At least 51 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a truck in eastern Afghanistan today.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan in which six Nato service members were killed.

A pregnant woman being rushed to hospital and four members of her family were killed when an ambulance struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said today.

Five Nato troops killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan today were all Poles.

Afghan intelligence officials said today that they have broken up a cell which was plotting to kill President Hamid Karzai, arresting six people in Kabul whom they claimed were affiliated with al-Qaida and the Haqqani militant group.

Firefights broke out between Nato forces and Afghan police in two parts of Afghanistan overnight, with four Afghan officers killed in one of the incidents, officials said today.

Insurgents attacked three convoys ferrying fuel and supplies to Nato troops stationed in western and eastern Afghanistan, killing nine Afghan security guards and torching at least 15 fuel tankers.

Afghan government officials have approved a multimillion-dollar contract to mine the wealth of gold under the mountains of northern Afghanistan.

The Taliban briefly overran a district in eastern Afghanistan, torching government buildings and capturing police officers after an intense gunfight, officials said today.

A suicide car bomber killed a deputy governor and five other people in eastern Afghanistan today, police said.

Three Afghan journalists held by coalition forces and Afghanistan’s intelligence service for allegedly spreading Taliban propaganda have been freed, Nato said today.

A suicide bomber targeting a Nato convoy in northern Afghanistan hit a passing bus full of wedding party guests today, killing a child and injuring 28 others, police said.

At least two people have been killed in the first hours of polling in Afghanistan’s parliamentary election, officials said.

The bodies of 10 people, including eight foreigners, were recovered today in a remote area of Badakhshan province in northern Afghanistan, police said.

A Nato air strike mistakenly killed five of its Afghan army allies while they were on patrol in the country’s east, officials said today.

A string of militant attacks in Afghanistan have killed 12 police officers while six civilians died in bombings, authorities said today.

Five Afghan police and three Nato service members including one Briton have died in separate roadside bomb blasts, officials said today.

Two more American troops were killed in Afghanistan today pushing the Nato losses to 23 in just over a week.

The chief challenger to President Hamid Karzai today called for a full investigation into hundreds of reports of fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential contest.

AFGHANISTAN’S vote monitoring body has ordered the invalidation of ballots from last month’s controversial elections, finding “clear and convincing evidence of fraud”.

A UN-BACKED commission yesterday ordered a recount of tainted ballots from the Afghan presidential vote, saying it had “convincing evidence of fraud”, even as President Hamid Karzai for the first time surpassed the threshold needed to avoid a run-off and win re-election.

The UN-backed watchdog investigating Afghanistan’s election said today it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” and ordered a recount at some polling stations.

Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated today against an overnight US military raid that one villager said killed several civilians.

US-led coalition troops killed a Taliban commander dressed as a woman during a raid in southern Afghanistan, the military said today.

A suicide bomber in a vehicle attacked a convoy carrying Afghan doctors working for the United Nations in southern Afghanistan today, killing two doctors and their driver and wounding 15 other people, officials said.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan today, killing 24 people, while a two-day battle sparked by an insurgent attack killed at least 40 militants, officials said.

Taliban militants say they have executed two women in central Afghanistan after accusing them of working as prostitutes on a US base.

Insurgents attacked a police convoy in central Afghanistan today, killing 11 police and wounding one, an official said.

Afghan and Nato troops killed 15 suspected militants during clashes in southern Afghanistan, where authorities also arrested a senior Taliban commander, officials said today.

Two tour buses travelling at high speed collided head-on on a southern Afghan highway this evening, killing about 40 people on board, a highway police commander said.

US airstrikes targeting a meeting of Taliban leaders killed a commander who orchestrated the kidnappings of 23 South Koreans, Afghan officials said today.

Nineteen South Koreans freed by Taliban kidnappers prepared to fly home today as their government denied allegations it had paid a ransom to end the six-week hostage stand-off.

TALIBAN militants yesterday released the final seven South Korean captives they had been holding, bringing an end to a six-week hostage drama, witnesses said.

Taliban militants released four more South Korean hostages today, an Associated Press reporter witnessed.

Taliban militants were expected to release seven remaining South Korean hostages today, bringing to an end a six-week drama that saw two captives executed by the kidnappers in Afghanistan, a South Korean official said.

Taliban militants in Afghanistan today released eight of 19 South Korean captives they promised to free under a deal struck with the South Korean government to resolve a hostage crisis that began almost six weeks ago.

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have agreed to release 19 South Korean church volunteers held captive since July 19, a spokesman for the insurgents and the South Korean government said today.

Taliban leaders and South Korean officials were continuing negotiations by telephone over the fate of the remaining 19 hostages today, but no new face-to-face talks had been planned, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

TWO women among the 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban in mid-July were freed yesterday on a rural Afghan roadside and then driven to a US base, the first significant breakthrough in a hostage drama that is more than three weeks old.

Suspected Islamic militants decapitated one Afghan man and shot dead another after accusing them of spying for the US in a tribal region in north-western Pakistan, an intelligence official said today.

The Taliban today said the Afghan government has promised safe passage to two top Taliban leaders so they could meet with South Korean negotiators to discuss the fate of 21 Korean hostages.

The Taliban today offered to hold talks with South Korean officials in Afghan government-controlled territory over the fate of 21 hostages if the UN guaranteed the safety of the militant delegation.

Amnesty International said it had directly appealed to the Taliban to free 21 South Korean hostages, warning the militant movement that holding and killing captives was a war crime.

The Afghan army today dropped leaflets warning of impending military action in the region where Taliban militants are holding 21 South Koreans, though the army said the upcoming operation is not connected to the hostages.