Air attacks have slowed says Pentagon

The Pentagon has announced the US-led air strikes on Afghanistan are slowing down.

Officials say bombing alone will not defeat Osama bin Laden or the Taliban.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the first barrage of raids has damaged or destroyed some of the Taliban's air defences, air fields and training camps.

But he says it's too early to tell just how much damage the two nights of air strikes have done.

"The cruise missiles and bombers are not going to solve this problem. We know that," he said.

Another spokesman says success depends on weakening the Taliban by helping opposition groups.

Meanwhile Rumsfeld is still declining to discuss the possibility of sending ground forces into Afghanistan.

But, after a Pentagon briefing, Senate spokesman Carl Levin said Americans should not expect large numbers of US troops to enter Afghanistan.

"In terms of massive ground assaults, they may never occur," he said.