Civilians killed in US raids - Taliban

The Taliban regime claimed that a US cruise missile hit a residential area in Kabul, killing several civilians.

No more details have been issued, but the strike is believed to have taken place on the eastern outskirts of the city.

In the village of Dehyaya, two women and two young girls are reported to have been injured by shrapnel from an American bomb that hit a disused fort.

Reports are also emerging that there have been strikes on the Taliban front line, raising fears among the Northern alliance that some of their troops may accidentally be hit.

A small village north of Kabul was hit by apparent stray missile damaging houses and injuring several people, villagers said.

Deh Sabz, 18 miles north of Kabul, is not close to any known military installations or training camps. It was hit around the time that US warplanes were targeting airports in the southern city of Kandahar and the north-western town of Herat.

Villager Ehsan Ullah Khan said he and his family were sitting in their home in Deh Sabz when they heard explosions that broke windows and collapsed the outer walls of their house. He said he and his wife were both cut by flying glass and debris.

Another villager, Mohammed Nazim, was also in his house when he heard aircraft overhead and then explosions. Wounded in the legs, arms and face, he was treated at a hospital and discharged."We want to live in our houses in a peaceful manner," he said.