The final stronghold of Afghanistan's Taliban, the southern city of Kandahar, was reported to have fallen last night to opposition forces. The report, which could not be confirmed, came after earlier news of heavy fighting around the city airport.
Meanwhile, the Northern Alliance strengthened its grip on the capital, Kabul, appointing itself as the government, with three self-appointed ministers of state. Troops, controlled by a small band of Northern Alliance warlords, continued to reinforce positions on the streets of Kabul, although the mood on the streets remained buoyant on the second day after the Taliban left.
However, the US administration moved quickly to dampen euphoria about advances in Afghanistan, warning that military gains have only opened up the possibility of tackling their main objective, which is capturing the leadership of al Qaeda.
In Afghanistan the anti-Taliban forces completed the capture of two more cities, Jalalabad in the east and the northern stronghold of Kondoz, making a virtual "clean sweep" of Taliban-held cities.
Claims of the fall of Kandahar came in a statement from the Northern Alliance ambassador in neighbouring Tajikistan. "Today the forces of the Northern Alliance entered Kandahar," said the ambassador, Said Ibrahim Hikmat.
Kandahar was, for the Taliban, the true capital of their government: their leader, Mullah Omar, rarely left it, and under their rule Kabul was downgraded in importance. Osama bin Laden spent most of his time in Afghanistan there, with two key guerrilla training bases located on the city's outskirts.
"There is complete chaos in Kandahar. It's absolute confusion," said the Alliance's foreign minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah. "The Taliban have lost control of the situation and no Taliban officials are to be found." The difference in the fighting for Kandahar is that it is being led by rebels from Afghanistan's Pashtun community, the largest ethnic group.
In just five days, the Taliban have seen their hold on the country shrink from 90 percent to around 20 percent.
With the loss of Kandahar the Taliban will be without a main city. The loss would also probably signal the end for the regime, since their forces would be without a base.
International diplomats, led by UN officials, are scrambling to set up a broad-based coalition government to take power.
But for the moment the power in Kabul is going the other way - into a single party within the Northern Alliance. Almost unnoticed amid the celebrations on the streets here is the fact the Alliance have set up three self-styled "ministries" - foreign, defence and interior.
A check around the city by this correspondent revealed that the troops now on the streets are under the control of a small band of Alliance warlords all from the Panshir Valley, 40 miles north of Kabul.
These troops also hold the airport, the former royal palace, government offices and the radio station, Radio Afghanistan, where staff are not allowed to receive visitors without the soldiers first giving permission.