Warplanes blast al-Qaida caves in bin Laden search

American air strikes today blasted the Tora Bora cave and tunnel network carved deep into the White Mountains in east Afghanistan, with the search for Osama bin Laden now the main focus of the conflict.

US officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, and some Afghan commanders, think bin Laden may be hiding there with a large number of mainly Arab al-Qaida fighters.