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“Hand over Taliban and al-Qaida or you will be destroyed. Come forward with information about Taliban and al-Qaida,”  

— American leaflets dropped to the ground by helicopter 

SURMAD, Afghanistan — U.S. bombers pounded al-Qaida and Taliban positions in the eastern mountains of Afghanistan on Sunday after a 1,500-strong coalition ground attack the day before failed to dislodge the well-armed renegades. 

No major ground action was reported Sunday. However, U.S. Chinook helicopters ferried in supplies to American and other troops still in the hills, a local commander said, signaling preparations for a new round of ground fighting. 

Afghan troops warned the operation to dislodge the regrouping Taliban and al-Qaida forces from their hide-outs in the mountain caves here in Paktia province was far from over. 

“You can’t do everything in one operation,” said Raza Khan, an Afghan fighter recovering from Saturday’s battle at the hospital in the provincial capital, Gardez. “This is Afghanistan. This is a guerrilla war.” 

Leaflets dropped by U.S. aircraft on the arid plains of the province urged residents to cooperate: “Hand over Taliban and al-Qaida or you will be destroyed. Come forward with information about Taliban and al-Qaida,” read the leaflets, written in Afghanistan’s two most common languages, Pashtu and Dari. 

One American soldier and three Afghan fighters were killed Saturday on the first day of the ground operation, the Pentagon said. Six Americans were injured and airlifted out, a doctor at Gardez hospital said. 

The assault, which began with bombing raids late Friday, was believed to be the largest joint U.S.-Afghan military operation of the 5-month-old terrorism war. Pro-U.S. Afghan troops approached the hide-outs from three directions to isolate the renegades and prevent them from escaping. 

Sunday’s operations were mostly limited to airstrikes as B-52s and other warplanes repeatedly pounded targets in the Shah-e-Kot mountains 20 miles east of Surmad and the Kharwar range to the west in Logar province. 

The bombardments sent thick, black plumes of smoke above the snowcapped peaks and shook the ground in Surmad, where a constant stream of bombers streaked overhead. 

However, one Afghan commander, Abdul Matin Hassan Kheil, said his men came under fire Sunday from mortars, heavy artillery and rockets fired from al-Qaida positions where Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis were believed holed up. 

“You can see it is a big operation,” said Kheil, who led 50 fighters at a front-line position. He said coalition forces were dug in about one mile from al-Qaida bases in the Shah-e-Kot mountains. Kheil estimated it would take a month to push the renegades from the mountains.