A police official in northern Afghanistan said a Nato airstrike on two hijacked fuel tankers has today killed 90 people, including 40 civilians.

A battle in a militant-controlled region of western Afghanistan killed 30 insurgents and nine Afghan soldiers, while a roadside bomb in the country’s north wounded an Afghan governor, officials said today.

A roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan wounded the governor of Kunduz province today, while violence around the country killed 17 people, officials said.

An Afghan court has sentenced a 23-year-old journalism student to death after judges said an internet paper he printed and distributed violated the tenets of Islam.

Afghan and US-led coalition forces backed by helicopter gunships killed 19 suspected Taliban in southern Helmand province as NATO prepares to take command of the volatile region, a local official said today.

Northern Alliance forces say they are poised to seize two provinces where the Taliban still have some control in northern Afghanistan.