Kabul - At least two civilians were killed in a US airstrike in western Afghanistan, the latest in a series of incidents in which non-combatants have died in anti-insurgency operations, officials said Thursday.

The latest airstrike took place on Wednesday in Ghormach district of the western province of Badghis after a group of Taliban militants attacked US military troops in the area.

Kabul - Barack Obama winning in the US presidential election could be a starting point for a leadership change in Afghanistan, opposition politicians predicted, as many ordinary Afghans welcomed the victory and hoped the new administration could put an end to the country's decades-long conflict.

"I think the change in the leadership of the US government could be a starting point for a change in Afghanistan," Doud Sultanzoy, member of lower house of parliament said Wednesday.

Kabul - Taliban militants riding on a motorbike killed the deputy intelligence chief of the southern province of Kandahar, while NATO forces killed a senior Taliban commander in the same region, officials said on Tuesday.

Azizullah, who goes by a single name, the deputy provincial intelligence chief, was killed when he was on his way home in the Loy Wala area of Kandahar city on Monday evening, said Abdul Qayoum Katawazi, the provincial chief of intelligence.

He said the attackers, on a motorbike, shot him dead and then escaped the area.

Taliban militants took responsibility for the attack in a statement posted at their website.

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 national in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday and shot dead an Afghan driver who tried to rescue him, police said.

Kabul - Four Afghan security forces and 30 Taliban fighters including a female militant were killed in the latest series of clashes and attacks in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Two Afghan soldiers were killed and two were wounded when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb blast in the Yakhchal area of Gerishk district in southern Helmand province on Friday, the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement.