A former police officer from the North working for a security services company has been shot dead in Afghanistan.

DEFENCE Secretary Bob Ainsworth defended Britain’s continuing military role in Afghanistan yesterday after five more British troops died over the weekend.

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

A British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles has been killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

US Marines in helicopters and Humvees flooded into a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan’s most violent province early today – the first major American operation in the region for years.

One Irish and one British diplomat expelled from Afghanistan after they were accused of talking to the Taliban have now left the country, it was confirmed today.

Gordon Brown today set out plans to secure the long-term stability of Afghanistan, while ruling out talks with the leadership of the Taliban insurgency.

AFGHAN troops fought their way into the centre of southern Taliban stronghold Musa Qala yesterday but encountered only light resistance as the rebels melted away, officials and the militants said.

Gordon Brown today promised new aid to rebuild the shattered economy of Afghanistan as British and Afghan troops seized a key strategic town from the Taliban.

Afghan and international forces have retaken a southern Afghan town held by Taliban militants since February, the Kabul defence ministry said today.

A Nato and Afghan operation to retake a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 12 Taliban fighters and two children, the Afghan Defence Ministry said today.

US-led and Afghan troops battled suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan in ground clashes and airstrikes that left over 100 militants dead, the coalition said.

US-led coalition and Afghan troops killed up to 21 suspected Taliban militants in three separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, and a roadside blast killed four Afghan soldiers in the east.

US-led coalition forces and Afghan troops clashed with militants in two separate battles in southern Afghanistan, killing more than 60 suspected Taliban, officials said today.

A roadside bomb hit a convoy of British troops today, wounding one soldier, police said.

Fresh airstrikes in a volatile southern Afghan region killed up to 10 Taliban fighters close to where villagers say about 40 civilians died during a battle earlier this week, and the US-led coalition said local Afghans feared more militant attacks.

More than 1,000 Nato and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban and took over control of a district centre in southern Afghanistan long held by the militants, officials and witnesses said today.

Nato-led troops dropped leaflets on a southern Afghan town overrun by militants, warning them to leave after their leader was killed in an airstrike, officials said today.

General Dan McNeill, the highest ranking US general to lead troops in Afghanistan, has taken command of 35,500 Nato-led soldiers, putting an American face on the international mission after nine months of British command.

Nato-led troops launched a precision strike in Afghanistan today, killing a key Taliban commander near a town overrun by militants, a spokesman for the alliance said.

Afghan security forces supported by Nato-led troops will soon launch an operation to recapture a southern town that was overrun by Taliban militants, an official said today.

Hundreds of Taliban militants overran a southern Afghan town that British troops left after a contentious peace agreement in October, destroying the government centre and temporarily holding elders hostage, officials and residents said today.

Taliban militants overran a southern Afghan town where a peace agreement had been negotiated last fall, disarming police, burning the government compound and threatening elders, officials and a resident said today.

Taliban militants overran a southern Afghan town where a peace agreement had been negotiated last autumn, roaming through the town centre, burning its government compound and threatening elders.

An Italian freelance photographer and his translator have been abducted in southern Afghanistan, officials said today.

SUSPECTED Taliban militants hanged an old woman and her son from a tree in southern Afghanistan, after accusing them of spying for the Government.

Taliban insurgents attacked a Danish camp in southern Afghanistan today, seriously wounding one Nato soldier, in the third assault on Denmark’s contingent since it deployed to the volatile region last week.

A massive anti-insurgent operation in southern Afghanistan has “seriously disrupted” the Taliban network operating in the region, the US military said today.

Coalition forces killed about 35 militants during a raid on a Taliban compound in southern Afghanistan, the military said today.

An 11,000-strong assault is to be launched on militants in the southern mountains of Afghanistan, the biggest offensive since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Up to 104 people are now believed to have been killed in some of the fiercest violence since the 2001 fall of the Taliban erupted across Afghanistan.