Bombs fall as surrender deadline passes
Al-Qaida forces at Tora Bora are due to surrender despite being targeted by a US B-52 bomber.
After the air raid, Mohammed Lal, a senior commander with the US-supported Eastern Alliance, said the surrender had only been delayed and is still expected to take place.
The aircraft attacked Osama bin Laden's mountain refuge about an hour after a deadline had passed.
"They (al-Qaida) are running late. But they have agreed to come down the mountain in groups of between 20 and 40 men," Lal said. "We are clearing the area to make a safe place for their surrender."
He said the al-Qaida fighters would lay down their weapons, walk a short distance to an alliance position where they would be searched.
They would then be taken to the alliance's local command post at Agom village, about three miles to the southeast, where they would be detained.
Lal said he did not know why the bombing had taken place.
The alliance, which overran al-Qaida's positions on Tuesday, gave their mainly Arab opponents until 8am local time (3.30am GMT) to disarm and walk out of the Tora Bora area, saying they would otherwise face a massive attack.
About 30 minutes after the surrender deadline had come and gone, the alliance's defence chief Mohammed Zaman said: "No Arabs have come out, yet."
Zaman, who wants to hand the al-Qaida fighters over to the UN for prosecution, smiled and cocked his head when asked if US military personnel were operating in the area.
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