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HT This Day: October 8, 2001 - US begins attacks against Afghanistan
Coalition rains missiles on Kabul and other cities
Peshawar/Islamabad- VENGEANCE DROPPED from the skies on Afghanistan on Sunday night. President George W. Bush said today the United States had begun military strikes against the Taliban regime and Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, both in Afghanistan.
A first wave of 50 cruise missiles bracketed the country, the beginning of what is likely to be a sustained assault on Taliban military targets and Al-Qaeda installations.
Meanwhile, there were also reports of fighting on the Iran Afghanistan border.
Bush, in a simultaneous television address from Washington, said US-led military forces were taking "targetted action." He noted how, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the US had demanded the Taliban hand over the terrorist mastermind, Bin Laden.
“None of those demands were met and now the Taliban will pay a price," said Bush. He said the US was "supported by the will of the world." Bush signalled that the war on terror would not end with the assault on Afghanistan. "Every nation has a choice to make in this conflict. There is no neutral ground."
He said it would be a long war, but "We will win this conflict through the patient accumulation of successes." Pentagon sources said Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from ships and submarines in the Arabian Sea.
The official said targets included air defences, military communication sites and terrorist training camps inside Afghanistan. The cruise missiles were followed by a wave of fighter-bombers. In northern Afghanistan, helicopters were sighted.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair later made a statement in London saying British submarines had participated in the attack. He said of the Taliban, "They were given the choice of siding with justice or siding with terror and they chose terror."
The first explosions could be heard about 8.57 pm Afgan time. Thunderous explosions and the rattle of aging anti-aircraft fire were heard Sunday night in Kabul as the cruise missile and airborne munitions began hitting the Afghan capital. Power went off, plunging the city into darkness.
The explosions seemed to have been concentrated in the south-west of Kabul. The firing tapered off for a few minutes, but resumed after the sound of jet aircraft over the city could be heard.
"A huge plume of smoke is rising near Kabul airport," said the Afghan Islamic Press agency. The city's residents, inured to war, were reported to be showing no signs of panic.
CNN reported explosions in Jalalabad in northeastern Afghanistan. Explosions also rocked Kandahar, the spiritual capital of the Taliban mullahs. Kandahar's airport control tower was damaged, said a Taliban source over telephone. Qatar's Al Jazeera television network said the strikes had levelled the Taliban headquarters in Kandahar.
"We condemn this attack," said Rehmantullah Kakazada, the Taliban consul-general in Karachi. "We are ready for jihad," he said.
