U.S. Jets attack north of Kabul

JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan - U.S. jets bombed the front lines north of Kabul yesterday, setting off huge orange fireballs and columns of black smoke near Taliban positions. Some opposition commanders urged America to send ground troops and liquidate the Taliban quickly.

American jets were also in action near the other major front south of the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, according to Taliban and opposition officials.

The Afghan Islamic Press agency, quoting Taliban officials, said U.S. jets conducted 26 separate raids yesterday in the Samangan province southeast of Mazar-e-Sharf but that Taliban lines were still holding.

At the Islamic militia's southern stronghold of Kandahar, U.S. strikes hit a bus near the city gates and at least 10 civilians were killed in a fiery explosion, the Taliban and residents said. The claim could not be independently verified.

For a fifth straight day, U.S. jets roared over the front line about 30 miles north of the capital city of Kabul, swooping down and dropping bombs on Taliban positions on the Shomali Plain.

The pattern of attacks suggested the United States was trying to push the Taliban back from the opposition-controlled Bagram airport so the northern alliance can use the airfield to fly in desperately needed supplies and reinforcements for any move on the capital.

Over Bagram yesterday, Taliban fighters again fired at U.S. jets. Associated Press Television News footage showed one missile that appeared to pass between two American planes, missing both of them.