Evidence collected
US forces captured on Monday two senior al-Qaeda fighters near the Zhawar Kili caves, along with computers, cell phones and other intelligence material.
The prisoners are being interrogated to see if they can provide any clues on the whereabouts of bin Laden or Mullah Omar.
In Washington, the US State Department made clear that it wanted all senior Taliban officials who surrendered to be detained for questioning and not released under amnesty.
They were responding to reports from the spokesman of the governor of Kandahar that three former Taliban ministers had been freed after surrendering to the southern city's authorities.
The trio were the ex-minister of defense, Mullah Obaidullah, the former minister of mines, Mullah Saadudin, and the former minister of justice, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi.
"We have said before that we believe that senior Taliban officials should be taken into custody," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
"We would expect that to be the case with these three individuals. I'm sure we'll be looking into this matter further."
US forces are preparing to transport some 368 al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where secure facilities are being built to hold as many as 2,000 detainees from the war in Afghanistan.
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