A roadside bomb along a busy Kabul road killed two Afghans today as fighting in the eastern provinces left a US-led coalition soldier and seven suspected Taliban dead, officials said.

At least 180 children have died in Afghanistan’s coldest winter in years, the health minister said today, amid warnings that the final toll from the subzero temperatures and heavy snow could run into the thousands.

A huge rock loosened by rain and snow in Afghanistan tumbled onto an aid group’s vehicle, killing the Afghan driver and injuring three foreigners, officials said today, as freezing weather and disease left about 60 people dead throughout the country.

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.