A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a van into an armoured Nato bus today in Kabul, killing 13 American troops and four Afghans, US and Afghan officials said, in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in more than two months.

THE BBC has asked NATO to investigate the death of one of its journalists in Afghanistan after reports suggested foreign forces could have been involved.

A SENIOR adviser to Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been murdered along with an member of parliament visiting him at his Kabul home, a senior government official said yesterday.

An Afghan soldier shot dead his Australian mentor at a guard tower in Afghanistan, an official said today.

A series of bomb blasts and militant attacks killed 11 people across Afghanistan, including a British soldier from the North, four other Nato service members and three Afghan police.

Insurgents killed eight Afghan policemen today in a raid on a checkpoint outside the northern city of Kunduz, local police said.

Afghan and international forces have killed about 40 Taliban fighters east of the Afghan capital Kabul as part of operations to provide security ahead of parliamentary elections next month, Nato said today.

DUTCH troops ended their mission in Afghanistan yesterday after four “proud” years, in a departure experts say signals the beginning of a drawdown of foreign forces that will leave a worrying void.

A minibus packed with civilians struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan early today, killing six on board and wounding nine, officials said.

Twelve foreign soldiers, including seven Americans, were killed in separate attacks on the deadliest day of the year for Western forces in Afghanistan.

The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan took his apology for an airstrike that killed civilians directly to the Afghan people, with a video in which he pledged to work to regain their trust.

Nato admitted accidentally killing at least 27 Afghan civilians today, the third attack this month to have hit the wrong target.

A Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 21 civilians, the Afghan government said today.

Dutch troops will begin leaving southern Afghanistan in August, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said today.

The Netherlands' coalition government has collapsed over the country's military mission in Afghanistan, the prime minister said today.

The Taliban’s top military commander has been captured in Pakistan, it was reported today.

A suicide bomber killed 20 people, including three children, today in a market in central Afghanistan in the deadliest attack against Afghan civilians in more than three months.

ROADSIDE bombs have killed eight Afghan soldiers and a US service member in separate incidents in Afghanistan, officials said.

A bomb-sniffing dog that disappeared during a fierce battle in Afghanistan has been found and returned to its unit after more than a year.

A SUICIDE car bomber killed at least eight people in the Afghan capital yesterday and a Taliban rocket hit the presidential palace grounds as violence surged across the country ahead of tomorrow’s cliffhanger election.

A Taliban suicide bomber attacked a Nato convoy on the outskirts of Kabul today killing at least eight people and wounding more than 50.

A helicopter on contract to Nato-led forces crashed today in southern Afghanistan, killing six civilians on board and an Afghan child on the ground.

An Australian soldier was killed in Afghanistan during a Taliban rocket attack, the Australian Defence Department said today.

US-led troops attacked a compound where Taliban leaders were meeting in western Afghanistan, killing 30 militants, American and Afghan military officials said today.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan today, killing 24 people, while a two-day battle sparked by an insurgent attack killed at least 40 militants, officials said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan today, killing at least 18 people, including 13 civilians, said a provincial police chief.

Forty-one people were killed today when a suicide car bomb exploded outside the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan’s capital.

Twenty-eight people were killed when a suicide car bomb exploded outside the Indian embassy in Afghanistan’s capital today in the deadliest attack of the year.

The US-led coalition said 32 militants have died in fighting in southern Afghanistan.

Afghan drugs police have uncovered 236 metric tonnes of hashish hidden in 6ft deep trenches in southern Afghanistan, in what they say appears to be the largest yet drug bust.

US defence secretary Robert Gates is expected to crank up pressure on European allies who refuse to send troops to the front line against the resurgent Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

A six-hour battle in southern Afghanistan left over 50 militants killed or wounded, officials said today.

The US-led coalition today accused the Taliban of using children as human shields during a battle in southern Afghanistan, while Nato said it was investigating a shipment of weapons intercepted near the border with Iran.

Airstrikes and Afghan army gunfire killed more than 45 suspected Taliban fighters in a clash in a southern province just as the holy month of Ramadan began, the US-led coalition 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.

Calling militant attacks “cowardly work,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai today deplored a suicide bombing that killed 12 schoolchildren and accused militants of running from battle by donning women’s clothing.

At least 17 people were killed and 30 wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a Nato patrol in a crowded marketplace in southern Afghanistan today.

A clash between police and insurgents left one suspected militant dead in the southeast, while Taliban militants kidnapped a local leader from his home and shot him to death, officials said today.

A roadside bomb killed three Canadian Nato soldiers in southern Afghanistan today.

A massive three-day battle in southern Afghanistan between Nato and Taliban militants has killed more than 100 people, including insurgents, civilians and police, Afghan officials said today.

Suspected Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint manned by Afghan troops in a clash that left eight militants dead and one Afghan guard wounded.

Dutch soldiers stationed in the southern Afghanistan province of Uruzgan will not endorse or participate in the destruction of poppy fields in the region, said the Dutch minister of development.

A ROADSIDE blast ripped through a pickup truck in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 14 villagers who were travelling to a provincial capital for holiday celebrations, an official said.

Nato's Secretary-General today said he is saddened by recent deaths of Afghan civilians, and that the alliance is committed to defending democracy in a nation once ruled by the repressive Taliban regime.