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

SUSPECTED Taliban fighters attacked a government checkpoint and ambushed another group of Afghan soldiers along the main road linking the south with the capital, killing at least eight soldiers, Afghan officials said yesterday.

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