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U.S. remains on trail of bin Laden, Taliban leader

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military and intelligence continue to track leads about the locations of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar but still do not know exactly where the two are hiding.

Officials indicate varied and changing assessments exist throughout the U.S. government.

An area at the Afghan-Pakistan border directly east of Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold, is of particular interest. One official described the area as a "potential escape route" that is being watched.

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There also is a lower elevation gorge or valley-type area that runs east into Pakistan close to a mountain range, and it would be difficult for the U.S. military to approach without being observed.

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Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck, commander of Operation Anaconda, said Thursday there are "indications" of where bin Laden and Omar might be.

"We have indications where they are, and I can assure you that we will track them down and get them before this is over with," he said. "I don't mean to suggest the imminent death of these people in the next 24 hours, but I think we have the means and the ways and patience that before this is all over with, they are going to be dead."

As recently as a few weeks ago, some elements of U.S. military intelligence said they suspected bin Laden had crossed into Pakistan, while other officials assessed him to still be in Afghanistan. Multiple locations continue to be closely watched.

Hagenbeck said about 1,500 soldiers remain on the ground in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province for Operation Anaconda, but he said those forces have had little contact with the enemy in recent days.

U.S. military officials said they haven't done a formal body count in the operation that began nearly two weeks ago, but they said they believe 800 al Qaeda and Taliban are dead. Five hundred have been confirmed killed. The calculations are made from pilot reports and dispatches from ground troops.