Taliban Carpet-Bombed as Osama Hunt Narrows

Nov. 2 -- As B-52s carpet-bombed Taliban positions in Afghanistan today, officials again warned the war there would be long and difficult, in spite of intelligence sources who said the hunt for Osama bin Laden has narrowed to a few complexes of caves and tunnels.

Opposition forces also fighting the Taliban said the intense U.S. air assault on the front lines north of Kabul, the Afghan capital, appeared to be coordinated by American troops on the ground. The bombers hit targets, witnesses said, including the old road from Kabul to the strategic Bagram air base and Taliban field headquarters, tanks, artillery and rocket launchers.

Near the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, amid heavy rain, the U.S. bombing was described as relentless.

"We know we're putting severe stress on them," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff , said at the Pentagon today. "We know we're having success, but it's also very difficult to get good reports out to measure."

Intense U.S. air attacks around Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif are apparently designed to assist rebel Northern Alliance troops preparing for expected ground offensives against Taliban strongholds. The Northern Alliance has not changed its positions since the American bombing began nearly one month ago, but has been moving troops and artillery to the front lines.

Despite speculation that the rebels would attempt to take Kabul, Northern Alliance officials tell ABCNEWS that the rebel troops do not plan to enter Kabul and instead will stop their offensive after taking Bagram air base 40 miles to the north.

The opposition expects the U.S. military to use the Soviet-built air base to continue its operations against the hard-line Taliban regime, suspected terror mastermind bin Laden and his al Qaeda terror network.

The rebel leaders also plan to take Mazar-e-Sharif and another key city, Herat, in western Afghanistan, they said.

Fewer than 100 U.S. special forces on the ground have been helping direct bombing and communicate with opposition forces. Today, the Pentagon said freezing rain was hampering efforts to get more elite troops into Afghanistan.