ACTING on new intelligence from radio intercepts, nearly 1,000 US soldiers stormed into mountainside caves and villages in southern Afghanistan yesterday in an intense search for Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives, US military spokesmen said.

Several civilians have reportedly been killed in US bombing raids on suspected Taliban fugitives in southern Afghanistan.

HE won big in last month’s elections on an anti-American ticket, has called Osama bin Laden a holy warrior and counts Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar among his friends — and he could be Pakistan's next prime minister.

Overthrown Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is alive somewhere near the Pakistani border but prospects of arresting him remain slim, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said today.

Hardline Islamic rule will return to Afghanistan once US military forces are driven from the country, according to a statement purported to have been written by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

As Taliban defences around Kabul crumbled under the fury of American bombs, the man responsible for it all - Osama bin Laden - was far away in the safety of this mountain fortress.

Afghanistan’s new government was looking for answers today after dozens of people died when a wedding party was attacked by a US B-52 bomber and a Spectre gunship.

Allied Afghan commanders have sent fresh troops to aid US-led forces battling al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

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.

An organisation based in Egypt has issued a statement saying that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, the two most wanted men in the US, are still alive.

The newly appointed Chief Justice of Afghanistan has said he would give the death sentence to Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar if they were brought before his court.

Afghan officials are considering a reported offer of surrender by several ministers from the ousted Taliban regime, while US troops have captured two senior al-Qaida figures near the underground cave complex at Tora Bora.

US warplanes renewed strikes against suspected terrorist hide-outs in eastern Afghanistan, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today that the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida had succeeded beyond anyone’s dreams.

Allied warplanes bombed positions near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan today, while US forces tried to glean information from a pair of high-profile detainees.

US senators are starting to believe that Osama bin Laden is now in Pakistan.

The highest-ranking member of the Taliban under US custody was being held aboard a warship today, and Afghanistan’s interim prime minister vowed that fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar will be arrested eventually.

Afghanistan’s interim Prime Minister, Hamid Karzai, has vowed to arrest Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who has reportedly escaped from the Baghran district despite being surrounded by anti-Taliban forces.

Deposed Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has escaped from his mountain hideout in Afghanistan on a motorbike, according to unconfirmed reports.

There are conflicting reports today over whether the interim Afghan government and the US Defence Department know the whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Afghan officials say they are negotiating with tribal leaders to give up their weapons.

An intelligence official in Afghanistan’s interim government has said negotiations for the surrender of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar have reached “a crucial stage”, with a resolution expected within two days.

Negotiations for the surrender of Taliban leader Mullah Omar are reportedly under way in southern Afghanistan.

US Marines are today on a mission to capture Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, thought to be hiding in the remote mountains of central Afghanistan.

The United Nations Security Council has ordered a global freeze on the assets of a Pakistani organisation, two former nuclear scientists and a Pakistani industrialist suspected of links to Osama bin Laden.

United States forces today intensified their hunt for Osama bin Laden, even as Afghanistan’s interim prime minister declared that terrorism had been ‘‘largely’’ beaten in his war-ravaged country.

Tribesman, backed by British and US special forces, are hunting for Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, in the mountains and caves of Afghanistan.

The Taliban's supreme leader is reported to be holed up with hundreds of fighters west of Kandahar.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has told US troops in Afghanistan they are ‘‘bringing the consequences to the terrorists’’, but it was impossible to know how long it would take to finish the job.

A former Taliban official has apparently admitted that Afghanistan's orthodox Islamic militia no longer exists.

Afghanistan's new interim ruler has pledged to build a new nation but says the terrorists who have held it hostage must be destroyed.

United States warplanes have been attacking the Tora Bora cave complex in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's new interim leader is calling on Afghans to join the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar.