Bombsights on Taliban

Herald news services

WASHINGTON — Jets bombed the stronghold of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia in southern Kandahar hours after dawn today, Taliban officials said. Taliban soldiers replied with heavy antiaircraft fire as the planes streaked over Kandahar at about 8:15 a.m.

The United States had pounded terrorist targets in Afghanistan from the air for a second night Monday, and hints abounded that the operation may expand.

The military campaign is aimed at punishing the Taliban for harboring bin Laden, the man accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that left more than 5,500 people dead or missing.

Today’s strike on Kandahar, the seat of the rigorously Islamic Taliban militia that rules Afghanistan, came shortly after a lone jet screamed through the early dawn sky over the capital, Kabul, dropping a bomb north of the city near the airport.

Hours earlier, on Monday night, three U.S. bombs were dropped on Kabul from a high-flying jet. Four Afghan United Nations workers were reported killed in that raid.

The Pentagon said five long-range bombers, 10 sea-launched warplanes and 15 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Monday night struck an undisclosed number of targets, including early warning radars, Taliban ground forces and military command sites. It was smaller than Sunday’s opening attacks.

Feeding while firing, the U.S. operation dropped 37,000 packages of food rations on Monday — about the same number as Sunday.

All of the aircraft returned safely, the Pentagon said.

When the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan starts to wind down at the end of this week, the Pentagon plans to begin the next phase of the war on terrorism by sending a significant number of additional ground troops to the Mideast and Central Asia, defense officials said Monday, according to The Washington Post.

The deployment of the additional forces is not a prelude to a full-scale conventional ground attack on Afghanistan, they said, but the next step in what is essentially an ad hoc approach to an unconventional war. Their presence will give planners maximum flexibility as they consider options in the days ahead, a senior defense official said.

"They (the troops) will start to go, but it’s not because we have a clear and defined plan," the official said. "We want to position ourself in such a fashion that we have a wide range of options."

Asked whether the Pentagon is considering large-scale ground attacks inside Afghanistan, one official said, "Nothing has been ruled out," the Post reported.

President Bush has not disclosed his plans to follow up the air strikes. The Bush administration has notified the U.N. Security Council that the military campaign launched two days ago could move beyond Afghanistan, although U.S. officials attempted Monday to downplay the prospect of American-led strikes against other nations, saying the Security Council letter signals no change in plans to hunt down anyone linked to the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.

"The letter states what the president has been saying all along, that the United States reserves the right to defend itself wherever it is necessary," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush’s staunchest ally, hinted Monday that the offensive would expand.

"In time, (the airstrikes) will be supported by other actions, again carefully targeted," Blair said. He didn’t elaborate, but the British defense ministry said that ground operations were an option.

On Monday, antiaircraft fire lit the skies over the Afghan capital of Kabul, where electricity was cut and Taliban radio told residents to close the blinds on their windows and remain indoors. A Taliban-friendly news agency said an airport and TV transmission tower were targeted and a bomb landed near a 400-bed women’s hospital — reports that were not confirmed by the Pentagon.

The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, called the U.S.-led attacks indiscriminate terror against civilians, and said women, children and elderly were among 20 killed in Kabul in Sunday’s assault.

The deaths could not be independently verified.

Officials at Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital said the victims of the Monday night bombing raid were U.N. workers who cleared anti-personnel mines in Kabul, one of the world’s most heavily mined cities.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States was working with the Northern Alliance, which controls less than 10 percent of Afghanistan, and tribes in the south who oppose the Taliban.

As lawmakers were briefed, U.S. strikes were sending thousands of Afghan refugees in flight from Kabul, their possessions strapped to donkeys. The line of hungry, scared Afghanis crossed paths with Northern Alliance fighters.

The soldiers were moving Soviet-made Scud missiles south toward the capital, apparently preparing for an offensive on Kabul under the protection of U.S. airstrikes.

Other aerial strikes were under way on the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, according to a Taliban official who refused to be identified by name.

At the same time, the Afghan Islamic Press agency said the Northern Alliance launched a major attack Monday evening on the Taliban position near Dara-e-Suf, not far away.

Meanwhile, Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., plans to introduce a constitutional amendment today that would allow governors to appoint House members to 90-day terms in the event that a quarter, 109 or more, representatives are killed, disabled, missing or presumed dead.

Baird said he’s worried that without such an amendment the government could grind to a halt while special elections are held to fill the vacancies.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Customers enter and exit the Costco on Dec. 2, 2022, in Lake Stevens. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Costco stores could be impacted by looming truck driver strike threat

Truck drivers who deliver groceries and produce to Costco warehouses… Continue reading

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferry system increases ridership by a half million in 2024

Edmonds-Kingston route remains second-busiest route in the system.

A view of a homes in Edmonds, Washington on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County to mail property tax statements this month

First half payments are due on April 30.

Ticket and ORCA card kiosks at the Lynnwood Light Rail station on Thursday, April 4, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Beginning March 1, Community Transit to reduce some fares

Riders eligible for reduced fares will pay $1 for a single ORCA card tap and $36 for a monthly pass.

The amphitheater at Deception Pass during the 2021 concert series. (Photo provided by Deception Pass Park Foundation Facebook page.)
Deception Pass Foundation seeks Adopt-A-Trail volunteers

If you’re looking for a way to get outside and… Continue reading

Robin Cain with 50 of her marathon medals hanging on a display board she made with her father on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Running a marathon is hard. She ran one in every state.

Robin Cain, of Lake Stevens, is one of only a few thousand people to ever achieve the feat.

People line up to grab food at the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coffee, meals and compassion are free at the Everett Recovery Cafe

The free, membership-based day center offers free coffee and meals and more importantly, camaraderie and recovery support.

Devani Padron, left, Daisy Ramos perform during dance class at Mari's Place Monday afternoon in Everett on July 13, 2016. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Mari’s Place helps children build confidence and design a better future

The Everett-based nonprofit offers free and low-cost classes in art, music, theater and dance for children ages 5 to 14.

The Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Snohomish River on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett water, sewer rates could jump 43% by 2028

The rate hikes would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

The bond funded new track and field at Northshore Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Courtesy of Northshore School District)
Northshore School District bond improvements underway

The $425 million bond is funding new track and field complexes, playgrounds and phase one of two school replacements.

A pedestrian is struck and killed by vehicle Wednesday in Everett

The pedestrian was a man in his 60s. The collision happened at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Want coffee? Drink some with the Marysville mayor.

A casual question-and-answer session between mayor and constituents is planned for March 24.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.