US admits bombs went astray

The US admits that civilians areas have been hit

The United Nations says it has received reports that a military hospital has been destroyed in the western Afghan city of Herat.

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker told a news conference in Pakistan that the 100-bed hospital was apparently struck on Sunday during a US air raid.

Washington has admitted that at least three of its bombs have missed their intended targets over the weekend.

The US has now confirmed that a helicopter lost part of its landing gear

Afghanistan's ruling Taleban claim that 100 patients and medical workers were killed at the hospital, although that figure cannot be independently verified.

The Pentagon said it could not confirm the hospital incident, but acknowledged that a "systems malfunction" was responsible for at least three bombs going off-course over the weekend.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said that two 500-pound (225-kilogramme) bombs had accidentally dropped on a residential area north-west of Kabul on Saturday, and that on Sunday a 1,000-pound bomb had been dropped on a field next to an old peoples' residential home in Herat.

She insisted however that all Taleban claims regarding civilian casualties were inflated.

Washington is now also admitting that a helicopter involved in a raid near Kandahar lost part of its landing gear after being shot at, although it managed to return safely to base.

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Meanwhile, the UK has announced the successful destruction of all nine of Islamic militant Osama Bin Laden's training camps in the US-led air strikes.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon also said that nine airfields had been put out of action, and 24 military garrisons had been hit.

Opposition forces hold about 10% of Afghan territory

He rebuffed criticism that the strikes were targeting camps which had long been deserted by Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which is being held responsible for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

"We believe that nine al-Qaeda camps were occupied before the start of the military operation," he told a news conference in London. I can now tell you that we have successfully put all these camps out of action."

After a day-long respite for Kabul itself, American bombing resumed on Tuesday, with residents reporting raids throughout the day.

The last time Kabul was hit, the Taleban artillery was silent, leading to speculation about the extent of damage to their air defences.

Sixteen days into the US bombardment, the anti-Taleban opposition in Afghanistan is battling for control of the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

'Fierce battles'

Northern Alliance warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum said his forces were locked in fierce battles with the Taleban near Mazar-e-Sharif - which was once his stronghold and which he is eager to recapture.

Another key alliance commander, Mohammed Atta, said his men had launched a joint ground and air attack overnight on Keshendeh, 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Mazar.

The American Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has said the US attacks on Taleban front lines in support of the opposition are a "logical progression" of the American-led military campaign.

But the strategy has sparked hostility from those who fear that the Northern Alliance is being helped into power, and that the replacement of one regime with another would not be a suitable solution to Afghanistan's problems.

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