Bin Laden is here, says Afghan commander

Commander Hazrat Ali said his troops were closing in on the world's most wanted man as they exchanged mortar fire with his hardcore al-Qaeda fighters holed up in the caves of this snow-capped region in eastern Afghanistan."

We hope, God willing, that we will arrest him very soon. We think that today or the day after today we will martyr them," he said, referring to Saudi-born bin Laden and his mainly Arab followers."

Our mujahedin are willing to fight. Today or tomorrow we are going to launch a big attack and I think they will surrender to us."

An American B-52 heavy bomber dropped its payload over the mountains here yesterday afternoon as air raids resumed following a night of heavy bombardment, an AFP reporter saw.

US fighter jets were heard pounding cave entrances and al-Qaeda positions throughout the night, sometimes at a rhythm of every 20 to 30 minutes. US special forces troops are also in the remote region.

Ali said he had reliable information from an al-Qaeda prisoner that bin Laden was in the area, which has been a focus of the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan since the beginning of December."

Three days ago we captured a prisoner from al-Qaeda who told us that Osama was living here, but he had moved to the top of the mountain. I think he is probably here," Ali said on the front lines facing Tora Bora mountain about 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Jalalabad.

The US effort to wipe out al-Qaeda and track down bin Laden — accused of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States — is expected to increase following Friday's collapse of the Taliban's last stronghold of Kandahar in the far south of the country.

Local militias under the control of Ali, provincial military chief Haji Mohammad Zaman and another commander, Haji Zaher, have been steadily advancing into the White Mountain range in which Tora Bora is located.

But al-Qaeda troops have been putting up fierce resistance despite daily US bombing."

If someone is still alive (from al-Qaeda) that depends on God, but we are doing our best," Ali said.

Zaman said on Friday bin Laden had been seen in the area "three or four days ago", adding: "We sent our spies to their troops and they got that information."

Osama bin Laden and the extremist fundamentalists are living here. Bin Laden is living here with his family."

Zaman said it was clear that families were living in the area, which is riddled with caves used by Afghan mujahedin during the 1979-89 war against the Soviets. "

Before we launched our attack, children were playing and riding their bicycles on a big piece of flat ground," he said.