US planes destroy 'Taleban hideout'

American warplanes in Afghanistan are reported to have destroyed a suspected Taleban hide-out after a government convoy came under attack in the east of the country.

A local official said the convoy was ambushed near the town of Khost by a group of men armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

He said an Afghan soldier was killed and an American wounded before the rebels sought refuge in a house nearby which was later surrounded and destroyed by fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships.

Correspondents say it is the first time for six weeks that American planes have been involved in such an operation in Afghanistan in the continuing hunt for fugitive Taleban and al Qaeda fighters.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service