1.   Russian troops kept their distance as a ragged band of Chechens strolled through the center of this desolate Chechen town on Saturday.

2.   With his ragged band of Patriots lying tattered and disconsolate one floor below the room where his press conference was being held, Carroll seemed to sense the moment.

3.   Andy Langer, rock music critic for the Austin Chronicle, has watched Vallejo develop from a ragged part-time band that arrived in town five years ago.

4.   The Taliban, a ragged band of rebel fighters, have stunned many analysts by swiftly capturing more than a third of the country.

5.   The Taliban, a ragged band of rebel fighters, have swiftly captured more than one-third of the country and surrounded the capital.