Kabul tense as residents flee

Taleban soldiers are still patrolling Kabul

Many people are fleeing the Afghan capital Kabul, fearing more US-led air strikes, but the first eyewitness reports do not speak of mass panic.

Shops remained open on Monday and some residents expressed relief that civilians had not been targeted in the bombing.

Eyewitnesses said most of the bombs had hit military installations on hills outside the city.

The Taleban ambassador to Pakistan told Reuters the "horrendous terrorist attacks" had killed at least 20 people across the country. There was no independent confirmation of that figure.

I am leaving. I will sleep under the sky rather than stay in the city for another night

Kabul resident

Significant damage was reported near the defence ministry, a compound in the same area of the city as the presidential palace. Residents said bombs fell near residential areas, destroying two houses.

During the night there were also reports of heavy artillery and rocket exchanges on the frontline just north of Kabul, where the opposition Northern Alliance is reported to be gearing up for a major offensive.

Currency boost

In Kabul and in every Afghan town, the value of the dollar is falling against the Afghani, the BBC's World Affairs editor John Simpson reports from Northern Alliance-held territory.

People think that better times are coming and that the Americans may be pushing large amounts of aid into the country, he says.

Following Sunday's air strikes the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has halted all food convoys into Afghanistan indefinitely.

Millions of Afghans depend on international aid to survive.

US food drops

US cargo planes dropped food aid for displaced people in Afghanistan during the air attacks.

Many Kabul residents are leaving for fear of more attacks

US Army Captain Jason Soriano said the food packets contained a daily ration of red beans, rice, fruit bars, peanut butter and strawberry jam.

Fears are also growing for the safety eight foreign aid workers being held by the Taleban.

British journalist Yvonne Ridley has been released by the Taleban. She was seized 11 days ago after she crossed from Pakistan into eastern Afghanistan.

The Taleban cabinet called an emergency meeting in Kabul and agreed to "forcefully resist the American-British attacks".

Taleban officials said three people died in air raids on their southern stronghold of Kandahar.

The US-led strikes came nearly a month after suicide attacks on New York and The Pentagon left more than 6,000 people dead.

America's chief suspect is Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, who is being protected in Afghanistan by the Taleban regime.

'Morale boosted'

After the air strikes, Afghanistan's official Voice of Shariah radio said that Kabul had not suffered any casualties or damage and that the Taleban's morale was boosted.

The Taleban said Bin Laden was safe, as was its spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

We are in a state of absolute readiness. We are preparing to move

Touryali Ghiasi, Northern Alliance

Mosques in Kabul opened for early morning prayers and calls were made for a jihad [holy war] against America.

Afghan Islamic Press, based in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, reported that 10 people were killed near Kabul airport and another 10 died when a bomb fell near the Voice of Shariah radio station.

As dawn broke in Kabul, frightened residents began emerging from their homes.

One resident told Reuters: "Only God knows what has happened. I am leaving. I will sleep under the sky rather than stay in the city for another night."

Too frightened to stay

An elderly disabled man at a bus station said he was too frightened to stay in a city that has seen large areas reduced to rubble in more than 20 years of war.

Food aid for refugees in Pakistan

"We are leaving because it is no longer safe here - thanks to America," he said.

Taleban guards were said to be in their normal positions outside government offices.

In the wake of the US-led attacks, anti-Taleban forces were preparing for a major offensive.

Touryali Ghiasi, a senior strategist for the Northern Alliance, told the Associated Press: "We are in a state of absolute readiness. We are preparing to move."

He said he understood that the Taleban's ministries for defence, information and interior were destroyed in Kabul. Also, the key Darulaman military base west of the city was hit, he said.