=Ahmed Khel.=--General Sir Donald Stewart set out from Kandahar in April 1880 to occupy Ghuznee, and to open up communication with General Roberts at Cabul. On April 19th he met the enemy, 15,000 strong, at Ahmed Khel, 23 miles south of Ghuznee. There a mad charge of 4,000 Ghazis threatened to exterminate Stewart's little force, but standing firm they withstood the shock of the fanatics, who as they rushed at the rallying squares of Britisher, Sikh, Punjabis, and Bengalese, were mowed down by their steady fire. In this conflict, lasting only one hour, 1,000 Ghazis were killed, but of the British force only 17 were killed, and 6 officers with 120 men wounded. Marching on to Ghuznee, they reached the city on the 20th. Sir Donald Stewart then assumed command at Cabul, and Abdul Rahman was recognised as Ameer. The regiments engaged at Ahmed Khel were 59th; 2nd 60th Rifles, and a battery of artillery; native regiments; 2nd Sikhs; 15th, 19th, and 25th Bengal Infantry; 19th Bengal Lancers, and 1st Punjab Cavalry. =March to "Kandahar."=--When Abdul Rahman, who had been living in Russian Turkestan, returned to Cabul, and his authority appeared to be established, the British army was ordered back to India. They were, however, delayed by the determination of Ayoub Khan, a younger brother of the deposed Ameer, to make a bid for the Ameership, and he set out with the object of seizing Candahar, which had been left in the command of General Primrose with a garrison of about 3,000 men, including the 7th Fusiliers, the 66th, and a number of native troops. To check the advance of the Afghans, about 2,000 men were sent out with 6 guns under General Burrowes as far as the Helmund, but encountering an enormous army at Maiwand he assumed the defensive in a bad position, and the Ghazis drove the British troops from the field with the loss of the colours of the 66th and 2 guns. Thirteen hundred of the British force lay dead on the field. The remnants of that unfortunate army got back to Candahar after suffering great privations, and General Primrose concentrated his troops in the citadel, where they were hemmed in by the enemy, and from August 11th to the 31st waited for relief.