US forces are dropping propaganda leaflets on Afghanistan.

Small pieces of paper have been dropped on Kabul with a picture of the Taliban beating women.

People who found them quickly got rid of them for fear the Taliban might find them with "enemy propaganda".

Alongside the picture of women being beaten is the question: "Is this the future you want for your children and your women?"

Other leaflets are directly scornful. One shows armed and masked men urging Afghans to "throw out terrorists from Afghanistan".

Since the air campaign began, the US has tried to show a softer side to ordinary Afghans inadvertently caught in the crossfire.

US planes have released food attached to parachutes, a move the American government says is designed to feed the hungry and show it has no quarrel with the Afghan people.

But the food packets have not been universally welcomed. International aid groups have criticised the concept of dropping food and bombs on the same country and say some contents of the nutrition packets, like peanut butter, are not part of the Afghan diet.

The Taliban says residents aren't lured by US meals and are collecting the food and burning it.

One Taliban official said dropping food on an attacked nation is insulting.