Afghan team probes 'nuclear dump'

The Afghan president has set up a team to investigate claims Pakistan dumped nuclear waste in southern Afghanistan during the reign of the Taleban.

Hamid Karzai's office had expressed concern at allegations raised in April that nuclear waste had been buried in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

An Afghan minister told the BBC he had evidence nuclear waste was buried there. Pakistan denied the accusations.

Parliamentary affairs minister Faruq Wardag later withdrew his comments.

Tense relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan further deteriorated this week when Mr Karzai directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of having been involved in a recent wave of attacks in Afghanistan.

The Taleban were in power in Afghanistan from 1996 until they were overthrown in 2001.