Kabul - A group of unknown gunmen abducted a French aid worker Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

The Frenchman was kidnapped as he was walking to his office with a colleague, said Zemarai Bashary, an interior ministry spokesman.

The two men, who were working with a nongovernmental organization in the country, were walking to their office in the Kart-e-Parwan neighbourhood when three gunmen snatched the Frenchman and took him to an unknown location by car, said a senior police official who requested anonymity.

"An Afghan driver for the intelligence service who tried to stop the abduction was killed by the kidnappers," the official said.

Kabul - Troops found and destroyed 40 tons of hashish in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar Monday, according to military sources.

The troops, consisting of Afghan soldiers and US-led coalition troops, discovered the drugs in a laboratory while searching for militants. The laboratory was also destroyed, reported US military sources.

The statement said the discovery showed a clear link between the Taliban and the drug trade and that the destruction of the drugs would limit the ability of rebel forces to continue fighting.

Kabul - A group of unknown gunmen abducted a French aid worker Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

The Frenchman was kidnapped as he was walking to his office with a colleague, said Zemarai Bashary, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

The two men were on foot in the Kart-e-Parwan neighbourhood when three gunmen snatched the Frenchman and took him to an unknown location by car, said a senior police official who requested anonymity.

"An Afghan driver for the intelligence service who tried to stop the abduction was killed by the kidnappers," the official said.

He said that as the Afghan driver scuffled with the abductors, the other aid worker escaped.

Kabul - A group of unknown gunmen abducted a French national in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

London, Nov 3: British troops serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be provided with a new hi-tech combat outfit and hundreds of better-armoured vehicles by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), UK.

According to a report in the Times, a total redesign of military fatigues will give soldiers a head-to-toe integrated uniform, with all parts of the body being given new or additional protection against threats from high-velocity bullets and blast noise to mosquitoes.

Development work on the new battle uniform has been carried out amid growing criticism of the MoD over the protection given to troops.

Dhaka - Two Bangladeshi development workers abducted in Afghanistan were released in the east-central province of Ghazni, officials said Sunday.

"The unidentified abductors left them in front of our Gazni office Saturday evening, 10 days after they were picked up," said Zia Hashan, communications manager of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, a Dhaka-based non-governmental organization.

Akhter Ali and Mohammad Shahjahan Ali, who have been working for the committee in Afghanistan for three years, were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on October