Two suicide attackers, one driving a fuel tanker, blew themselves up near a US base in eastern Afghanistan today, killing at least 12 people.

The Taliban said it detonated a bomb on a fuel tanker today and then opened fire on other Nato supply trucks, destroying 22 vehicles loaded with fuel and other goods for US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

A magnetic bomb placed on a truck has exploded and destroyed 22 Nato supply vehicles in northern Afghanistan, according to officials.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan in which six Nato service members were killed.

A roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan has killed 10 members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), officials said.

Twelve Turkish soldiers died today in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Nearly 80 American soldiers were wounded and two Afghan civilians were killed when a Taliban truck bomb struck an American base in eastern Afghanistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks against the United States, Nato said today.

A Nato helicopter crash-landed today in eastern Afghanistan, just days after the downing of a Chinook dispatched to bring in reinforcements for elite troops under attack.

A military helicopter has crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 US special operation troops and seven Afghan commandos, the country’s president said today.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Wardak province.

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

Insurgents launched pre-dawn attacks today on a major Nato base in eastern Afghanistan and a nearby camp where seven CIA employees were killed last year in a suicide bombing.

An Afghan man working for the United Nations was shot and killed in his vehicle today near a busy traffic island in Afghanistan’s capital, the world body said.

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

An Australian security contractor was sentenced to death in Afghanistan for fatally shooting an Afghan colleague, Australia’s government said today.

A heavily-armed Taliban commander was killed during an pre-dawn shootout at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, Nato said today.

A Swedish charity accused American troops today of storming through a hospital in Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff.

Nearly 3,000 American soldiers who arrived in Afghanistan to secure two violent provinces have begun operations and are already seeing combat.

US SENATOR John McCain said yesterday that the situation in Afghanistan will get more difficult before it gets easier — “just like the surge in Iraq was” — as the US prepares to pour thousands more troops into the country, including on the doorsteps of Kabul.

Gunmen armed with machine guns opened fire on people praying at a mosque in central Afghanistan, killing two and wounding 12 others, officials said today.

Two foreigners from the International Red Cross who had helped free South Korean captives last month have been kidnapped in Afghanistan, officials said today.

Taliban leaders and South Korean officials were continuing negotiations by telephone over the fate of the remaining 19 hostages today, but no new face-to-face talks had been planned, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The hard-line Taliban militia claimed today to have killed two German and five Afghan hostages but said it was willing to release 22 South Korean Christians in exchange for the freedom of imprisoned Taliban fighters.

A purported Taliban spokesman said the hard-line militia today shot and killed two German hostages because Germany’s government did not announce that its troops would leave Afghanistan.

Clashes and bombings left up to 34 Taliban fighters and one policeman dead in five separate incidents in central and southern Afghanistan, officials said today.

Afghan police killed 12 Taliban militants in a southern gun battle today, while more than 30 suspected insurgents were detained as security forces fought back against a deadly spike in violence, officials said.

At least three more anti-US protesters were killed in Afghanistan today in clashes with police, officials said, as anger over the reported abuse of Islam’s holy book at the US jail in Guantanamo Bay spread across the country.

Afghan militants threatening to kill three UN hostages, including Northern Ireland's Annetta Flanigan, pushed back the deadline for their deaths until midnight today – 7.30pm Irish time.

Militants threatening to kill three United Nations hostages including a woman from Northern Ireland said today that a noon deadline could be postponed for negotiations on demands that include the world body’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Taliban stronghold of Jalalabad was reported to have fallen today to a warlord who has refused to ally himself to either side in the war for Afghanistan.

For the first time in weeks, relieved residents of Kabul awoke today after a night free of the nearby crash of US bombs.