Refugees stream from Konduz as battle rages

Afghan families flee Konduz.

(CNN) -- Afghan families terrified by U.S. bombing attacks in hills surrounding Konduz streamed from the city Monday, while Northern Alliance troops awaited their chance to seize the city from pro-Taliban forces.

Store owner Ahmad Khalid, who fled with his extended family, said most of the strikes by B-52 bombers were on target, but "one bomb fell on a residential area and killed three people -- two men and a woman."

His report and others could not be independently confirmed.

Northern Alliance commanders said they were sending a delegation to negotiate a Taliban surrender to avoid civilian deaths.

Four leaders of the terrorist network al Qaeda remain trapped in Konduz, Northern Alliance General Atiqullah Baryalai said. Konduz, the last Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan, is controlled by Chechen, Pakistani and Arab hard-line fighters aligned with the Taliban.

A source told CNN that Haji Bashar, a close associate of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, is negotiating for the release of Afghan Taliban fighters trapped inside the city. Bashar wants the Afghan fighters to be allowed to leave the city and return safely to their villages.

QUICKVOTE Are Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda still capable of carrying out an attack on the U.S.? Yes No View Results    VIDEO Civilians are fleeing Konduz as bombs continue dropping on Taliban forces in Afghanistan. CNN's Satinder Bindra reports (November 19) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Jim Clancy reports that Taliban strongholds along the road to Kandahar are dwindling (November 19) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Latest developments

• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that Washington does not want to see the Taliban's international volunteers freed to disperse to other countries. "It's our hope that they would not engage in negotiations that would provide for the release of al Qaeda forces, that would provide for the release of foreign nationals," Rumsfeld said. "The idea that they would keep their weapons is not a happy one from our standpoint, either."

• Meanwhile, President Bush signed into law Monday an aviation security bill stemming from the September 11 terrorist attacks. The law makes federal employees of workers who screen passengers and luggage, and calls for stronger cockpit doors on planes and more armed federal marshals on flights. (Full story)

• Bush is scheduled to visit U.S. troops Wednesday in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the White House announced. The president will have lunch with members of the armed forces and their families and deliver remarks before heading to Camp David, Maryland, for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

• Two men in Switzerland have announced a project to rebuild the 1,800-year-old, 53-meter-high Buddha statues in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley. The Taliban destroyed them in March. (Full story)

• President Bush said Monday that Osama bin Laden has fewer places to hide. "If our military knew where Mr. bin laden was, he would be brought to justice," he said. "We're hunting him down. He runs and he hides, but as we've said repeatedly, the noose is beginning to narrow. The net is getting tighter."

• Gunmen stopped a convoy of unguarded journalists Monday on the way from Jalalabad to Kabul and apparently killed four of them, Italy's Italian foreign minister said. (Full story)

• Thousands of tons of U.S. processed food worth more than $5 million is to be shipped Tuesday from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. The shipment, to stave off starvation as winter approaches, is expected to include 10,000 metric tons of yellow peas, vegetable oil, corn soy blend, wheat soy blend and lentils. (Full story)

• The Russell and Dirksen Senate Office Buildings on Capitol Hill that had been closed over the weekend for anthrax testing reopened Monday morning. (Full story)

• A decision on whether to send thousands of British soldiers to Afghanistan remains on hold while the situation on the ground is assessed, the British Ministry of Defense told CNN on Monday. (Full story)

• Jordan played a key role in thwarting terrorist attacks on two hotels in the Jordanian resort of Petra, CNN has learned. The reputed attacks were timed to amplify the September assaults on the United States. (Full story)

• A Kabul television station has gone back on the air more than five years after the Taliban, cracking down on media and entertainment, shut it down. The station has several female broadcasters, who were not allowed to work under Taliban rule. One anchor at the station said it was important for all the women at the station to get back to work. (Full story)

• The war on terror has caused a seismic shift in the news content on network television, with traditional hard news eclipsing celebrity and lifestyle coverage on morning and evening newscasts, according to a study released Monday. (Full story)

• Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for more than 20 percent of the world's Muslims, are ready to provide peacekeeping troops to help stabilize a post-Taliban Afghanistan. (Full story)