US troops keep heat on Omar

KABUL - United States jets bombed eastern Afghanistan, targeting remnants of al Qaeda, as an intensive hunt continued for fugitive Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Pakistan-based AIP said the jets had flown at least six sorties over the Spinghar mountain range, which was also being combed by US ground troops and Afghan tribal forces.



Meanwhile, a US senator said Uzbek intelligence officials had told him that Osama bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 terrorist attacks, had probably fled Afghanistan for Pakistan.

Democratic Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, part of a Senate delegation visiting Afghanistan's neighbours, said he was confident Pakistan would assist US efforts to hunt down and capture bin Laden.

He said after meeting intelligence officers in Tashkent that they believed bin Laden had gone into Pakistan.

- REUTERS

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