March 4, 2002

150 believed dead from massive earthquake in northern Afghanistan
Tuesday March 5, 2:45 AM
Some 150 people were believed dead in a remote part of northern Afghanistan as a massive earthquake triggered landslides, burying houses, state media said.

The earthquake, which struck Sunday in the Hindu Kush mountains and was felt as far away as New Delhi, measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, according to the US
Geological Survey.

State television said 150 people were killed at Dahani Zoa in the Khuram Sarbagh region of Samangan province, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Kabul.

A hotel and about 100 houses were destroyed, while debris blocked a river in the area, flooding another 400 homes.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) said people interviewed on the ground put the death toll estimate at 100.

"I would not say they have seen 100 bodies, but they have seen some bodies," WFP spokesman Khaled Mansour said in Islamabad.

Afghan television said only 10 bodies have so far been recovered from under tonnes of rubble and rocks.

One person also died at Aibak, the capital of Samangan, where some 500 houses were damaged, it said.

Quoting a local official, the television said there could be a "humanitarian catastrophe" if the river at Dahani Zoa was not unblocked.

Mansour, the WFP spokesman, said if the river flow is not reopened, 700 houses may be submerged.

He said helicopters arranged by UN agencies were sending 22 tonnes of food which they hope will be distributed Tuesday in the affected area.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent his "deepest condolences" to families of those killed.

"The secretary general is deeply saddened by the loss of life," spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement.

"This is the newest in a series of devastating natural disasters to befall the long-suffering Afghan people as they struggle to piece back their country and restart their
shattered lives."

The mountainous areas north of Kabul which the quake hit hardest are difficult to reach by road. Traffic has been blocked in recent days at the Salang tunnel
because of heavy snow.

Kenzo Oshima, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the earthquake caused substantial injuries and
widespread damage.

"While information is still coming in, we have reason to believe that the magnitude of the earthquake may be quite serious," he said in a statement in Geneva.

He added: "The earthquake has resulted in a landslide and flooding of the river in Samangan province, 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Aibak, which has
trapped villagers in small settlements along the valley."

Officials in Kabul said two people were killed in the Afghan capital by the quake when one of the walls of their house collapsed on them. They said reports were still
being collected from other parts of the war-torn country.

Afghanistan has been hit by several major earthquakes in recent years, claiming thousands of lives.

Some 4,500 people were killed more than 10,000 were left homeless when a powerful earthquake measuring 6.4 struck Takhar province on February 4, 1998.

A few months later another quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck Badakhshan province on May 30 1998, killing 5,000 people and leaving tens of
thousands homeless.

The latest earthquake comes as the international community tries frantically to rebuild war-ravaged Afghanistan after the fall of the extremist Taliban late last year.

Tremors from the earthquake Sunday were felt in India, Kyrgystan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

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Thai FM in Pakistan for talks on Afghanistan, regional tension
Monday March 4, 9:32 PM
ISLAMABAD, March 4 (AFP) -Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai Monday held talks on Afghanistan and regional tension with his Pakistani counterpart Abdul Sattar and President Pervez
Musharraf, officials said.

The meetings covered the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, bilateral relations and current tensions in South Asia, the ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.

Surakiart "appreciated Pakistan's role in the international campaign against terrorism," it said.

He also "praised Pakistan's efforts to de-escalate tension with India and to resolve all outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means," it
said.

Nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India have massed some 800,000 troops along their common border and the de facto border in disputed Kashmir since
December's attack on the Indian parliament which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-linked militants.

In January Musharraf launched a crackdown on religious extremism in which more than 2,000 suspected extremists were detained.

Surakiart also discussed the promotion of bilateral cooperation between Thailand and Pakistan.

After the meetings the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on logistics cooperation between their armed forces, the statement said.

Surakiart arrived here Sunday for a three-day official visit which Thai officials said would include discussions on aid for Afghanistan and the situation of Thai students
in the country.

Thai foreign ministry officials said last month that Surakiart would address the plight of Thai students here who face being expelled in March under new visa rules.

Some 300 Thai students, mostly Muslims, who are studying in Pakistan on tourist visas will be affected by the new provision which requires them to hold proper
student visas, or face arrest and a jail sentence.

Surakiart's visit is expected to prepare the way for a visit by Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

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Rockets hit U.S. Afghan base as ground attacks resume
By Christine Hauser Monday March 4, 7:40 PM
GARDEZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A U.S. military base was attacked by rockets on Monday as ground fighting resumed in the biggest U.S.-led ground attack of the
Afghan war on Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

There were other signs of revived Taliban-al Qaeda action in eastern provinces adjacent to the key snow-covered front line near Gardez, capital of Paktia province
150 km (95 miles) from Kabul and 32 km (20 miles) from the fighting.

Unconfirmed reports said that Canadian, Australian, Danish, German and French forces and planes had joined U.S. troops in the operation around Gardez that
started early on Saturday morning.

The Washington Post reported that upwards of 1,000 American and other Western military personnel were deployed near Gardez.

The Monday morning rocket attack was on a U.S. base near the city of Khost, about 70 km (45 miles) southeast of Gardez.

Khost Shura (Council) spokesman Kamal Wazir said the airport was hit by two rockets and fire from men armed with Kalashnikov rifles.

"The firing went on for five minutes from 3.20 a.m. (2220 GMT Sunday)," Wazir told Reuters by telephone from Khost, which is about 160 km southeast of the
capital Kabul.

"Shortly after the attack a U.S. plane bombed the site of the firing," he added. "Our troops also rushed to the area but the gunmen had escaped."

Checkposts, manned by U.S. soldiers, have been established on roads from Khost to Gardez to stop other al-Qaeda-Taliban fighters joining the Gardez fighting.

FIERCE BOMBING RAIDS

Afghan soldiers involved in the Gardez fighting said recently the U.S. recruited Afghan soldiers from the Khost area for the Gardez operation.

They have been transported to the battlefield by U.S. military transport helicopters, the soldiers said.

U.S. warplanes on Monday launched fierce bombing raids on the area around the high-altitude village of Shahi Kot where Afghan soldiers said either hundreds or
thousands of al Qaeda-Taliban forces are in bunkers and caves.

B-52s and F-16 fighters dropped bombs and plumes of smoke and machine gun fire were heard from the area.

Residents of Gardez reported bombing throughout the day and said that at least six wounded Afghan fighters had been taken to hospitals. They also said a U.S. spy
plane was seen in the area.

Fierce resistance from rebel forces repulsed the U.S.-led offensive on Saturday, forcing Afghan fighters and U.S. advisers to withdraw close to Gardez. One U.S.
soldier and five Afghan troops have died and there have been about 20 wounded so far.

A defence ministry official in Kabul said the U.S.-led forces had resumed their ground attack on Monday in small numbers while the main forces waited for the
bombing to soften up the Taliban troops.

Commander Sultan Ahmed, who has a force of about 60 fighters out of the 1,000 waiting to go into the battle, said the Taliban were surrounded and could not
escape, particularly into nearby Pakistan.

Pakistan has deployed paramilitary forces along a 100 km (60 miles) stretch of its border with Paktia province.

The border, which weaves its way through rugged mountains in northwestern Pakistan, had been sealed although no escaping Taliban or al Qaeda fighters had been
caught, a senior official in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal belt told Reuters.

"IT'S UNBEARABLE AND DANGEROUS"

Commander Ahmed told Reuters at Gardez hospital, where he had brought a wounded soldier, there had been ground skirmishes on Monday morning against rebels
firing rockets and mortar bombs.

"Today there was bombing and some ground fighting," he told Reuters. "We are waiting for the bombing to soften them up before we launch our main advance."

Haji Rahman, who had fled to Gardez with his six children from near the main village under attack, said life had become unbearable and dangerous.

"There are Taliban on one side and American bombing on the other side. What can we do?" he told Reuters.

Rahman said there were Pakistanis, Chechens and Arabs among the al Qaeda-Taliban fighters.

"It's a fierce firefight," Richard Shelby, a top Republican on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, told the ABC Sunday talk show "This Week".

He said of the regrouped al Qaeda and Taliban troops: "There's a good many there. They're heavily armed. And they're trying to disrupt everything we're going to
do. If we don't go after them now and destroy them now, it will get worse."

The whereabouts of the war's main targets, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, remain a mystery but the governor of
Paktia province told Reuters they were not believed to be in the area of the offensive.

In October, U.S. President George W. Bush launched a campaign to destroy al Qaeda in Afghanistan and punish their Taliban protectors in retaliation for the
September 11 air attacks on America, blamed on bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

Al Qaeda and Taliban forces were routed in December after sweeping victories by U.S.-backed Afghan forces. This year, there have been few major clashes and
little U.S. bombing until fighting erupted near Gardez on Saturday.

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US-led coalition prepares for fresh offensive in Afghan mountains
Monday March 4, 6:09 PM
US warplanes continued to pound suspected al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan as US and Afghan troops backed by forces from six
coalition allies prepared to resume their offensive against the extremists.

The US military said Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway had contributed forces to the biggest offensive so far this year against al-Qaeda
and Taliban fighters regrouping in the snow-capped Amra mountains honeycombed by caves.

US and Afghan officials spoke of fierce and intense fighting against a stubborn enemy who had apparently resisted the might of the allied force backed by air power.

"The fighting is non-stop between the Afghan-Americans and the al-Qaeda," Taj Mohammad Wardak, governor of Paktia province, told AFP. "I think it was the
worst fighting so far overnight both on the ground and in the air."

US warplanes have been pounding the area since late Friday in a bid to oust the al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters holed up in the Arma mountains near Gardez, capital
of Paktia province.

Under the guidance of US advisers, some 1,000 Afghan troops have been trying to mount a ground offensive, but soldiers said progress has been halted by stiff
al-Qaeda resistance.

"The al-Qaeda are not in a position to launch a counterattack, but as soon as the Afghan-Americans come close they are opening fire from the caves. As the security
belt gets tighter, so the resistance gets stronger," Wardak said.

The US military has confirmed the death of one US serviceman and three Afghans in the fighting.

Wardak, who said he was in contact with US commanders, said he was not sure how many people have been killed and wounded in the operation, the largest in
Afghanistan this year.

But he added: "I can tell you that if there are any casualties on the Afghan-American side, it will be 10 times as bad on the al-Qaeda side."

A spokesman for the US Central Command said Sunday that hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taliban holdouts were believed to be hiding in the mountains. Local
officials, however, have put the figure at around 2,300.

US "aircraft have targeted vehicles, mortars, enemy troop locations, caves and anti-aircraft artillery sites," the Central Command said. "Firefights continue to be
intense at times in heavy combat actions."

Warplanes also dropped bombs Monday near the eastern city of Khost, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Arma mountains, after rockets were fired at an airport
where US forces are based, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.

No US aircraft have been shot down, although some AH-64 Apache helicopters have sustained damage from enemy fire, according to the command.

The governor said bombing and fighting was centered around the town of Shahi Kot, on the corner of Paktia and and Paktika provinces. He expected the operation
would last a few more days.

"Shahi Kot is more important than we were thinking and maybe some top al-Qaeda leaders are there," Wardak said.

"I have heard that Osama bin Laden is there, but I'm not sure. It's not confirmed. We will know everything in a matter of two or three days."

Bin Laden, a Saudi dissident who was sheltered by the extremist Taliban regime, is blamed by the United States for the September 11 attacks on New York and
Washington that left 3,000 people dead.

US-led operations in Afghanistan are part of a wider war on terrorism declared by Washington in the wake of the attacks.

In a further move in that campaign, US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill Monday launched a tour of Gulf nations to tighten the squeeze on terror group finances.

The official Bahrain News Agency said O'Neill, who has been pursuing suspected terrorist financial structures since the September 11 attacks, would hold talks on
bilateral cooperation with government officials and visit economic institutions and banks.

From Bahrain he will travel on to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, members of the Gulf Cooperation Council along with Oman, who, under
strong US pressure, have all announced a clampdown on suspect finances in the aftermath of the attacks.

"It is our hope that other governments will take the lead in identifying terrorists and their supporters, so that together the civilized world can shut down their (terrorist)
organizations and eradicate their sources of support," the treasury secretary said last week.

According to US law enforcement officials, some of the hijackers, who rammed passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon
building outside Washington, used a bank in the UAE to transfer money.

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Pakistan seals border against fleeing al Qaeda
Monday March 4, 5:44 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has deployed paramilitary forces along a 100 km (60 miles) stretch of its border with Afghanistan's Paktia province to stop al
Qaeda and Taliban fighters escaping U.S.-led assaults, an official said on Monday.

The border, which weaves its way through rugged mountains in northwestern Pakistan, had been sealed although no escaping Taliban or al Qaeda fighters had been
caught, a senior official in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal belt told Reuters.

"We have deployed paramilitary troops along a 100 km stretch in Madakheil area that borders Paktia over the past month," he said.

He added that until recently Madakheil had been a semi-autonomous tribal area where, under colonial-era laws, Islamabad had been unable to wield much influence.

"We have recently integrated this area for our control as previously it had been inaccessible for us," he said.

U.S. warplanes on Monday launched fierce bombing raids on a village in eastern Afghanistan that was the scene of heavy fighting at the weekend between U.S.-led
Afghan fighters and Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

Fierce resistance from rebel forces repulsed a U.S.-led offensive on Saturday.

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U.S. jets bomb Taliban forces in east Afghanistan
Monday March 4, 4:43 PM
GARDEZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes on Monday launched fierce bombing raids on a village in eastern Afghanistan that was the scene of the biggest
U.S.-led ground offensive of the Afghan war against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

Reuters cameraman Taras Protsiuk said he saw two F-16 fighters drop bombs on the village, which has been the scene in recent days of heavy fighting between
Afghan fighters led by U.S. advisers and regrouped remnants from al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The village was rocked by several explosions after at least eight bombs were dropped on Monday morning, he said.

Villagers reported continued bombing raids and gunfire in the area overnight and said that at least six wounded Afghan fighters had been taken to hospitals. They also
said a U.S. spy plane was seen in the area.

Fierce resistance from rebel forces repulsed the U.S.-led offensive on Saturday, forcing Afghan fighters and U.S. advisers to withdraw close to the nearby town of
Gardez, about 150 km (95) miles from Kabul and 32 km (20 miles) from the scene of fighting.

A defence ministry official in Kabul said the U.S.-led forces hoped to resume their ground attack on Monday.

U.S. troops stationed at an airport in the eastern Afghan city of Khost, 70 km (45 miles) east of Gardez, were attacked by rockets and small arms fire on Monday, a
spokesman for the Khost Shura (Council) said. They returned fire and air strikes were called in but there were no reports of casualties or damage.

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Pakistan nuclear scientist 'met Bin Laden'

Monday, 4 March, 2002, 19:28 GMT

The scientist is said to lack weapon-making knowledge

The son of one of Pakistan's top nuclear scientists has confirmed accusations that his father was invited to dinner with Osama Bin Laden, but says he did not reveal
nuclear secrets.
When the al-Qaeda leader asked Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood how to make a nuclear bomb the retired expert's son told him he "should forget it", Asim Mahmood
told the Washington Post in an interview.

He told Bin Laden 'it's not so easy, you can't just build a bomb'

Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood's son Asim Mr Mahmood, a former chairman of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission, was detained in October for questioning
about suspected meetings with Bin Laden.

The US and Pakistan conducted a four-month investigation on Mr Mahmood, during which he reportedly failed several lie-detector tests. But he has not been
charged, although he remains under virtual house arrest.

'Charity trips'

Asim Mahmood said his father, who is also a religious Muslim and practiced palm-reader, had travelled to Afghanistan several times to expand the work of a charity
he had started. He wanted to set up a flour mill, irrigation projects and a polytechnic in the country.

Mahmood was invited to dinner with Bin Laden "But Osama was not interested," Asim Mahmood told the Associated Press on Monday. And, Asim Mahmood
said, when Bin Laden asked his father for nuclear secrets the scientist would not help him. "He told him: 'It's not so easy, you can't just build a bomb, you can't just
do it with a few thousand [Pakistani] rupees. You need a big institution'", he told the Washington Post.

The US has declared Mr Mahmood 's charity, Ummah Tameer-e-Nau, a terrorist organisation. Its assets have been frozen by the UN Security Council.

Pakistan maintains that Mr Mahmood did not have the expertise to build a nuclear weapon. Before he retired he was head of the Khosab reactor in the Punjab
region which produces weapons-grade plutonium.

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Pak diplomats meet with foreign ministry officials in Kabul

Updated on 3/4/2002 9:33:18 AM

ISLAMABAD (APP): Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Ahmad Khan arrived in Kabul on Sunday and held meetings with various Afghan
ministers of the Hamid Karzai government.Aziz Ahmad Khan, who is also Additional Foreign Secretary (Afghanistan & ECO) discussed follow-up action on the
understanding reached between Pakistan and Afghanistan during the recent visit of Hamid Karzai, Chairman of the Afghanistan government.

He held bilateral talks with the Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister, Dr. Rahim Sherzoi in the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs after his arrival on official visit.

Aziz Ahmad Khan also met the Afghan Minister for Reconstruction, Amin Farhang, Minister for Communication, Engineer Abdul Rahim and Minister for Women
Affairs, Ms Sima Samar, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand and other Embassy officials also accompanied him.

Matters relating to mutual interests, bilateral cooperation and Pakistan’s contribution in the reconstruction process were discussed during the meetings.

It may be recalled that during Chairman Hamid Karzai’s recent visit to Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf had assured the Afghan Government of full cooperation
of the Government of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand arrived at Kabul on Sunday to take up his assignment.

According to a press release issued from the Foreign Office, Rustam Shah Mohmand was received at the airport by the Afghan Protocol Authorities