The Associated Press A fighter with the northern alliance
opposed to the Taliban observes nearby Taliban positions at a
frontline outpost.
By Kathy Gannon and Amir
Shah
The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan “”mdash; In the biggest attack so far against
Kabul, U.S. jets pounded the Afghan capital Wednesday, and
explosions thundered around a Taliban military academy, artillery
units and suspected terrorist training camps. Buildings miles away
shook with the fury of the attack.
With the United States claiming air supremacy in its campaign to
root out Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, American jets
roamed across the skies for more than two hours, seeking out
targets on the fringes of this war-ruined city of one million.
U.S. aircraft returned to the skies over this city early
Thursday, pounding sites near the airport. In two sorties, jets
fired at least 11 heavy-detonation projectiles. They lit up the
night sky. Flames surged skyward. Taliban gunners returned fire
with anti-aircraft weapons. Thick clouds of black smoke rose from
the direction of the airport.
The private Afghan Islamic Press in Pakistan said U.S. jets and
missiles also attacked the Taliban’s southern stronghold of
Kandahar for the second time in a day and a Taliban military base
at Shamshaad, about four miles from the Pakistani border.
A U.S. official in Washington, meanwhile, said two adult male
relatives of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were killed in
bombing strikes Sunday on the leader’s home in Kandahar in
the south of the country. The official, speaking on the condition
of anonymity, also said a senior Taliban officer was reported
killed in strikes near Mazar-e-Sharif in the north.
Before the latest bombardment began after sunset, the United
Nations reported that Taliban loyalists have been beating up
Afghans working with U.N.-affiliated aid agencies, apparently
taking aim at one of the only Western symbols remaining in the
country.
The barrage on Kabul on Wednesday night appeared to be the
longest and biggest yet in the four-day-old U.S.-led air campaign.
Warplanes fired missiles in rapid succession while Taliban gunners
unleashed furious, but futile barrages of anti-aircraft fire at the
jets flying beyond their range. Taliban mobile air defense units
cruised through the city, firing at the planes.
Powerful explosions could be heard around Kabul airport in the
north of the city and to the west in the direction of Rishkore and
Kargah “”mdash; both areas where bin Laden is believed to have
terrorist training camps.
Blinding flashes lit up the night sky toward the Taliban
military academy and an area with artillery garrisons. Jets could
be heard heading northward toward the front line between the
Taliban and the opposition northern alliance.
Most of the attack took place after the 9 p.m. curfew, and it
was impossible to determine the extent of damage. There were no
reports from Taliban radio, which has been off the air for two days
following attacks on communications towers.
Although there appeared to be no impacts in central Kabul,
buildings shook and windows rattled in residential areas in the
heart of the capital.
For many Afghans, the nightly air raids were becoming difficult
to bear, even in a war-hardened country.
Sardar Mohammed, a Kabul diesel-and-gasoline merchant, said he
and his family eat dinner early, then before nightfall move
everyone into a room with only one window, which is blocked up with
bedding.
“To stop the shrapnel,” he said. “We learned
this during the civil war.”
In other developments Wednesday:
“¢bull; In Washington, President Bush unveiled a list of the
United States’ 22 most-wanted terrorists, including bin Laden
and several associates.
“¢bull; White House officials urged U.S. media networks to be
cautious in broadcasting prerecorded communications from bin Laden
and associates in case they contained coded instructions for fresh
strikes.
“¢bull; U.S. water system operators asked for $5 billion from
Congress to protect drinking water and wastewater plants from
terrorism.
The United States has claimed air supremacy in the campaign
against the poorly equipped Taliban, the hard-line Islamic militia
that rules most of Afghanistan. The Americans now plan to use
5,000-pound laser-guided bombs against the underground bunkers of
Taliban leaders and bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terror network.
U.S. officials said U.S. warplanes also would begin dropping
cluster munitions ““ bombs that dispense smaller bomblets
““ for use against moving and stationary land targets such as
armored vehicles and troop convoys.
Bush launched the bombing campaign after weeks of fruitless
efforts to get the Taliban to hand over bin Laden, chief suspect in
the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The United States has coupled the air assaults with a
humanitarian effort, dropping packets of food aid into Afghanistan
from planes. The Taliban announced Wednesday that angry Afghans
were destroying the packets rather than eating the food.
Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, called
the aid an attempt to “dishonor” the Afghan people by
repaying their shed blood with offerings of food.
Zaeef also insisted that the Taliban militia was not
defenseless.
“American planes are flying very high, and the defense
system that we have, they are not in the range of what we
have,” Zaeef said. “As we know, we do not have that
sophisticated and modern defense system. But that they have
destroyed our defense capability is not true.”
He said bin Laden was still alive, as was Taliban supreme leader
Mullah Mohammed Omar. Warplanes have repeatedly targeted Mullah
Omar’s compound outside Kandahar, though he is said to have
fled it Sunday. Wednesday morning, the compound and
Kandahar’s airport again came under fire again.
The United Nations said assaults against its Afghan staffers
have taken place in recent days in cities that have been prime
targets for U.S. warplanes since the airstrikes began Sunday in
Kabul, Kandahar and the eastern city of Jalalabad.