THE first daylight raids on Afghanistan were launched today after another night of bombardment against Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors.

High-flying jets were reported to have attacked the regime's stronghold in southern Kandahar at 8.15am local time (4.45am BST), a sign that allied military commanders were confident they had achieved a degree of air supremacy.

The strikes followed a second night of attacks in which 20 US warplanes and naval forces firing Tomahawk cruise missiles pounded targets around Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar.

US officials said 10 B1 and B2 bombers and 10 carrier-launched fighter-bombers had taken part in the action, alongside cruise missile strikes.

British forces were not involved, but Prime Minister Tony Blair's war cabinet met today to discuss Britain's role in the conflict.

Experts said the first daylight raids were an indication that the earlier attacks had successfully diminished the Taliban's capability to defend itself from an aerial onslaught.

But the Taliban claimed US planes had "fled" from anti-aircraft fire.

Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Muttmain remained upbeat, saying the attacks "didn't hit any military targets. The people's morale is high".

Doctors at Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital said four people - reported to be Afghan UN workers clearing anti-personnel mines from Kabul - were killed last night when three bombs were dropped on the capital.

A Taliban-linked news agency claimed a 400-bed women's hospital in Kabul was also hit but made no mention of any damage.

Meanwhile, the US has formally notified the United Nations Security Council that the counter-terrorism offensive launched in the wake of the September 11 atrocities could be extended beyond Afghanistan.