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U.S. Jet Drops Bomb in al-Qaida Area
Thursday, July 18, 2002
(16:15 PT)
The Associated Press

The main Afghan army commander in Nangarhar, Hazrat Ali, confirmed the raid and said there was "al-Qaida activity" in the area. However, independent sources contacted in Jalalabad said the incident had nothing to do with al-Qaida but followed an attempt by Ali to disarm local residents in the area. They resisted and a gunbattle broke out.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- AP
A U.S. jet dropped a bomb as a show of force Thursday after Afghan troops swooped into an area of eastern Afghanistan in a raid that left a warlord's brother dead, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

Haji Zaher, a military commander in the Nangarhar province and son of the country's recently assassinated vice president, said "renegade Taliban members" planned to "sabotage" two villages in southern Nangarhar but Afghan troops intervened.

A U.S. military spokeswoman, Capt. Christa D'Andrea, said U.S. special forces south of Jalalabad observed the firefight between two Afghan groups but did not get involved.

As "a show of force," however, an A-10 bomber dropped a 500-pound bomb in an uninhabited area near the fighting.
(More: The Las Vegas Sun News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan