21.   In Kabul defence ministry official Mira Jan said US-led forces plus Afghan troops sent by the ministry had captured two strategic heights dominating the Shahi Kot valley.

22.   Indian defence officials said Pakistani troops targeted two posts with mortar fire in the Indian zone of the Poonch district late Thursday, to which its army retaliated.

23.   In Paris, defence ministry officials said the French contingent of the international force would begin deploying by the beginning of next week at the earliest.

24.   In Washington, a senior defence official said al-Qaeda plotted attacks against nuclear power plants, landmarks and public water facilities in the United States.

25.   In the east, the Tigers ambushed an army patrol Monday, killing five soldiers and wounding several other, defence officials said.

26.   India on Friday test fired its nuclear-capable Agni II ballistic missile, a senior defence official said.

27.   Indian defence ministry officials confirmed the military movements.

28.   Interior, security and defence ministry officials have been holding monthly talks since last year.

29.   Israeli defence ministry official Noel Lion did not give any details of the holdup in resolving the standoff.

30.   Israeli defence officials said earlier that Hashikeh was initially arrested near Tulkarem in the northwestern West Bank, from where he was moved south across army checkpoints to Ramallah.