Journalist killed in Taliban ambush

A French journalist was killed and another reported missing after being ambushed by the Taliban while travelling with Northern Alliance forces in north-eastern Afghanistan.

Johanne Sutton, 34, a reporter with Radio France International, was the first journalist to be killed in the conflict. She was travelling with a Northern Alliance convoy of armed vehicles and trucks which was attacked soon after leaving Khojabahuddin near the border with Tajikistan.

The search for another French journalist, Pierre Billaud, who disappeared in the ambush was due to resume today.

Meanwhile, a writer and photographer for The Sunday Telegraph have been deported by Pakistan. The newspaper claims its reporter, Christina Lamb, had uncovered evidence of a covert operation by rogue elements in Pakistan's military intelligence service to smuggle arms to the Taliban.

Ms Lamb, a foreign correspondent, was deported with the photographer, Justin Sutcliffe. They were detained in the border town of Quetta on Friday, before being taken to Islamabad and put on a flight to London.

Ms Lamb was on the trail of evidence linking elements of the ISI, Pakistan's military intelligence service, to the Taliban. Pakistani authorities claimed the two journalists were "acting in a manner prejudicial to the external affairs and security of Pakistan" but their decision to deport her will embarrass the British and US governments, which have nurtured Pakistan's role in the coalition.