Kabul- Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a call for peace to Taliban militants, including their leader Mullah Omar, on Tuesday, while three US-led coalition soldiers were killed in a roadside attack in southern Afghanistan.

On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday that comes at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, or Ramadan, Karzai called on the Taliban to stop their insurgency and join the peace process set out by his government.

Kabul, Sept 30: Around 20,000 Pakistanis have fled their country and taken refuge in Afghanistan due to the ongoing fight between Pakistani security forces and the Taliban in Bajaur Agency, a statement released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

The United Nations’ refugee agency said that nearly 4000 families had fled Bajaur into Afghanistan's Kunar province.

The fighting in Bajaur tribal area had displaced as many as 500,000 people, the Daily Times quoted UN officials as saying.

Kabul, Sept. 29: Afghanistan’s senior-most policewoman – Malalai Kakar -- was shot dead outside her home in Kandahar city on Sunday, as she was proceeding for work. Her 18-year-old son, who was driving her to work, was also grievously injured.

A Guardian report said that two gunmen shot Kakar at point blank range.

Kakar, 41, was the head of the department of crimes against women in Kandahar, and had led many police house searches in Kandahar leading to the seizure of arms and drugs.

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.

Kabul - A top Afghan female police officer was shot dead by Taliban militants in southern Kandahar province, while three civilians were killed in a international military airstrike in eastern region, officials said Sunday.

Malalai Kakar, head of female officers of provincial police department Kandahar, was shot dead by two gunmen riding on motorbike on Sunday morning, said Zelmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Kakar died on the spot in Chounai area of Kandahar city, while her son who was riding in the same vehicle was wounded, Ayoubi said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi took responsibility for the attack and claimed that Kakar's son was also killed in the shooting.

Kabul - Afghan officials said Saturday they were trying to secure the release of 35 construction workers after their kidnappers released 118 labourers in western Afghanistan.

The militants who identified themselves as members of Taliban insurgents abducted 153 workers on their way to a construction site in Bala Bulok district of western Farah province on Sunday.

Three of the workers were released on Tuesday.