1.   Advance elements are already present in former military bases and are using urban street gangs to grab weapons from decent Christians.

2.   Advance elements of an alliance force have entered Helmand province, just to the west of the Taliban base of Kandahar, the official said.

3.   Advance elements of a northern alliance force have entered Helmand province, one of the last areas of the country still regarded under Taliban control, the official said.

4.   Francesc Vendrell, deputy UN special envoy to Afghanistan, said the advance elements of the ISAF would reassure members of the new government of their safety.

5.   Francesc Vendrell, deputy UN special envoy to Afghanistan, said the advance elements of the ISAF would also reassure members of the new government of their safety.

6.   Advance elements of the French contingent left the port of Toulon, southern France, on Tuesday morning aboard the troop ship Champlain.

7.   Advance elements of the force have already arrived in the country.

8.   The crackdown came as advance elements of a French anti-terrorism investigation team arrived in the southern city of Karachi to join in the Pakistani police probe into the bombing.