US warplanes have bombed behind Taliban lines near Kabul in an effort to weaken defences and allow opposition troops to advance towards the Afghan capital.
Witnesses said they did not hear any anti-aircraft fire from Taliban fighters, who have periodically tried to shoot down US jets since the bombing began more than five weeks ago.
However, there are no signs that the Afghan opposition - a loose coalition of fighters dominated by ethnic minority Tajiks and Uzbeks - is on the offensive near Kabul.
But the opposition is claiming victories on another main front, near the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Backed by heavy US bombing, the opposition Northern Alliance said it has captured several areas to the south of the city. But opposition forces remain at least 40 miles south of the city with winter closing in.
US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said an assessment of the opposition claims of gains outside Mazar-e-Sharif will have to wait until the dust settles.
To the north of Kabul, witnesses said US jets dropped dozens of bombs behind the front line, about 25 miles north of the capital. Some explosions were followed by up to 30 smaller detonations.
The Taliban's Bakhtar News Agency said bombs north of Kabul and in the eastern city of Jalalabad have killed at least 10 people and injured 19.
The report could not be independently confirmed.
PA