Earlier reports that the estimated 15,000 Taliban troops inside the city were prepared to surrender turned out to be premature, Alliance leaders said, as they directed fire at Kunduz from rocket launchers, artillery and tanks.

Under terms of the disputed surrender, announced by Taliban commanders, Afghan fighters would be allowed to leave Kunduz, but foreigners loyal to Osama bin Laden -- about 3,000 men, mostly Arabs and Pakistanis -- would be held in camps until arrangements to sort them out have been made.

The U.S. says it will not support any deal that allows suspected members of bin Laden's al Qaida network to leave.

Meanwhile, plans move forward for talks next week in Bonn, Germany, about a power-sharing post-Taliban government in Afghanistan. The country's exiled former king plans to send eight delegates to the talks.

Pakistan's government has now closed the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, the last Taliban outpost outside Afghanistan, and severed diplomatic ties with the embattled Taliban leadership.

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