October 16, 2001

Raids on Afghanistan intensify, fall of Taliban stonghold predicted
Wednesday October 17, 6:44 AM
KABUL, Oct 17 (AFP) - Afghanistan was Wednesday pummelled by a fresh wave of attacks as the US announced a major escalation in its bombing raids and predicted the imminent fall

U.S. warplanes batter Taliban with bombs and cannon fire
By Charles Aldinger
Wednesday October 17, 5:36 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. warplanes bombed Taliban troops and weapons in Afghanistan on Tuesday and the Pentagon unleashed two AC-130 "Spectre" flying gunships in a rapidly-intensifying

Pakistan cleric charged with treason
Tuesday, 16 October, 2001, 21:40 GMT 22:40 UK BBC News
Fazal-ur Rehman: Faces death penalty
The government in Pakistan has charged a high-ranking Islamic cleric with treason.
Fazal-ur Rehman, a vocal ally of the Taleban who leads Pakistan's hardline Jamiat Ulema-e-Islami (JUI) party, has been charged after calling on his followers to

German TV Says It Has Taliban 'Hit List'
Monday October 15 11:29 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German public television station said Monday it had obtained what it described as a ``hit list'' allegedly drawn up by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and naming opponents supposedly marked for death.

UN Puts Afghan Relief Aid Before Nation-Building
By Evelyn Leopold
Tuesday October 16 8:25 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations on Tuesday advocated getting massive aid into Afghanistan during U.S. bombings and explored what to do about a broad-based government

Afghan Politicians to Meet on Gov't
By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Afghan politicians, fighters from the hills, the elderly ex-king's men and even some dissident

Afghan Rebuild Could Take Decade
LONDON (AP) - Rebuilding Afghanistan (news - web sites) as a stable state after the current conflict is over could take a decade, Britain's government said Tuesday.

U.S. geologist says tape shows where bin Laden was
Wednesday October 17, 9:47 AM
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) - A Nebraska geologist who spent a number of years in Afghanistan said on Tuesday he can make a good guess where Osama bin Laden was hiding when a recent video was made.

Bush Urges Children Send in $1 for Afghan Children
By Steve Holland
Tuesday October 16 4:22 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hours after a Red Cross center in Kabul was destroyed during U.S. air strikes, President Bush on Tuesday urged American children to send in $1 a piece to help

More than 100 planes bombed Afghanistan: Pentagon
Wednesday October 17, 3:40 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (AFP) - US forces used more than 100 planes in Monday's bombing raids, a record in the air campaign against targets in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold

List of key events in US-led military action in Afghanistan
Wednesday October 17, 2:42 AM
PARIS, Oct 16 (AFP) - Here is a list of the key events in Afghanistan since the United States-led strikes began on October 7:

U.S. to Donate $38.5 Million in Food to Afghan Refugees
By Randy FBI
Tuesday October 16 3:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it would purchase $38.5 million of U.S. agricultural commodities as part of President Bush's humanitarian aid package to feed millions

Australia to Send Troops to Afghanistan
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 10:55 PM EST
CANBERRA, Oct 17, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Australian will soon send troops to Afghanistan to battle along with the U.S. forces.

Iran fears US may not 'finish the job' - FT
 London, Oct. 16, IRNA -- Iran's opposition to US-led air strikes on Afghanistan is turning into concern that Washington will not "finish the job", leaving the Taliban regime in power or installing a puppet

Taliban envoy dismisses alleged rift within Taliban
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 17 (Kyodo) - Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef on Tuesday brushed aside alleged rift within the Islamic fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan amid relentless U.S. military attacks.

Pentagon confirms Kabul raid blunder
Wednesday, 17 October, 2001, 00:52 GMT 01:52 UK BBC News
The Pentagon has admitted mistakenly bombing a warehouse used by the Red Cross during a raid on the Afghan capital Kabul.

Pro-US radio launched for Afghanistan
Tuesday, 16 October, 2001, 13:46 GMT 14:46 UK BBC News
The US uses "Commando Solo" planes for its PsyOps radio broadcasts
A new pro-American radio station has been heard in Afghanistan, believed to be a part of the US military's "PsyOps" (for Psychological Operations) propaganda campaign in the country.

Afghan Alliance: Entering Kabul and Monopoly of Power Not Our Goals
Roles of Pakistan, UN and Afghan Contenders at Center of Political Debates
By Omar Samad
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2001 ­ AAR ­ Afghanistanís United Front (Northern Alliance) leadership  - in the clearest terms yet ­ said its forces, poised 25 miles from the Afghan capital

Afghan opposition 'seizes key airport'
Tuesday, 16 October, 2001, 16:25 GMT 17:25 UK BBC News
The Northern Alliance are claiming many defections
The anti-Taleban Northern Alliance says its forces have captured the airport outside the key Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Opposition says will work with U.S. against Taliban
By Elizabeth Piper
Tuesday October 16, 10:55 PM
KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Afghan opposition said on Tuesday the first phase of the war against the ruling Taliban was complete and the anti-Taliban

Arabs contribute to increasing lawlessness in Afghanistan: UN
Tuesday October 16, 10:41 PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (AFP) - Armed Arabs broke into aid agency offices and clashed violently with the ruling Taliban in a dramatic breakdown of law and order

U.S. pounds areas around Kabul and Kandahar
By Charles Aldinger
Tuesday October 16, 8:48 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday again mounted fierce bombing raids on Afghanistan, pounding Taliban troop-gathering and military

Red Cross Condemns U.S. Strike on Kabul Warehouse
Tuesday October 16 11:13 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Two U.S. bombs hit a warehouse of operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the center of the Afghan capital Tuesday

U.N. Aid Agencies Say Afghan Funding Not Flowing
Tuesday October 16 10:22 AM ET
GENEVA/DUNSHANBE (Reuters) - U.N. agencies said Tuesday that funding for the international aid effort for Afghanistan was not flowing despite the humanitarian emergency.

Taliban Figure Asks Bombing Halt to Make Deal on bin Laden
By JOHN F. BURNS The New York Times
Tuesday October 16 12:06 AM EDT
A Taliban leader said moderates in his government would try to negotiate the handover of Osama bin Laden if bombing stopped temporarily.

Musharraf, Powell see role for Taliban moderates
By: Shahid-ur-Rehman Khan
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 (Kyodo) - Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed in talks Tuesday the political process for a post-Taliban Afghanistan

US, Pakistan discuss Afghans' future as air attack tactics change
Tuesday October 16, 6:13 PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (AFP) - The United States and Pakistan Monday drew the broad outlines of a post-Taliban administration in Afghanistan, where US forces flew their first low-level missions

Ex-Afghan king's opponents aim to sink peace plan
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Opponents of the ex-king of Afghanistan are trying to wreck his plans to establish a credible alternative government to the Taliban, but they will fail in their mission

Former Afghan monarch seen playing role
By Tahir Ikram
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Three decades after his overthrow started the unravelling of Afghanistan, the exiled king moved closer on Tuesday to returning to a leadership role with the United States

Opposition says to coordinate with U.S. against Taliban
Tuesday October 16, 9:06 PM
KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Afghan opposition said on Tuesday that the first phase of the war against the ruling Taliban was complete and the anti-Taliban

Taliban Say Kandahar Attacked 130 Times in One Day
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 2:42 AM EST
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Tuesday their southern stronghold of Kandahar came under intense attack the previous day, with some 130

Int'l control of Kabul, peacekeeping forces mulled
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Kyodo) - The idea of designating the Afghan capital Kabul a demilitarized city under international control and dispatching peacekeeping forces has emerged during talks

U.S. intensifies Taliban attacks as anthrax fears grow
By Sayed Salahuddin and Brian Williams
Tuesday October 16, 5:03 PM
KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States kept up military pressure on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Tuesday as fresh cases of anthrax contamination in the United States

India, Russia share similar views on Afghanistan: Klebanov
Tuesday October 16, 4:46 PM
NEW DELHI, Oct 16 (AFP) - Russia said Tuesday it shares "absolutely similar" views with India on the need for a broad-based post-Taliban government in Afghanistan as the two sides held high-level talks here.

Musharraf, Powell See Some Future Role for Taliban
By Elaine Monaghan
Tuesday October 16 5:06 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday revived a stagnant relationship with agreement that any future Afghan government

Opposition forces ill-prepared for solo attack on Kabul
Tuesday October 16, 5:26 PM
JABAL SERAJ, Afghanistan, Oct 16 (AFP) - Afghanistan's anti-Taliban Northern Alliance has been talking up plans of advancing on Kabul but the signs here are they will not be ready for an attack

Afghanistan Can Learn From Its Past
October 14, 2001 New York Times
By NAZIF SHAHRANI
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. The people of Afghanistan, after a century of misrule, are in desperate need of a way to govern themselves that will offer some defense against

Taleban find haven on front line
FROM ANTHONY LOYD IN JABAL OS SIRAJ AND ROLAND WATSON IN WASHINGTON
THE TIMES (UK)
October 16, 2001
TALEBAN radicals and al-Qaeda fighters are finding sanctuary from US and British attacks on the front line of the Afghan regimeís second war, against the Northern Alliance.

Opposition forces turn attention away from Kabul
By Marcus Warren in Jabal ul Seraj
The Telegraph (UK)
October 16, 2001
AFGHANISTAN'S opposition leaders yesterday gave their strongest signal yet that any offensive against the Taliban will come in the north and not be launched against Kabul.

Take out Omar first: Musharraf tells Bush
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
The Times of India
October 16, 2001
INSTON-SALEM: Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf is advocating assassination of a protégé Islamabad installed as the head of government in Afghanistan

The Musharraf interview, that was(n't)
The Hindustan Times (India)
October 16, 2001
Reuters & USA Today
(Islamabad, October 15) Either Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf or two of America's biggest media houses are lying. USA Today and CBS Radio say they jointly