51.  Tensions arose following the slaying of Iranian diplomats by Taliban forces in a northern Afghan city in August.

52.  Taliban soldiers bombed the last major Afghan city outside their control Saturday and claimed they had captured it, although reports of street fighting made their hold appear shaky.

53.  The former Taliban stronghold was said to be safer than other Afghan cities because virtually all residents belong to the same ethnic group, the majority Pashtuns.

54.  The statement was issued hours after the United States and Britain launched a missile attack on at least three Afghan cities targeting Osama bin Laden and his Taliban backers.

55.  The United Nations says the families in this ramshackle camp are but a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands who have fled Afghan cities.

56.  The Taliban came in blazing Saturday, raining rockets and bombs on the last major Afghan city not under their control.

57.  The United States also was no longer holding prisoners in the northern Afghan city Mazar-e-Sharif.

58.  There are Hindu populations in other Afghan cities, but no reliable figures on exactly how many.

59.  The women, who were in good health, were held in a juvenile detention center in the heart of the Afghan city.

60.  Their hasty departure, similar to their abandonment of other Afghan cities in recent weeks, came despite earlier pledges to defend Kandahar to the death.