Forces ready to break front lines 'within a few days'

Afghanistan's Northern Alliance will be able to break the Taliban's front lines "within a few days" if the US maintains its intense bombardments, says a senior alliance official.

Abdullah, the foreign minister of the opposition, said forcers are ready to break the front lines.

Speaking in the opposition-held town of Jabal Saraj, Abdullah praised air raids, which for the first time included the use of B-52 bombers, as being "very effective".

He said 15 Taliban tanks were destroyed in five days of bombing along the front lines. He added, that US jets hit a Taliban air base and ammunitions depot in the northern city of Kunduz, forcing the hard-line Islamic militia to empty the depot and take its contents to the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Abdullah confirmed reports that the northern alliance is reinforcing its troop presence along the front lines in preparation for an advance, saying the build-up of troops "is in the thousands."

He also confirmed that General Tommy Franks, commander in chief of the US Central Command, met the opposition commander, General Mohammad Fahim in Tajikistan.

Abdullah said the meeting "went well" and that the two leaders discussed ways of improving coordination between the two sides. He gave no further details.