U.S. runs out of fixed targets

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 15. In what appears to be the serious start of a second phase in the air operations against Afghanistan, United States' war planes targeted underground bunkers in key areas of the country in an effort to ferret out the Taliban militia and members of the Al-Qaeda network.

Washington is also keen on disrupting chemical and biological weapons storage facilities the Al-Qaeda may be having. In the last few days officials here have raised the possibility of the Al-Qaeda carrying out a series of bio-terror attacks against the U.S. domestically and on its overseas interests.

In terms of military strikes, the U.S. appears to have run out of fixed targets. And senior military commanders on the spot have said Washington is now in a ``clean-up mode''. The Pentagon says targets are being revisited after studying the bomb damage.

The first week focussed on disabling what was left of the Taliban air force, other planes stashed away in remote airfields and air defences. But the emphasis is shifting since this Sunday. The heavy bombers and jets off the carriers are supposedly going after more Taliban forces and the military academies.

U.S. jets are also keen on cutting off the Kandahar- Kabul link and substantially weakening the Taliban. In the last several days the pounding of targets in and around Kandahar has been quite intense; and officials here say that several hundred Taliban fighters have deserted ranks and joined the Northern Alliance.

The Taliban claims that soldiers of the Alliance are leaving their ranks, something not taken seriously here.

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