Kabul, Sept. 29: A nervous fear seems to have gripped most Afghan civilians, especially educated women, in the wake of the Taliban making a determined bid to regain the power that it lost seven years ago.

According to The Times, the jihadists are now just 20 minutes from Kabul.

Nobody seriously thinks the Taliban could take Kabul. The capital is surrounded by mountains, has only a few routes in and remained almost untouched during the Russian occupation.

Afghanistan has more than 71,000 foreign troops under the leadership of NATO and the US, neither of which can contemplate defeat.

However, the fear among Kabulis is palpable. “There is a sense of dread of return to the dark days of the past,” said a western diplomat.

Dhaka - Tens of thousands of people heading to their hometowns for the holidays at the end of Ramadan were stranded at ferry stations as tropical squalls battered the fragile Bangladeshi coastline at the weekend, officials said Monday.

Gale winds forced the suspension of ferry services along the southern coast while half a dozen fishing boats that ignored storm warnings capsized in the high waves.

About 50,000 holiday makers were trapped at ferry stations across the country as the river boat service was suspended.

Rawalpindi, Sept 29: Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani has reportedly expressed satisfaction over the role of the local tribesmen in the Bajaur Agency in supporting his country’s Army in its fight against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

In several incidents over the past weeks, the tribesmen in the Bajaur Agency have dragged the militants belonging to the Pakistan unit of the Taliban – the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) out of their areas. At times, the tribesmen also used weapons in chasing the terrorists away.

Hanoi - Flash floods, heavy rain and landslides triggered by Typhoon Hagupit have killed at least 42 people and left 4 missing and 61 injured in northern Vietnam, the National Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control said Monday.

Disaster officials said heavy rains and landslides triggered by the typhoon swept through villages, washing away nearly 20 thousand homes and 18 schools.

Over 600,000 poultry and 18,000 cattle were killed.

About 5,000 Vietnamese soldiers were dispatched to evacuate people in vulnerable areas.

Peshawar, Sept 29: The Pakistan Government is learnt to have chalked out a decisive plan to launch a major crackdown on Taliban in the Tribal Areas. But, the actual implementation of the plan would depend on the “availability of men and material”, said a government official.

“The government understands that it is time to launch a crackdown against the Taliban before it is too late,” the Daily Times quoted an unidentified senior government official as saying. He, however, refused to give the exact date for launching the operation.

Hong Kong - Nearly half of Hong Kong women gamble regularly and 2 per cent of them are pathological gamblers, according to a survey released Monday.

Interviews with almost 1,500 women and teenage girls found that 48 per cent admitted to gambling regularly, compared to 35 per cent three years ago.

Playing the Chinese board game mahjong, card games and lotteries are the most popular form of gambling for women, researchers at a rehabilitation centre for problem gamblers found.