Attack Includes Missiles, Jets, Bombers

Oct. 7 -- The strike on Taliban military targets and al Qaeda guerrilla training camps in Afghanistan included a number of weapons used in past American actions in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

The strike included "land and sea-based aircraft, surface ships and submarines," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing today.

Fifteen land-based bombers, 25 strike aircraft and 50 Tomahawk missiles were used, said Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The strike is believed to have begun with Tomahawk cruise missiles, each with a price tag of $1 million. They were last used by former President Clinton against suspected terrorist camps in Afghanistan in retaliation for the 1998 terrorist bombings of two American embassies in Africa.

The missiles came from U.S. and British surface ships and submarines, including one unnamed American subamrine, one unnamed British sub, and the surface ships USS Phillipine Sea, USS John Paul Jones, USS O'Brien and USS McFaul.

At least two British submarines in the Persian Gulf area are armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He said they had joined in attack at the request of Washington.

In the Air

U.S. B-52 bombers are also capable of carrying Tomahawk missiles, but it was unclear if they were armed with the missiles.

However, Rumsfeld confirmed that B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers were used in the attacks. The B-1 and B-52 came from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Myers told reporters the B-2s were launched from the continental United States. Sources say they came from Whiteman AFB in Missouri.

The fighter escort package for the bombers was relatively small because of the limited air defense threat, sources told ABCNEWS.

Myers added that the majority of weapons used were "precision weapons, but not exclusively."

The missiles were expected to pave the way for additional raids by smaller attack jets with laser-guided bombs. Operations are continuing, officials said.