Hundreds of foreign fighters captured in the siege of Kunduz have been killed in a prison riot, according to the Northern Alliance.
A fierce gunbattle erupted in the headquarters of warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum near Mazar-i-Sharif, west of Kunduz, as scores of imprisoned Chechen, Pakistani and Arab fighters flinked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network seized their guards' weapons.
A US military adviser was killed in the revolt, according to witnesses. The US refused to confirm the report.
A Reuterscorrespondent saw US fighter jets sweep over and drop at least four bombs on the southern part of the fort where the insurgent foreign prisoners were concentrated.
The US Defense Department confirmed that air strikes had helped quell a revolt by the 300 foreign fighters.
A Northern Alliance said the prisoners broke down the doors and tried to escape, and then battled with guards trying to contain the uprising.
A German television crew was at the Qalai Janghi fortress earlier, and a translator told them the Taliban had seized some weapons from Northern Alliance guards and a struggle broke out.
"It was total chaos there," he said.
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