US jets have targeted the heart of Kabul pounding a district housing a Taliban tank unit.
The latest air strikes started before dawn with explosions in central neighbourhoods around the presidential palace.
The Taliban information ministry says the strikes in and around the city's Shash Tarak district, were also near the abandoned US Embassy, the defence ministry and a Taliban garrison.
Flames have been seen rising from the airport north of the city.
Meanwhile, Northern Alliance opposition forces are also reported to be fighting hard for a strategic Taliban-held city.
In Washington, defence sources say US special forces are now in place aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in the Indian Ocean - ready for any search-and-destroy missions ordered against Osama bin Laden and his allies.
In Kandahar, the Taliban's headquarters in southern Afghanistan, jets struck military targets throughout the city, Taliban officials report.
Residents say Taliban fighters in the city have been handing out weapons to civilians.