BBC News Online: World: South Asia

US 'surprised' by Taleban tenacity

The US admits civilian areas of Kabul have been hit

"I'm a bit surprised at how doggedly they're hanging on to power," said Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem at the Pentagon's daily press briefing.

"They have proven to be tough warriors."

Northern Alliance fighters said the US bombardment of the Taleban front line on Wednesday afternoon was the most intense since it began on Sunday.

But as US fighters thundered over the Shomali plains north of Kabul, there are reports that the Northern Alliance is unhappy that the US seems to be concentrating on the positions held by the Pakistani and Arab militia fighting alongside the Taleban, rather than those held by the Taleban themselves.

The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent, Kate Clark, says Alliance commanders are mystified as to why the US planes do not just blast a hole in the Taleban's front line.

Cluster bombs fear

The Foreign Minister of the Alliance, Dr Abdullah Abdullah said co-ordination between his forces and the US military should be improved.

But our correspondent says there is speculation that Washington might not want to upset Pakistan, which is affording the US crucial support, but has expressed disquiet about the Alliance taking control of the capital.

In other developments:

• A Pakistani man arrested by the FBI as part of its investigation into the 11 September attacks on America dies in his jail cell in New Jersey
• Reports suggest some Taleban soldiers have moved into residential areas of Kabul to thwart US attacks
• Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama tells the BBC that the emphasis on humanitarian concerns and avoidance of civilian casualties made the current US approach to war more mature than previously
• US Attorney General John Ashcroft says the hijackers involved in the 11 September attacks used the German city of Hamburg as their central base of operations
• The Taleban starts distributing arms to civilians in the south and east of Afghanistan
• Anthrax is found in a post office serving the White House, but the presidential residence itself is not affected
• Afghan tribal chiefs gather in the Pakistani city of Peshawar to discuss alternatives to the Taleban regime
• Leading Saudi Arabian cleric bans the killing of non-Muslims in Islamic countries after Osama Bin Laden calls for Britons and Americans to leave the Arabian peninsula.

The United Nations has said that unexploded bomblets from cluster bombs have trapped villagers after a raid near the western Afghan city of Herat.

Cluster bombs are controversial weapons consisting of a canister which breaks apart to release a large number of small bombs.

However, there is a significant "dud rate" of about 5% - many do not explode but litter the ground with the potential to explode years later.

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UN officials are calling on the United States to share basic information about the type of munitions used so they know how to deal with them.

Rear Admiral Stufflebeem also warned of another potential danger to Afghanistan's civilians - he said there were reports that the Taleban might be planning to poison the food aid dropped by the US, but could not confirm this was true.

Aid agencies are warning that food warehouses in rural areas are now empty. Oxfam said it was looking to restock via deliveries from Turkmenistan but said it was increasingly difficult to find drivers willing to make the perilous journey into Afghanistan.

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