But the alliance’s foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah said the hunt for the world’s most wanted man and his Afghan protector “is not yet over” and the coming days would be crucial.

Abdullah made his comments after around 1,000 U.S. Marines landed Monday south of Kandahar for an apparent offensive against the last major pocket of militia resistance.

Bin Laden, wanted for the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, and Omar were “together in that area” and the Saudi’s “forces are contained,” Abdullah said.

He did not say whether it was by Afghan or U.S. troops.

The Taliban forces were concentrated in Kandahar and neighboring Helmand province to the west. The militia controlled Kandahar airport, he said, without specifying which of the two facilities near the city he meant.

Abdullah said the Northern Alliance, which took control of Kabul on Nov. 13, had sent to Kandahar some locally born commanders and other influential people to help spark an anti-Taliban rebellion in the area.

“The story of the Taliban is over. It is a matter of time for it to come to an end,” Abdullah told a news conference. Asked when Kandahar would fall, he said “soon,” but suggested it might not be “very soon.”

Abdullah said that the search for bin Laden and Omar was not over. “I would not say this is the final act.”