Afghan and US troops overran three suspected Taliban positions in the mountains of southern Afghanistan today, while American bombing echoed through the rugged region, where hundreds of Taliban holdouts have been offering a week of fierce resistance.

US jets bombed an area of southeastern Afghanistan today killing up to 16 Taliban guerrillas.

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.