First daylight attacks

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON. OCT. 9. In continuing its air raids over Afghanistan for the third day in a row, the U.S. jets took to the skies in the morning itself on Tuesday. It was the first daylight raid on Afghanistan and the targets were military facilities that included airfields, airplanes, anti-aircraft and missile sites.

Tuesday morning strikes are said to have involved some 15 aircraft mostly operating out of the USS Carl Vinson. On Monday, the American bombardment was much smaller in scale than the first round of attacks on Sunday. But there was apparently no let up in the targets.

Briefing newsmen at the Pentagon today, the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, said the air strikes in the last two days had resulted in the U.S. going about the business ``as we wish''. Mr. Rumsfeld said,``With the success of previous raids, we believe we are now able to carry out strikes more or less round the clock, as we wish.''

The Pentagon today showed mediapersons footage of hits on targets, one of which being a terrorist training camp which was seen levelled. Other sites were a missile site and the Shindand airfield.

In expressing regret for the loss of four workers of the U.N., Mr. Rumsfeld, however, noted that the Pentagon was not sure if they were victims of the strike from the air or from the ground.

It is believed in some quarters here that many members of the Al- Qaeda terrorist network are fleeing Afghanistan. Also there are unconfirmed reports here that the Taliban fighters are deserting in large numbers and that the Taliban officials are being challenged by some of the tribal chiefs in the northeast.

Mr. Rumsfeld downplayed the notion that the U.S. may be in and around Afghanistan in the same fashion as it has been around Iraq over the last decade. Maintaining that the two situations were different, he said, ``Over time we have to drain the swamp.''

The Pentagon said it was running short of targets in Afghanistan, but at the same time some of the targets would have to be re- visited after the initial evaluation from the air.

The Bush administration is also reminding the domestic and the international audience that there is another dimension to what is taking place in Afghanistan -- the food and medicine air drops which are continued for the second day and expected to last many more days. Asked why this humanitarian assistance could not be larger, the Defence Secretary said that the preferred supply route was not from the air, but from ground.

The Pentagon and the White House are studying the damage assessment of the bombing runs. For operational reasons and on instructions of utmost confidentiality, the administration has released very little information on what the air strikes have achieved thus far.

Politically, the Bush administration is trying to impress that several nations and leaders of West Asia are behind the U.S. This after a noticeable perception that much of the support that the administration is boasting about is only from the Western nations. Not a single Arab nation or leader has offered support to the air strikes.

Omar's compound hit

It is now confirmed that the residential compound of Mullah Mohammad Omar in Kandahar was indeed a target and was struck in Operation Enduring Freedom. The Pentagon said that Mullah Omar's compound was a command and control centre and hence a target. Reports from Kabul are that Mullah Omar left the compound some fifteen minutes before it was hit.

Indications are that the U.S. will be hitting targets deep inside Afghanistan perhaps for a day or two more after which there will be a pause. The pause will be used to study the targets that have been hit and the ones that needed to be hit. This period will also be used for sending in more of the Special Forces from neighbouring countries. Administration officials have flatly rejected any suggestion that the U.S. is thinking of sending large contingents of ground forces for any ``occupation'' of Afghanistan.

The general impression here is that the U.S. and British jets and bombers are softening the ground so that the Northern Alliance could start a new front with the aim of further pressuring the Taliban forces.

The initial military objective is two fold: to weaken the defence of the Taliban and to facilitate the free movement of the special forces inside Afghanistan to try and catch Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants. Unnamed Pentagon officials have been quoted in the media as saying that for the time being the immediate objective was not to nab Osama bin Laden. The Pentagon is working on a list of known Osama bin Laden hideouts and terror training camps of the Al-Qaeda. In the realm of intelligence sharing, there has been a lot of cooperation from a country like Pakistan.

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