US planes dropped at least nine powerful bombs Sunday on the Shah-e-Kot mountain range in eastern Afghanistan in a third day of a new offensive against Taliban and al Qaeda forces. US B-52s raced across the sky in a constant stream. The push is the biggest-known U.S.-led ground operation of the war.
One U.S. soldier has been killed and 16 others wounded in the fighting, a report on The New York Times Web site said.

Three U.S.-allied Afghan fighters were killed, the Pentagon said. Three U.S. helicopters have been hit by hostile fire, The Times reported.
The ground attack, which began at dawn Saturday, made little headway in dislodging Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who fought back with artillery, mortars and heavy machine guns, Afghan officials said, according to the Associated Press. Bureau Report