Three journalists killed in ambush

Two French radio journalists have been killed when their convoy was ambushed in north-east Afghanistan.

Johanne Sutton and Pierre Billaud were riding with French and other foreign journalists when their convoy of armed vehicles and trucks was hit.

It is understood that a German journalist also sustained fatal injuries in the attack.

They had just left the Northern Alliance's military headquarters in Khoja Bahauddin, near the Tajikistan border.

There are unconfirmed reports of injuries among those travelling in the convoy. Mr Sutton and Mr Billaud are believed to be the first foreign journalists killed in Afghanistan since the war began last month.

Opposition forces said Sunday they had captured Taloqan, the capital of Takhar and their former headquarters. The Taliban denied the city had been overrun.

Late Sunday, after RFI confirmed Sutton's death, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in a statement expressed "very great sadness."

"In my name and in the name of the government, I offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Johanne Sutton and I share the pain of her loved ones and the mourning of the community of war correspondents," Mr Jospin said.