KABUL, Dec 9: US forces on Sunday stepped up efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, as Afghanistan’s new leader said he had peacefully ended a stand-off between rival anti-Taliban commanders in Kandahar.

American B-52 bombers targeted the Tora Bora mountain fortress in eastern Afghanistan where Osama is believed to be holed up with hundreds of die-hard supporters of his Al Qaeda terror movement.

A correspondent saw huge plumes of smoke rise from the mountains around Tora Bora as the bombers pulverised the positions of Al Qaeda fighters.

Local Afghan commander Haji Mohammad Zaman said he was “100 per cent certain” the Saudi-born dissident was in the area.

Zaman said he and other militiamen were preparing to launch a ground attack and were convinced Osama would be captured within days.

In Washington, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers said on Sunday the US military believed Osama and his erstwhile protector-in-chief, Mullah Omar, had not managed to slip out of Afghanistan.

“We think we know in general where he is,” Myers told Fox News when asked about Osama. “To the best of our knowledge, he has not left the country.”

About Omar, Myers said: “We think we know where he is in a relatively large area, and we’ll continue to hunt for the Taliban leadership, not just Omar.”

The lawlessness in Kandahar city earlier on Sunday was mirrored in some other parts of the country.

Forces under Noorzai tribal commander Abdul Rahman Jan took control of Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gah after a fierce battle with Barakzai tribal commander Hafeezullah Jan, which left about seven dead, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.

In the southern border town of Spin Boldak, residents said scores of gunmen were roaming the streets as different tribal factions jostled for control of the frontier checkpoint, customs office and security.

Residents in the capital Kabul pleaded for the rapid arrival of a proposed international peacekeeping force.

In the month since the Taliban fled Kabul, the soldiers and police of their victorious Northern Alliance foes have become increasingly bolder with their version of instant justice.

Once-rare beatings are becoming increasingly commonplace on streets bristling with security forces armed with Kalashnikovs.

In one hopeful sign for millions in desperate need of aid, a goods train rolled across the Friendship Bridge from neighbouring Uzbekistan on Sunday, the first time the bridge had opened to traffic for four years.

It carried 1,000 tons of flour and grain provided jointly by the United Nations and the Uzbek government.

Meanwhile, US vice-president Dick Cheney asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Osama was hiding in one of the massive cave complexes in Afghanistan’s Tora Bora mountains, said “I believe so.”

“The preponderance of the reporting at this point indicates that Mullah Omar is still down in the Kandahar region someplace and that Osama is also still in Afghanistan,” in the “general area” of Tora Bora.—AFP