One of the buildings targeted was the office of the Qatari-based satellite television channel, Al-Jazeera, which has broadcast video-taped messages from alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden and his deputies since the September 11 atrocities in New York and Washington.

The office was destroyed in the attack but neighbours said they believed it was empty and there were no known casualties. The plane flew over Kabul at 1:30 am (2100 GMT Monday) and two loud explosions were heard.

Minutes later an AFP reporter saw a fire burning in the southeast of Kabul, casting a red glow over the night sky. The bodies of several Taliban soldiers, apparently victims of the overnight raids, were seen lying on the streets in the morning as opposition security forces moved into the city.

The Taliban evacuated overnight after a lightning opposition advance across the front lines north of here on Monday. US planes also attacked Taliban positions north of Kabul as well as western Herat and southern Ghazni overnight Monday, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

Five Taliban soldiers died and several were wounded when warplanes bombarded a Taliban military base in Ghazni for the first time since the airstrikes began on October 7. US planes also pounded Shamshad town, eight kilometers from the Torkham border post between Pakistan and Afghanistan. One Taliban soldier was injured in the attack. The Taliban's southern bastion of Kandahar was also attacked but details were not available.