Bombing of Afghan capital resumes

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes struck near the Afghan capital of Kabul early today after a daytime lull in recognition of the Muslim Sabbath on Friday. Navy strike aircraft prowled the skies in search of pop-up terrorist and Taliban targets.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said virtually all terrorist camps linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist network in Afghanistan had been "worked over" in a week of aerial bombardment.

After predawn strikes Friday north of Kabul, the bombing resumed early today. Several planes flew over the Afghan capital, followed by large explosions that rattled buildings in the city center.

In addition to hitting air defenses and other military targets, the U.S.-led bombing has damaged or destroyed nearly all the al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan, including some of their on-site defenses, Rumsfeld said. Other officials have said the camps were largely empty when struck this week.

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. warplanes would remain in position to strike at "emerging targets" — newly discovered military targets or unforeseen movements of Taliban or al-Qaida forces or leaders.

Navy F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets flying from an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea are searching for those targets. Long-range bombers flying from the United States and the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia took a break from the action but are likely to return to the skies soon, officials said.

Meanwhile, a senior defense official said al-Qaida is believed to possess chlorine, phosgene and other poison gases that it could, with some difficulty, use as weapons. It also may have biological toxins, the official said. He did not provide any details.

The senior official also said it is likely that some Taliban commanders have defected to the northern alliance of opposition groups now fighting the radical Islamic militia, which controls most of Afghanistan. The official said the scale of the defections was unclear.