The September 11th attack
Taliban: We're still here

By Kathy Gannon and Amir Shah
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's Taliban rulers said they were still capable of defending the country despite attacks today on their home base of Kandahar and U.S. claims of air supremacy. They also said terror suspect Osama bin Laden was alive and safe.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a spokesman for the Al-Quida organization that is linked to Osama bin Laden, threatened future attacks on America on a videotape aired by the Al-Jazeera satellite network yesterday. "The jihad today is the duty of every Muslim," he said. Associated Press

The United States launched the bombing campaign to force the Taliban to hand over bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

President Bush has vowed to pursue the campaign against terrorism despite the costs.

"Mr. Bush's claim that they destroyed the defense capability of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not true," Zaeef said. "American planes are flying very high, and the defense system that we have, they are not in the range of what we have. As we know, we do not have that sophisticated and modern defense system. But that they have destroyed our defense capability is not true."

The Taliban, who had claimed to be restricting bin Laden's communications ability, also told the British Broadcasting Corp. there were now "no restrictions" on him.

In addition to bin Laden, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was also safe despite three days of attacks against his home and office in the Kandahar area, Zaeef said.

As the U.S.-led air assault against Afghanistan's rulers moved into a fourth day, bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network praised the "good deed" of hijackers who commandeered planes for the fiery air attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

"The Americans must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop, God willing, and there are thousands of young people who are as keen about death as Americans are about life," Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a spokesman for Al-Qaida, said in a statement broadcast on Qatar's Al-Jazeera television.

The Taliban, which have claimed up until now to be curtailing bin Laden's communications with the outside world, say those — and any other restrictions on him — have ended.

Abdul Hai Muttmain, a spokesman for Mullah Omar, told the BBC's Pashtu-language service that the move was justified by the U.S.-led air assault against Afghanistan.

"Now that America has begun its war against Muslims, the situation is totally changed, and there are no restrictions on Osama," Muttmain said. U.S. intelligence officials have said bin Laden has maintained a sophisticated array of communications equipment all along.

David Boyles says goodbye to his wife Kelly during sendoff ceremonies for National Guard soldiers of the 1-148th Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Lima, Ohio. They were deployed yesterday. Associated Press

Abdul Hanan Himat, a spokesman for the Taliban information ministry, said "the Americans are killing us and attacking us, and we don't need this food."

Waisaddin Salik, a spokesman for the northern opposition alliance contacted by telephone from Pakistan, said U.S. jets had bombed Taliban positions in the district of Shakardara late yesterday.

The district, 15 miles north of Kabul, is along the battle line where the alliance has been facing off against Taliban troops. It was the first reported bombing of such a front-line position by U.S. forces.

The Taliban, though, said they had repelled a rebel assault in northern Gur province. Himat said 35 opposition fighters were killed.

The claims could not be independently verified.

In Washington, defense officials said yesterday that the U.S.-led assault on Afghanistan had established supremacy in Taliban airspace, disabling all but one of their air bases, knocking out air defenses, and hitting some ground troops and several suspected terrorist training camps.

The next phase of the U.S. strikes could include raids by small groups of Army Special Forces soldiers ferried in by low-flying helicopters to rout out terrorist or Taliban leaders, military analysts say.

In the airstrikes early today, jets dropped three bombs near the Kandahar airport, which has been the target of multiple assaults since the raids began late Sunday. The area is home to key Taliban air defense systems, housing units that lodge at least 300 bin Laden followers, and the compound housing the home and offices of the Taliban's supreme leader.

The capital, Kabul, which was hit on the first two nights of attacks, was quiet Wednesday. The previous night, a deafening new barrage of anti-aircraft opened up, but there were no strikes in the city.

However, residents of the village of Deh Sabz, 20 miles north of Kabul, said the area was hit by a stray missile last night, damaging houses and injuring several people. The village was not close to any known military installations or training camps.

Villager Ehsan Ullah Khan said he and his family were in their home when they heard explosions that broke windows and collapsed the outer walls of their house. He said he and his wife were both cut by flying glass and debris.

The United States has repeatedly said the bombing is not aimed at civilians in Afghanistan.

After nightfall yesterday, American jets pounded areas around Kandahar and the airport outside the remote northwestern city of Herat, near the Iranian border. The raids followed unsuccessful cruise missile strikes in the area the night before, Afghan officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Taliban officials have claimed that dozens have died in the U.S.-led raids. The only independently confirmed casualties are four guards for a mine-clearing agency under contract to the United Nations. They were killed in Monday night's strikes, which apparently were targeting a nearby radio transmission tower and munitions dumps.