The Hindu : Taliban destroyed, says Cheney

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 14, 2002

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Taliban destroyed, says Cheney

SHARM EL SHEIKH (Egypt) March 13. The U.S. Vice-President, Dick Cheney, said today the Taliban militia was now ``out of business, permanently'' as the allies targeted weapons of mass destruction in the next phase in the war on terror.

``In Afghanistan, the terror camps have been destroyed, and will not be rebuilt,'' Mr. Cheney told about 300 U.S. soldiers serving in the southern Sinai desert with the 1,900-strong, 11-member multinational peace-keeping force.

``Al-Qaeda terrorists are trying to re-group in that country, and they are being permanently dealt with,'' Mr. Cheney said at South Camp, just south of the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. ``The Taliban regime is out of business, permanently,'' Mr. Cheney said, warning that ``Afghanistan was only the beginning of a long and unrelenting effort.''

``This war will end when we and our allies have delivered justice _ in full measure _ and no terrorist group or government can threaten the peace of the world,'' he said.

``Our next objective is to prevent terrorists, and regimes that sponsor terror, from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction,'' he said. ``We take this threat with great seriousness.''

Meanwhile, advancing coalition forces on Wednesday claimed control of the Shah-e-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan, sweeping out all but a few small groups of Al-Qaeda and Taliban holdouts as allied troops worked their way through the warren of mountain caves.

The Afghan allies captured the region's tallest peak and several key villages, coalition forces said. The capture came after days of bombing by high-flying U.S. B-1 bombers, which pounded Al-Qaeda and Taliban positions.

— AFP

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