Northern Alliance know bin Laden whereabouts - claim

Armoured convoys of US Marines are patrolling near Kandahar, after tribal warriors said they are determined to take its airport and then seize the city itself.

More than 1,000 US Marines are stationed at a desert base about 70 miles south west of Kandahar, but have not taken part in the fighting.

It comes as the Northern Alliance claimed they know where Osama bin Laden is hiding.

He is believed to have moved to the hills of three southern provinces along with his al-Qaida followers.