ANGERED by civilian casualties, Afghan president Hamid Karzai said he will no longer allow NATO air strikes on houses.

Angered by civilian casualties, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has vowed to no longer allow Nato airstrikes on houses, issuing his strongest statement yet against attacks that the military alliance says are vital to its war on Taliban insurgents.

A motorised rickshaw packed with civilian passengers struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan today, triggering a blast that killed all 13 people in the vehicle.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson has offered his condolences to the family of a soldier from the North who was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan.

Nato and Afghan troops killed 17 insurgents in an hours-long gun battle in southern Helmand province, an Afghan official said today.

Two Nato troops were killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan today.

A senior Taliban commander and two other insurgents were killed in a firefight with Nato-Afghan forces in western Afghanistan, the military alliance said today.

Up to 30 insurgents have been killed in fighting ahead of this week’s parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, Nato and Afghan officials said today.

The Deputy British Prime Minister insisted the military campaign in Afghanistan was “turning the corner” today as he made a surprise visit to the troubled country.

A ROGUE Afghan soldier attacked his coalition allies with a rocket-propelled grenade and other weapons yesterday, killing three British troops and wounding four more before fleeing, officials said.

BRITAIN announced its 300th death in Afghanistan yesterday, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to pledge he will withdraw troops as soon as the war-torn state can handle its own security.

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

About 300 families have already fled a southern Afghan town ahead of a major new offensive planned on a key Taliban stronghold, provincial officials said today.

Afghan officials began counting votes as polling sites closed in the presidential election today.

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.

Human Rights Watch today accused the US military of not doing enough to reduce civilian casualties during battles in Afghanistan and called for “fundamental changes” to prevent massive civilian deaths like those during an airstrike this month.

Four coalition soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan today.

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

A soldier has died in Afghanistan after an attack by insurgents on a convoy, Nato said today.

Afghan and international forces have killed several militants in eastern and southern Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said today.

A suicide bombing and other attacks on Afghan police have left 10 officers dead and 10 others wounded.

Fifty-nine schoolchildren were confirmed dead today and 96 others were injured in the suicide attack in northern Afghanistan earlier this week.

Two British soldiers have been killed during a heavy firefight with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.

Airstrikes and clashes in southern Afghanistan killed more than 75 militants, as a threatened deadline for the lives of 23 South Korean hostages being held by Taliban militants passed with no resolution.

US-led coalition air strikes in southern Afghanistan left at least 30 people, including women and children, killed or wounded, an official said today.

Five Americans and two other soldiers died when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Afghanistan’s most volatile province. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

THE kidnapped translator for an Italian journalist was beheaded yesterday in southern Afghanistan, a purported spokesman for the Taliban said.

The kidnapped Afghan translator for an Italian journalist was beheaded on today in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Taliban claimed.

An Italian journalist who was kidnapped in Afghanistan two weeks ago has been released, the Italian Foreign Ministry said today.

Pakistan has arrested former Taliban defence minister Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, regarded as a top figure in the Afghan insurgency, a Pakistani intelligence official said.

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

Seventeen people were killed and 47 wounded when a bomb explosion ripped through a crowded market in southern Afghanistan today, a hospital official said.

A coalition forces airstrike killed a local Taliban commander and 15 other militants in fighting in southern Afghanistan, the US military said today.

A senior Nato official today likened the tactics of Taliban militants who hide among civilians in Afghanistan to those of Hezbollah in Lebanon, as US and Afghan forces seized bomb-making materials and killed a suspected al-Qaida operative in a raid on a house.

Militants shot dead a local police chief and five other officers in an ambush on a desert road in western Afghanistan today.

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.

At least nine Taliban militants were killed when coalition airstrikes targeted a suspected Taliban hide-out in southern Afghanistan today.

A civilian-leased plane crashed today after overrunning an Afghan airstrip on landing in southern Helmand province, with casualties reported.

Several dozen Afghan detainees were released from a jail on the main US military base in Afghanistan today after they were determined to no longer present a threat to security.

French Mirage fighter jets opened fire yesterday as part of a support mission for US-led forces hunting remnants of the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said.

Some 2,000 Afghan security forces rushed to an eastern province today after dozens of suspected Taliban rebels wearing army uniforms killed eight police and soldiers in an attack on a region that has been largely peaceful in recent months, officials said.

Suspected Taliban rebels riding motorbikes launched a night-time raid on a militia checkpoint in southern Helmand province, killing six Afghan soldiers, an official said today.

A pickup truck carrying seven Afghan government troops has been ambushed by suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.