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US strikes target Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders
US warplanes on Tuesday bombed a compound southeast of Kandahar believed to contain senior Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
US warplanes on Tuesday bombed a compound southeast of Kandahar believed to contain senior Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.
"Those who were there will wish they weren`t," Rumsfeld said on the flight back to Washington after watching a live video feed of the attack from the headquarters of the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida.
He said he had no names of the leaders believed to be in the targeted facility, but said they were of "appreciable" importance. "It clearly was a leadership area," he said. "All of the indicators demonstrated it was a non-trivial leadership activity." Meanwhile, the Taliban denied on Wednesday reports that US warplanes bombed a compound housing senior leaders of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden`s Al-Qaeda network, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said.
Abdul Salam Zaeef said that the bombing was southwest of Kandahar and had hit the house of a local official. "There is no Taliban or Al-Qaeda centre," he said.
He said US air forces were taking care to bomb the area selectively, avoiding what he called "high value collateral damage targets."
Rumsfeld stressed that the war in Afghanistan was not over and that the Taliban fighters that were defeated or that have defected to opposition forces elsewhere in Afghanistan posed a continuing threat.
Bureau Report
He said he had no names of the leaders believed to be in the targeted facility, but said they were of "appreciable" importance. "It clearly was a leadership area," he said. "All of the indicators demonstrated it was a non-trivial leadership activity." Meanwhile, the Taliban denied on Wednesday reports that US warplanes bombed a compound housing senior leaders of the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden`s Al-Qaeda network, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said.
Abdul Salam Zaeef said that the bombing was southwest of Kandahar and had hit the house of a local official. "There is no Taliban or Al-Qaeda centre," he said.
He said US air forces were taking care to bomb the area selectively, avoiding what he called "high value collateral damage targets."
Rumsfeld stressed that the war in Afghanistan was not over and that the Taliban fighters that were defeated or that have defected to opposition forces elsewhere in Afghanistan posed a continuing threat.
Bureau Report