TORA BORA - United States warplanes staged huge bombing raids last night on the mountain positions of the al Qaeda network in eastern Afghanistan.
One US jet dropped four or five bombs into a valley between two mountains where hardline followers of accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden have sought refuge in caves.
The bombs, which fell barely 500m from the frontline command post of local Afghan militia leaders, set off a ball of flame and a chain of huge explosions through the White Mountain range which includes the Tora Bora caves.
Another jet carried out three more bombing raids over the next hour. Sporadic small arm fire also reverberated through the valleys.
Several hundred bin Laden fighters are believed to be grouped around the summits of the mountains.
They have refused to surrender although reports have spoken of new attempts to persuade them to give up.
Commander Hazrat Ali said his forces would resume the assault unless al Qaeda agreed to hand over bin Laden and his 20 top aides in return for free passage for foot soldiers today.
The Afghan Islamic Press said a six-man shura, or council, of officials from the eastern province of Nangarhar had been sent to try again to persuade the al Qaeda to give up.
Meanwhile, a US newspaper, the Christian Science Monitor, and Britain's Daily Telegraph said yesterday that bin Laden had slipped over the border to Pakistan 10 days ago with the help of Pashtun tribesmen, quoting senior al Qaeda operative and financier Abu Jaffar.
In other developments:
* A US Air Force B-1 bomber involved in the military campaign in Afghanistan crashed in the Indian Ocean and all four crew members were rescued by an American destroyer.
A small boat from the USS Russell plucked the crew of the $US200 million, four-engine jet from waters about 100km north of the island of Diego Garcia. * A videotape of bin Laden that officials believe is "smoking gun" proof that the fugitive guerrilla masterminded the September 11 attacks on America is expected to be released today.
* An American Taleban fighter being held by US Marines in Afghanistan has told US intelligence officials the al Qaeda network plans to launch a biological attack against the US within days, the Washington Times reported.
John Walker Lindh, aged 20, said that "phase two" of al Qaeda's war on the US would occur at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan ends on Monday.
The third phase of al Qaeda's war would lead to destruction of the entire US.
The officials said they questioned the credibility of his claims because of his apparent low-level status within the Taleban.
- AGENCIES
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US bombers continue to pound mountain targets
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