1.   But on Monday Northern Alliance troops were pounding Taliban positions with mortars and heavy weapons from new positions around the hilltop.

2.   Macedonian troops pounded suspected ethnic Albanian rebel positions with artillery and besieged part of the border with Kosovo amid fading hopes for a political settlement.

3.   A number of Filipino hostages were able to escape when army troops pounded the rebels with gunfire and rockets.

4.   Government troops pound Taliban positions.

5.   Government troops pounded Muslim gunmen with artillery and helicopter gunships in running battles Friday with militants who ransacked this southern town three days ago, police and witnesses reported.

6.   In some of the heaviest fighting yet in the campaign, Russian troops pounded villages and the capital with bombs and artillery shells on Thursday.

7.   In the Philippines, meanwhile, troops pounded several Abu Sayyaf camps with rockets Tuesday in an attempt to free the remaining Filipino hostages, mostly schoolchildren.

8.   Indian troops pounded Islamic guerrilla strongholds Thursday, preparing to capture a strategic peak as India and Pakistan hardened postures in the six-week battle over Kashmir.

9.   Instead, troops have pounded Abu Sneineh and other neighborhoods with tank shells and machine gun fire.

10.   Macedonian troops pounded suspected ethnic Albanian rebel positions with artillery Wednesday and besieged part of the border with Kosovo amid fading hopes for a political settlement.