Taliban line holds as air raids go on

American planes hit Kabul again this morning and struck at the Taliban front lines 20 miles north of the city. They also targeted front lines of the Taliban around the strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north.

Progress of the two Northern Alliance forces trying to take Mazar is reported to be painfully slow. The Uzbek force of Abdul Rashid Dostum does not seem to be able to rally enough troops to break the Taliban lines. The Taliban are reported to be fighting back fiercely and to have yielded little ground.

Taliban and Northern Alliance forces this week have been locked in their biggest battle of this campaign so far across the Shamali Plain, running north of Kabul.

The Taliban claim that US bombers killed 52 people in a village near Kandahar yesterday. The claim, made through the Afghan Islamic Press agency in Pakistan, says that the people, mostly nomads, were killed in or near the village of Chakor Kariz.

The Pentagon has admitted that a bomb from a US Navy Hornet fighter hit an old people's home in the western city of Herat on Sunday morning. Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the aircraft had been trying to hit a military vehicle storage area when the 1,000lb device went astray, and the home was hit.

"We have no information on casualties," she said. The UN, however, says that 100 people may have been killed or wounded in a military hospital in Herat - which is close to the original Taliban claim made on Monday.

The Pentagon has admitted that a US Navy Tomcat fighter-bomber dropped two bombs on residential areas in the north of the capital on Saturday. It was aiming at military vehicles guarding the outskirts of the city.

Yesterday British Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon said that the US bombing and allied cruise missile attacks had already succeeded in destroying all nine of al Qaeda's main training camps in Afghanistan. "I can now tell you that we have successfully put all these camps out of action."

A total of 34 garrisons and barracks had been destroyed, and according to the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, "the right conditions have been created for further operations in Afghanistan".

Admiral Boyce said that the al Qaeda guerrillas had been prevented from using their main bases - "it would be unattractive to do overt training there again". Evidence is emerging of a difference of view about the length of the campaign between the military commanders and the politicians in Washington.

Military chiefs like the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Richard B Myers, are arguing for "strategic patience" - a long bombing campaign to weaken Taliban and al Qaeda, and placing less reliance on local allies like the Northern Alliance.

A hint of this was given yesterday in London by the recent Nato Supreme Commander, General Wesley Clark, who is promoting his book on the Kosovo campaign. "Open-ended bombing is favoured by General Myers and Admiral Boyce," he said. "The Pentagon is pushing this thing along as rapidly as possible, because they judge Pakistan is vulnerable."

The UN refugee agency has said it is building an emergency camp for refugees who have flooded into the Pakistani border town of Chaman, with room for 1,000 people

Mr Hoon was due to announce Britain's ground force commitments to Operation Veritas, the British part of Operation Enduring Freedom later today. It has been reported that Britain will commit the carrier HMS Illustrious and up to 1,000 special forces and support troops. The Navy has said that any commitment would be for at least six months, and replacements would be needed faster than that.

Admiral Boyce said the bulk of British forces now on exercise in Oman would be coming home - if only to retrain to prepare for other operations. Latest reports suggest, however, that Mr Hoon is reluctant to make such a long-term commitment at this stage.