Up 44 people are missing after a passenger plane crashed in a remote area of Afghanistan today.

A strong earthquake has hit north-eastern Afghanistan, a quake that rattled the capital Kabul for about a minute, according to officials.

US President George Bush today criticised Nato nations that have hesitated to send additional troops to Afghanistan or allow their soldiers already there to fight in the violent south and under other dangerous circumstances.

A moderate earthquake jolted Pakistan’s capital and two northern towns today, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, an official said.

A powerful earthquake jolted the remote Hindu Kush mountains along Afghanistan’s northeast border with Pakistan early today.

Aid agencies were today at the scene of a powerful earthquake that devastated villages in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan.

A powerful earthquake devastated villages in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan, where Afghan officials today estimated that 1,800 people had died and thousands more were injured in a region already afflicted by drought, war and food shortages.

At least 600 people have died after an earthquake hit large parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan overnight, according to the UN.

Suspected al Qaida and Taliban fighters planned to kill British and other peacekeepers by setting off car bombs in Afghanistan’s capital, authorities have said.

At least 50 people have been reported dead following a strong earthquake across central and south Asia last night.

Rescue teams have confirmed four people have been discovered dead after a snow avalanche blocked a road tunnel in Afghanistan.

Banditry on Afghanistan roads is making it too dangerous to deliver help to many remote areas where millions of hungry Afghans are effectively cut off, the UN World Food Programme has said.

US and British military planners are running out of time to deploy ground troops inside Afghanistan before winter sets in, ministers admitted today.