Afghan opposition forces consolidated their hold on the newly captured capital of Kabul on Wednesday and said new gains meant the Taliban now held less than 20 percent of the country as international calls intensified for a new broad-based government and more U.N. involvement. With reports of reprisal killings, President Bush warned the Northern Alliance not to loot, pillage or kill prisoners in Kabul which it seized on Tuesday. He said U.S. troops would keep supporting their offensive, although he had earlier insisted they not enter the capital.

As Northern Alliance advances far outstripped political plans, world leaders sought to set up a broad-based government to replace the Taliban, protectors of Osama bin Laden blamed for September's mass killings on U.S. soil.
The Alliance reported Taliban positions falling like dominoes. Four provinces in eastern Afghanistan slipped from Taliban hands after the local population rose up in revolt, opposition Northern Alliance Interior Minister Yunis Qanuni said on Wednesday. Bureau Report