KABUL (Reuters) ? U.S. warplanes roared over the Afghan capital of Kabul once again Wednesday, unleashing several bombs or missiles that exploded in the early hours of the morning in the direction of Taliban front lines, a witness said.
“Movement of the U.S. warplanes was very intense throughout the night, and (from) time to time I heard sounds of explosions,” the witness told Reuters.
“I don’t know what target they hit, but most of the warplanes were heading toward the front line, north of Kabul,” he said, referring to positions of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on the approaches to the city.
U.S. warplanes launched a third successive day of air strikes on Taliban front lines Tuesday. The witness said the overnight raids, during which 10 bombs or missiles exploded during one strike late Tuesday evening, ceased before dawn.
Due to a night curfew in Kabul, it was not possible to check the locations of the strikes or what damage they may have caused.
The Taliban’s Northern Alliance civil war foes, ejected from the capital in 1996, threatened once again Tuesday to march on the city but said they would not enter it. There has so far been no sign of any movement on the ground.
The United States and Britain launched a military campaign Oct. 7 to capture Osama bin Laden and punish his Taliban protectors.
Washington accuses Saudi-born bin Laden of masterminding the Sept. 11 suicide hijack attacks, which killed more than 5,000 Americans and foreign nationals in the U.S.
A ROLE FOR THE PASHTUN
The U.S.-led coalition, which launched a global war on terrorism in response to those attacks, is keen to ensure any post-Taliban government reflects the country’s rich ethnic mix.
This includes the south and the majority Pashtun, who traditionally rule the country and from whom the Taliban draw their support.
Afghan exiles were due to meet in Peshawar, across the border in Pakistan, to discuss the future of the country. Afghanistan’s ousted king, who lives in Europe, has been a focus of efforts to unite the different factions.
In Afghanistan itself, it was unclear how much damage had been caused by the air and missile strikes and a lightning commando ground strike last Friday night.
But the Taliban, who portray the campaign as a crusade against Islam, say the air raids have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians hit by bombs or missiles that went astray.
Washington disputes the figures but has confirmed several cases of bombs or missiles going astray.
The Taliban’s only ambassador abroad, the envoy to Pakistan, told reporters on Tuesday both bin Laden and the Taliban’s supreme leader, the reclusive Mullah Mohammad Omar, were alive.
Sources close to a Pakistani militant group fighting to end Indian rule of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir said that a strike early Tuesday killed at least 19 members of their group.
Among the Harakatul Mujahideen members killed was a senior leader of the group, known as Ustad Farooq, from the Pakistani city of Lahore, the sources said.
The members of the group were attending a meeting at the Darulaman Palace near Kabul Museum, the sources said. By early evening, eight bodies had been dug from the rubble of the flattened building, they added.
U.S. defense officials say their planes have been attacking Taliban troops and supporters of bin Laden who are protecting Kabul, and also Mazar-i-Sharif, the main northern city, which commands a strategic highway that is a key supply link to Kabul.
