ISLAMABAD - U.S. planes pounded targets near the besieged Taliban-held enclave of Kunduz and the militia's stronghold of Kandahar on Wednesday, Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported.

The U.S. strikes hit civilian areas in Kunduz, the report said. It could not immediately be independently verified.

Quoting unidentified sources, the private news agency said the four attacks through the night and into the morning had caused considerable loss of life and damaged houses but did not give further details.

It said U.S. planes also hit Taliban frontlines near Kunduz, where thousands of Afghan Taliban troops along with Pakistani, Arab and Chechan fighters linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda militant group have been encircled by opposition Northern Alliance forces for the past several days.

The report said the U.S. planes also attacked the Taliban's stronghold of Kandahar -- home of the militia's supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar -- killing two people and wounding eight.

Some 10,000 Taliban and their foreign comrades have been trapped in Kunduz and are seeking a safe passage from the embattled town, AIP said. Nampa-Reuters