US bombers 'hit Taleban hideout'

The US says it holds 45 al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters

American warplanes have destroyed a compound south-west of Kabul which the Pentagon believes was used by senior figures in the former Taleban government.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the compound was near the town of Ghazni and that the US had "very good indications" Taleban leaders were inside.

We think the majority of folks in there would have been Taleban leadership

General Richard Myers

The news came amid mounting concern about civilian casualties from US raids, and calls for the bombing to stop soon.

On Thursday, an unconfirmed report by the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said 25 residents had been killed and more injured in a night-time American raid at Naka, a village in the eastern province of Paktika.

Tribal leaders in the area have called on Afghanistan's new leader Hamid Karzai to ask the Americans to stop the attacks.

But Mr Karzai has said the strikes must continue until the last remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taleban have been destroyed.

Convoy incident

The BBC's Richard Miron in Kabul says there is growing concern about the bombing among Afghan tribal leaders, especially after an incident last week when US planes hit a convoy headed towards Kabul.

Tribal leaders say the convoy was made up of supporters of the new government, though the US has insisted it contained Taleban or al-Qaeda leaders.

The latest raids, the first in several days, came as Qatar-based al-Jazeera television broadcast a video message by Osama Bin Laden, believed to have been recorded at least two weeks ago.

US forces continued to search for Bin Laden and his Taleban allies in Afghanistan, although the new Afghan Government has said it believes he has fled to Pakistan.

Heavy bombers

The search for Bin Laden continues in the mountains

US reconnaissance planes have continued to fly over the White Mountains near the eastern border with Pakistan, and local anti-Taleban troops are scouring the area's caves.

General Myers, confirming the new US raids, said: "We did strike one target with both heavy bombers and tactical aircraft, using both precision and non-precision weapons, and destroyed a compound near Ghazni".

He added: "We think the majority of folks in there would have been Taleban leadership."

He said he knew of no civilian casualties.

More prisoners

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday he received numerous conflicting reports on Bin Laden's whereabouts everyday.

"We do know of certain knowledge that he is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead. And we know of certain knowledge that we don't know which of these happens to be the case," he said.

General Myers said that US forces had taken custody of about 20 pro-Taleban fighters handed over by Pakistan.

They are being held in Kandahar.

The Pentagon says its forces are now holding 45 Taleban and al-Qaeda prisoners.