Taliban fire on U.S. planes; bin Laden forces lose 22 fighters

KORAK DANA, Afghanistan -- Taliban gunners fired missiles Wednesday at U.S. jets pounding the front line north of Kabul, the heaviest onslaught in four days of attacks there. Opposition commanders said they were bringing up fresh troops for a possible assault on the capital.

An American airstrike in Kabul, meanwhile, reportedly killed 22 Pakistani militants linked to Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. It was the highest reported death toll suffered by bin Laden's allies since the air assault began Oct. 7.

In neighboring Pakistan, border guards reported five powerful explosions Wednesday near a region in Afghanistan's Paktia province where bin Laden is thought to run a tunnel complex. The concussions near the Gor Way Tangi area were so powerful that Pakistani officials said they believed 5,000-pound bombs were being used to collapse mountainsides and close tunnel entrances.

Pakistani authorities said Wednesday that six Muslims from Somalia and Sudan -- countries where bin Laden recruits fighters -- were arrested leaving Afghanistan last weekend. An inquiry was under way to determine whether they were members of bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network trying to flee American attacks.

Amid the roar of jets and the crackle of gunfire north of Kabul, opposition commander Haji Bari told The Associated Press that the northern alliance was bringing in thousands of new troops and weapons in anticipation of a green light from alliance leaders to march on the capital.

"We're waiting for the order," said Bari, deputy brigade commander in the Rabat district.

So far, U.S. strikes north of the capital have not brought an opposition advance. The northern alliance is also fighting to dislodge the Taliban from Mazar-e-Sharif, a key northern city.

The opposition claimed to have killed 35 Taliban fighters and captured 140 others -- including Arabs and Chechens -- in a battle Wednesday near the town of Kashendeh, about 60 miles south of Mazar-e-Sharif. The report could not be independently confirmed.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said he hopes the anti-terrorism war in Afghanistan can be concluded quickly but the Bush administration is prepared to keep up the fight during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if necessary. Powell said the ruling Taliban militia "must now go because they are part and parcel to al-Qaida."

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spoke out against a pause, for humanitarian reasons, in military action in Afghanistan, saying that a temporary halt would only prolong suffering.

Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed surprise at "how doggedly" the Taliban were clinging to power. He accused the group of even planning to poison humanitarian food supplies and blaming any deaths on the Americans.