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U.S. Strikes in Kabul Hit Homes, Killing 5 Civilians
Thursday, October 18, 2001
(05:21 PM ET)
The Associated Press

Planes also targeted Arghandab, a small town about 12 miles to the northwest, witnesses said. Taliban sources claimed there were no military targets there, but Mullah Omar preached there Tuesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- AP
American jets bombarded the center of the Afghan capital Thursday, and residents said a strike that hit homes killed at least five civilians — including a 16-year-old girl and four in one family who lived near a Taliban tank unit. In southern Afghanistan, the Taliban headquarters of Kandahar came under attack dozens of times, residents said. And planes struck a small town outside the southern city where the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had preached two days before.

With the air campaign in its 12th day came the first report that the bombing had killed a prominent figure in Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network. A London-based Islamic group said an Egyptian who was a veteran al-Qa'eda fighter died in a U.S. strike on Sunday.

Alongside missiles and bombs, U.S. forces have been bombarding Afghanistan with radio broadcasts and leaflets urging surrender. Defense Minister Donald H. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon that those operations had borne some fruit, with some Taliban defecting to the opposition.
(More: Company News Source)
2001 © The Associated Press.

Dan