October 9, 2001

Northern Alliance: Taliban supply route cut
October 9, 2001 Posted: 5:37 PM EDT (2137 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Opposition fighters in Afghanistan claimed Tuesday to have cut off the main north-south supply route for troops of the ruling Taliban, putting the Islamic government's forces there in jeopardy.

U.S. begins round-the-clock strikes on Afghanistan
By Charles Aldinger
Wednesday October 10, 6:45 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday launched round-the-clock air raids on Afghanistan and Pentagon leaders said three days of strikes had shattered Taliban air defenses

Afghan refugees say Taliban are arming young boys
By Altaf Hussain
Wednesday October 10, 5:06 AM
CHAMAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement is arming young boys with guns and stopping families from fleeing a country under U.S.-led air attacks, refugees trickling into neighbouring

U.N. says raids hamper Afghan food deliveries
By Andy Soloman
Wednesday October 10, 6:48 AM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it was becoming increasing difficult to deliver crucial emergency relief in Afghanistan after two days of U.S.-led attacks on the battle-scarred country.

Afghan king races against time to build alliance
By Crispian Balmer
Wednesday October 10, 3:40 AM
ROME (Reuters) - The former king of Afghanistan is battling against time to build a credible alternative government to the Taliban and prevent ambitious military commanders from trying to seize Kabul

Afghan anti-Taliban forces watch and wait
By Peter Graff
Tuesday October 9, 11:30 PM
SARI SAYAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The Afghan opposition commander stands against a fierce wind on the hilltop pointing through a sandstorm at a hill a few kilometres away.

U.S. says it can now fly at will over Afghanistan
Wednesday October 10, 2:11 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday that attacks against targets in Afghanistan had damaged air defenses to the point that raids could now be

Taliban Accuse French Reporter of Spying
By Tom Heneghan
Tuesday October 9 2:36 PM ET
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have accused a French reporter of spying after his arrest on Tuesday disguised in Muslim women's dress and said they would try him

U.S. bombs Afghanistan for third day
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
Tuesday October 9, 11:18 PM
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States unleashed its first daylight bombing raids on Afghanistan on Tuesday, anti-U.S. protests rocked Indonesia and Pakistan

Taliban says 35 killed or injured in US "terrorist" attacks
KABUL, Oct 9 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia said Tuesday that 35 civilians were killed or injured during two days of US air strikes and condemned

Alliance asks Pakistan not to interfere
via DAWN (Pakistan) Otober 9, 2001
LONDON, Oct 8: The Northern Alliance called on Pakistan on Monday to stop interfering in Afghan affairs and insisted it should not have a say in the makeup

US air raids on Taliban offer little hope for starving Afghans
KHWAJA BAHUDDIN, Afghanistan, Oct 9 (AFP) - The US and British air raids on Afghanistan do not concern Muhibullah, even if the Taliban have destroyed his house.

Pakistan may fence Durand Line
By Ansar Abbasi The News: Jang (Pakistan) October 9, 2001
ISLAMABAD: The Musharraf government is considering, as a long-term strategy, the fencing of Durand Line -- the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Analysts say Islamic meeting won't slam U.S. strikes
By Miral Fahmy
DOHA (Reuters) - Islamic nations meeting on Wednesday will not condemn the U.S.-led strikes on Muslim Afghanistan, mainly because they are fed up with the extremist

US pounds new Afghan targets
BBC News
Latest reports say targets in the cities of Kandahar and Herat have been attacked.
Taleban sources said four bombs fell near Kandahar in the south in the early evening. Taleban anti-aircraft guns are reported to have opened fire.

India offers Afghans aid
BBC News
India and Pakistan are to discuss a plan to send Indian humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, possibly over land.

'Rebel' forces impatient for battle as they scent victory
The Telegraph (UK) - October 9, 2001
By Julian Strauss on the northern Afghan front line at Qrogh
NORTHERN Alliance commanders huddled in meetings on the north-west front yesterday, laying final plans for an offensive that they say will drive the

I see Taleban tanks on road to Kabul
BY ANTHONY LOYD IN BAGRAM, NEAR KABUL
THE TIMES (UK) OCTOBER 09 2001
THE thump of shells, flash of rockets, a machinegun's chatter and a wounded Mujahidin. It began as just another tired night of an old war on the frontline at Bagram

Fear and goading on the frontline
Maggie O'Kane on the frontline, Bagram airport, Afghanistan
Tuesday October 9, 2001
The Guardian (UK)
It is the first light after the first night of bombing and the men of the Northern Alliance are back on their walkie-talkies, speaking across a distance not much longer

US hits Kandahar in first daytime raids of military campaign
ISLAMABAD, Oct 9 (AFP) - US warplanes Tuesday continued to pound Taliban targets in Afghanistan, killing "tens of civilians," according to the ruling Afghan militia, in the first daytime raids of the three-day-old air assault.

U.S. raids target Taliban leader, kill civilians
By Sayed Salahuddin and Peter Millership
KABUL/WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. planes and missiles pounded Afghanistan for a second successive day, killing four civilians in the capital Kabul and hitting the house of the Taliban's spiritual

Taliban leader's house hit in missile strike
QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 9 (Reuters) - A cruise missile hit and partly wrecked the house of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in the southern Afghan cit of Kandahar, but he escaped unhurt

Boost for Northern Alliance
By the BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes in Northern Afghanistan
For years, Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance has faced nothing but defeat at the hands of the Taleban.

Iran's Khatami calls for "immediate end" to US military strikes
TEHRAN, Oct 9 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday called for an "immediate end" to the US military strikes against Iran's neighbour Afghanistan, state radio reported.

Taliban, Afghans clash in border city
 Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Prov., Oct 8, IRNA -- Clashes have erupted between the ruling Taliban militia and the people in the border city of Ziranj in the wake of the U.S. retaliatory strikes

ANALYSIS-Race on for hearts and minds of Afghan tribes
By Tom Heneghan
ISLAMABAD, Oct 9 (Reuters) - With the U.S.-led war on the Taliban now started, the race is on for Afghan targets no cruise missile or stealth bomber can hit -- the hearts and minds of the Pashtun

Frenchman 'arrested in Afghanistan' - BBC
A Pakistan-based Afghan news agency is reporting that a Frenchman disguised as a woman has been arrested in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan.
The Afghan Islamic Press said

British reporter talks of her fears in Kabul raids
By Ed Cropley
LONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - British journalist Yvonne Ridley, released after 10 days in a Kabul jail, said on Tuesday she feared for her safety when she heard explosions heralding the start

UN backs raids while demonstrators on ground protest
Tuesday October 9, 7:35 PM
PARIS, Oct 9 (AFP) - Hardline Islamic militants staged more violent rallies in Pakistan cities Tuesday to protest US strikes on Taliban targets in Afghanistan as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Taliban offer two million to die for Afghanistan
By Tahir Ikram
Tuesday October 9, 7:27 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Defiant after two nights of U.S. strikes, Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers vowed to sacrifice two million lives to protect their independence

Christian detainees in Kabul said to be safe but scared
By Scott McDonald
Tuesday October 9, 5:55 PM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Eight foreign aid workers on trial in Afghanistan on charges of spreading Christianity were safe but scared after the U.S.-led military strikes at targets around Kabul

Pakistanseizes three Taliban copters: Local daily
Islamabad, Oct 9, IRNA - In a dramatic operation, Pakistan has seized three Taliban-owned gunship helicopters in Kurram Agency, in north west of Pakistan.

Pakistan considering fencing its border with Afghanistan, says daily
Islamabad, Oct 9, IRNA -- The Pakistani government is pondering a long-term strategy of fencing the Duran Line, its border with neighboring Afghanistan.

Pre-Dawn Raid Launched on Afghan Capital -Witnesses
Monday October 8 8:36 PM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - Three big blasts rocked the Afghan capital on Tuesday as U.S. warplanes launched a pre-dawn raid on targets in Kabul, witnesses said.

US launches new attacks on Afghanistan, America goes on high alert
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - American warplanes pummeled Afghanistan for a second day Monday, as the United States went on high alert and braced for reprisals in the long-haul war on international terrorism.

VOA expands Pashtu, Dari broadcasts to Afghanistan in wake of airstrikes
Tuesday October 9, 2:56 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - Voice of America, the US-funded international broadcaster, expanded its broadcasts in Afghanistan's two main languages on Monday after the United States

Taliban minister killed in U.S. attacks, alliance envoy says
.c Kyodo News Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Kyodo) - Taliban Civil Aviation Minister Akhtal Mansoor was killed in U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan, the representative in the United States of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban

Air attacks resume in Afghanistan
Tuesday October 9, 5:49 AM
WASHINGTON, October 8 (AFP) - US warplanes and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles struck targets in Afghanistan Monday on the second consecutive night of a US military campaign

Britain involved in Afghanistan "for the long haul": Blai
Tuesday October 9, 2:55 AM
LONDON, Oct 8 (AFP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament Monday that Britain was involved in military action in Afghanistan "for the long haul" as he confirmed that a fresh wave of attacks

U.S. Now Fears Stinger Missiles It Gave Afghans
By Jim Wolf
Monday October 8 6:03 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA-supplied Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which helped drive Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the 1980s, have come back to haunt U.S. military aircraft dropping

China voices support for fight on terror
By Bill Savadove
Tuesday October 9, 1:28 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - In China's strongest statement yet of support for strikes on Afghanistan, President Jiang Zemin told U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday that he understood

Local Afghan Refugee Willing To Fight For U.S.
Monday October 08 04:05 PM EDT
WJXT News4Jax.com
A former refugee from Afghanistan said Monday that he would volunteer to go back to his former country to fight alongside American soldiers in the United States' war against terrorism.

Afghan Taliban Escort British Reporter to Pakistan
Monday October 8 12:06 PM ET
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban escorted a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, to neighboring Pakistan Monday after releasing her from a 10-day detention, Pakistani border officials said.

Army reshuffle: New ISI chief takes over
By Saleh Zaafir October 8, 2001
Jang Newspaper (Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: In the ongoing reshuffle in the high command of the Pakistan army, a number of new corps commanders and the new Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief have been appointed.

Afghanistan After the Taliban
NY Times Op-ed 10/7/01
By OLIVIER ROY, DREUX, France
Twenty years of war have left Afghanistan so devastated that the only remaining basis for politics lies in ethnic and regional factions. Efforts to unite Afghans with a class- based ideology failed years ago

After Mullah Omar, who?
Aditya Sinha
The Hindustan Times - Sunday, October 7, 2001
After Mullah Mohd Omar, who? In the event of an internal coup within the Taliban, the West has indicated a preference for the acting chief of the Taliban Cabinet, Mullah Mohd Hasan Akhund.

Pakistan a big brother to Taliban
MOHUA CHATTERJEE
The Times of India Online SUNDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2001
NEW DELHI: Pakistan seems to be bailing out the Taliban government in Afghanistan for its mere survival, according to a home ministry report. The report claims the Taliban government has no source

Pakistan not in favour of Zahir Shah
By Tariq Butt
Jang(Pakistan) - October 8, 2001
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is not in favour of any role to be played by former Afghan king Zahir Shah in the future Afghan set-up because of the ex-monarch's consistent anti-Pakistan stand during his long rule.

Only the Northern Alliance Can Bring Peace and Eliminate Terrorist Bases'
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Oct. 7, 2001
Burhanuddin Rabbani, 61, is still the president of Afghanistan -- at least in those parts of the country where anti-Taleban forces are still in control. Mr. Rabbani's government, which came to power in 1992

U.S.-British forces launch new strikes on Afghanistan
By Charles Aldinger
Tuesday October 9, 12:49 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and British forces struck targets in Afghanistan on Monday, the second day of a campaign to weaken the Taliban military and disrupt guerrilla

Tajikistan to open airspace to US planes: official
Monday October 8, 11:49 PM
DUSHANBE, Oct 8 (AFP) - Tajikistan confirmed on Monday it was opening its airspace to US planes that are bombing terrorist bases in neighbouring Afghanistan

U.S. Seeks Afghan Hearts, Minds as Bombing Continues
Monday October 8 1:46 PM ET
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In addition to bombs and cruise missiles, U.S. warplanes are raining down meatless meals, leaflets and, perhaps soon