JALALABAD, Dec 3: Nearly 100 civilians have been killed and 200 wounded in three nights of US airstrikes near Jalalabad, the provincial military chief said on Monday.

Commander Haji Mohammad Zaman said the bombs targeted an area south of Jalalabad near the Tora Bora mountain cave complex, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have a hideout.

Zaman, who directs military operations in Nangarhar province, said the first night of bombings left nearly 80 civilians dead and 150 wounded.

A second night of air raids killed eight civilians and wounded 18, he said, and the third night left eight dead and many people injured.

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported earlier that American commandos landed in Jalalabad on Sunday to launch a search in the Tora Bora caves for Osama.

Quoting unidentified “informed sources”, the agency said the special forces troops landed in two helicopters and were expected to discuss attack plans with officials of Nangarhar province.

Osama has long been believed to have a heavily defended lair in the caves of Tora Bora, around 50 kilometres south of Jalalabad.

Britain’s Mail on Sunday reported that British special forces operatives just missed the world’s most wanted man when they stormed one of Osama’s mountain strongholds southeast of Kandahar last month.

“We were within a whisker of getting him. It was a hard battle and will have put the fear of God into his people,” said a source close to the Special Air Service (SAS) regiment quoted by the paper.

A senior British defence source informed the Sunday Times that British and US commandos were now preparing an attack on Tora Bora.

“It will be in partnership with the Americans who have some very good people, but what we learned in the other cave was crucial,” an unidentified diplomatic source said.

US warplanes kept up their airstrikes around the cave complex on Sunday night and Monday. Tora Bora is situated in the freezing White Mountains and is reachable only by foot or on horseback.

The fortress comprises a complex network of 30 to 40 caves, many connected by tunnels. One Afghan who visited Tora Bora said it contained numerous rooms with immense walls and electric heating.

Locals say the Mujahideen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s worked hard to fortify and expand the Tora Bora complex, digging new tunnels and burying large caches of arms.—AFP