Tucked away at the end of a piece on Ayman al-Zawahiri's latest speech, his first in English, is this in Australia's Herald Sun.
In southern Afghanistan, eight civilians being held in a compound by the Taliban were killed in an air strike by US-led troops that also killed 25 rebel fighters.
Militants ambushed coalition troops in Uruzgan province on Sunday and then fled to a compound where they held "hostage" 11 civilians, including children. The coalition said it did not know civilians were inside. "An anonymous eyewitness told coalition forces the civilians tried to escape, but the militants beat them and refused to let them leave," it said. |