1.   A German army spokesman ruled out the likelihood of the international force being deployed anywhere other than the Kabul region despite comments by an Afghan defence ministry source.

2.   A spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry told AFP the crash occurred due to engine failure.

3.   Afghan defence ministry official Mira Jan said government troops had helped capture two strategic heights in the Shahi Kot valley.

4.   Afghan defence ministry officials on Tuesday confirmed fighting between two local commanders in northern Sari Pul province on Sunday, but rejected concerns that security was out of control.

5.   All Afghan defence ministry troops who had helped seize the Shahi Kot valley withdrew from Paktia Friday, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.

6.   An Afghan defence ministry official said the suspected terrorist mastermind was holed up in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where the aerial bombing goes on periodically.

7.   An Afghan defence ministry spokesman last week denied speculation in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar that the Taliban overan Azra after capturing a nearby government base.

8.   But an Afghan defence ministry official said bin Laden was hunkered down in mountains on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border under the protection of a hardline Islamic leader.

9.   But an Afghan defence ministry official said bin Laden was hunkered down in mountains on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border under the protection of a hard-line Islamic leader.

10.   But an Afghan defence ministry official said bin Laden was hunkered down in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border under the protection of a hard-line Islamic leader.