US forces opened fire on civilians in eastern Afghanistan today as they fled a militant ambush involving a suicide car bomb and gunmen, Afghan witnesses said.

Nato troops assumed command today of military operations in volatile southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition in the latest bid to crush resurgent Taliban forces behind a deadly spike in bloodshed.

A bomb explosion outside a mosque holding a memorial service for a mujahedeen commander in eastern Afghanistan has killed five police officers, a police spokesperson has said.

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has reportedly lost control of the eastern city of Jalalabad and the southern city of Kandahar after local tribesmen rose up against the crumbling regime.