Taliban leader urges people to return to Kabul

The Taliban's reclusive leader has appealed to Afghans fleeing the country's capital to return home.

In a statement faxed to news organisations in neighbouring Pakistan, Mullah Mohammed Omar says even if the capital Kabul is attacked, they will be safe.

He says the possibility of US attacks has decreased and civilians may not be at risk.

In northern Afghanistan, where an opposition alliance is fighting troops of Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban government for key territory, heavy new fighting has been reported.

Radio Kabul quotes unidentified Afghan government officials as saying Taliban forces pushed back opposition troops in the Razi district of Badghis province in northwestern Afghanistan.

The officials say a number of opposition forces were killed, without providing an exact number, and say weapons have been confiscated. An alliance commander, Abdul Rashid Dostum, confirmed the report.