KABUL/PESHAWAR (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes hit a crowded bus and worshipers leaving a mosque in their latest raids to flush out Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban said Thursday. (Read photo caption below)
The explosions were among the largest for several nights. The targets of the bombs and any damage could not be immediately known because a night curfew is in place.
Witnesses said the United States had also attacked suspected hide-outs of bin Laden.
No independent confirmation of civilian casualties from the latest raids was available as the world's superpower unleashed its sophisticated armory against rifle-carrying soldiers dug into World War One-style trenches for a 19th day.
In Kabul, the Information Ministry said U.S. planes had hit a bus station in the southern town of Kandahar.
Local residents fleeing the strikes into western Pakistan said it felt as if the jets were targeting any moving vehicle.
``The U.S. planes were hitting all moving things, including trucks and buses,'' said medical student Sultan Mohammad, 25. The bus appeared to have been hit near Kandahar's Kabul Gate.
Taliban officials said eight nomads were killed and 25 wounded in another part of the city, the stronghold of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, chief protector of Osama bin Laden.
Western planes also bombed the village of Ishaq Sulaiman near western Herat overnight, killing 20 civilians and injuring eight as they emerged from prayers, the Taliban spokesman said.
Witnesses said aircraft struck hide-outs believed to be used by bin Laden's al Qaeda network in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province bordering Pakistan.
Two U.S. planes struck the Gora Tangi area in Paktia province Wednesday evening. There were no reports of casualties.
In northwestern Afghanistan, opposition forces said they planned to cut Taliban supplies with Kabul and take the town of Mazar-i-Sharif, which has an airbase that U.S. forces could use.
``We have a plan to take the main road between Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif which passes through Bamiyan and Baglan provinces, general Ustad Attah told Reuters.
PHOTO CAPTION:
An F/A-18 'Hornet' from the 'Marauders' of Strike Fighter Squadron Eight Two ignites its afterburners as it prepares to be catapulted from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, October 23, 2001. U.S. warplanes hit a crowded bus and worshipers leaving a mosque in their latest raids to flush out Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban said October 25. (US Navy via Reuters