At least 70 civilians have died in US-led air strikes on the Afghan capital Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad since Wednesday morning, the Taliban said Thursday, as reported by AFP.
Taliban spokesman Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) that 47 people had been killed in the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in a series of attacks that began in the early hours of Wednesday morning and continued through most of the day and night, and into Thursday morning.
The toll in Kabul was 13 civilian dead over the same period, Muttaqi said.
The spokesman told AFP earlier Thursday that at least 10 others had died in Khogiani, 40 kilometers (24 miles) southwest of the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Taliban officials have said the civilian death toll since air strikes began on October 7 has reached 400, a figure US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has dismissed as "ridiculous."
However, Al Jazeera satellite channel presented live footage of a residential quarter in Kabul after being hit by the allies, with scenes of children and women’s bodies being removed from under the rubble.
US SHIFTS AFGHAN WAR PLANS; DEBATE REPORTED AT PENTAGON
US warplanes have apparently taken control of the skies over Afghanistan and blasted apart the air defenses of the country's ruling Taliban. Meanwhile, US special forces are in place for further attacks, as Pentagon officials reportedly debate the best course of action, according to ABCNEWS.
Analysts detected the new development in a speech by US President George W. Bush at a military base on Wednesday, in which he hinted that the progress made by the US forces gave the country full domination of the Afghan airspace. He also brought up land operations with the North Alliance opposition forces as the core of the strike force.
Defense officials said Wednesday the United States had positioned special operations forces for another kind of assault on terrorism following several days of bombing against the Taliban military, according to CBS News.
Two defense officials said helicopter-borne special forces were deployed to the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.
The forces, which specialize in lightning raids and other secret missions, were put in place over the weekend and are ready to join the campaign, the officials told the station on condition of anonymity.
But ABCNEWS "has learned" there is a heated debate within the Pentagon about how quickly to use helicopters, in an effort to target Taliban forces on the move.
Some high-level army generals think helicopters should be used immediately, while others are concerned that the low-flying craft could be shot down - just as they were in Somalia seven years ago.
The internal debate reflects a change in the way the US-led military campaign, which began on Oct. 7, is being prosecuted. The United States began its bombing raids by aiming at targets, like anti-aircraft weaponry and terrorist training camps, which had been determined even before its planes reached Afghan airspace.
But with significant portions of the Taliban's air defenses put out of commission, US warplanes are now given "engagement zones" in which to fly, and are directed to targets, including Taliban forces on the move, by a military traffic controller while over Afghanistan.
US BOMBING CONTINUES
US jets intensified attacks Wednesday on Kabul and the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, striking an oil depot in the capital and sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky.
Throughout the day, warplanes pounded targets in northern Kabul, including a fuel depot near the airport. A huge plume of black smoke rose in the clear sky as the thud of detonations rattled the city.
In Kandahar, US jets struck military targets across the city, Taliban officials reported. Residents said by telephone that Taliban fighters in the city were handing out weapons to civilians.
Meanwhile, the US bombing campaign is also running the risk of creating a public-opinion backlash by inflicting civilian casualties on the Afghans.
A Taliban official claimed a truck carrying refugees fleeing the bombing was hit in the raids Wednesday, with as many as 20 casualties, a day after the Pentagon admitted US bombs hit a Red Cross warehouse in Kabul that was used to store food and medical supplies.
NORTHERN ALLIANCE FACES TALIBAN RESISTANCE
Of equal concern to the United States is the status of the rebel Northern Alliance troops as they slowly wage ground battles with the Taliban, according to ABCNEWS.
President Bush on Wednesday called the rebel forces "friendly troops," a new formulation making it more clear than ever that the United States is waging its air campaign to damage the Taliban and make it vulnerable to attack from the Northern Alliance.
In the north of Afghanistan, the fighting continues in Mazar-e-Sharif, the biggest city in the region. On Wednesday the Northern Alliance lost ground it had gained on Tuesday, then won it back by the end of the day despite a fierce counter-attack from the Taliban.
On the diplomatic side of US affairs, US Secretary of State Colin Powell concluded a tour of Pakistan and India on Wednesday.
But the secretary, who went to the region to cool down India and Pakistan over their dispute over Kashmir, left India while its troops deployed on the border and the Pakistani army was on high alert.
Meanwhile, Six Canadian Navy ships, carrying 2,000 personnel, including commandos, and aircraft, sailed out of Halifax harbor, heading for the Indian Ocean to join US and British ships already in the region. The Canadian contingent will support the US-led forces in the Arabian Sea and the Arabian Gulf, according to reports - Albawaba.com
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