Third Week of Air Strikes Begins

Oct. 21, 2001 -- U.S. warplanes struck targets today near the Afghan capital of Kabul, witnesses said, marking the beginning of the third week of air strikes designed to root out suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and defeat the hardline Taliban regime.

U.S. aircrafts attacked Taliban front line positions north of Kabul in the early evening hours, ABCNEWS sources said. Until now, U.S. attacks near Taliban front lines had been limited.

Two to four jets launched raids near an air base outside the capital and bombed targets for about a half-hour, witnesses said. One bomb struck near a Taliban base north of the city, but eyewitnesses told ABCNEWS that the Taliban had evacuated the base, moving troops and soldiers into residential areas.

Thirteen Civilian Deaths Claimed

Local authorities tell ABCNEWS that 13 civilians were killed today, including eight members of a single family.

On ABCNEWS' This Week, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he could not confirm any casualty reports, but added that the United States is doing all it can to avoid civilian casualties.

The latest air strikes came a day after U.S. special forces carried out their first ground assault of the military campaign, striking at a military complex used by Taliban leaders in southern Afghanistan.

More than 100 soldiers, including Army Rangers, completed a six-hour nighttime mission, meeting limited resistance and leaving an undetermined number of Taliban casualties, U.S. military officials said. The U.S. troops first attacked an airfield, then assaulted a compound of Taliban leader MullahMohammad Omar near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

Claiming the raid was victorious, the Pentagon said U.S. commandos gathered some intelligence from their targets. The Army Rangers also left behind pictures of New York City firefighters raising an American flag at the site of the World Trade Center with the signature "Freedom Endures."

The Taliban reportedly decided today to distribute rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns in towns and villages across thecountry to counter additional U.S. ground raids.

The Pentagon said the United States suffered no fatalities in the commando raid, and Myers denied today the Taliban's claim that it shot down a U.S. helicopter, killing 20 to 25 American soldiers. Al Jazeera TV reported today that pieces of a U.S. helicopter have been found near Kandahar, but U.S. officials have had no comment.

In nearby Pakistan, two U.S. servicemen were killed when their Black Hawk helicopter, which wasstanding by for possible rescue assistance, crashed onlanding. The Pentagon today identified the men as Spc. John J. Edmunds, 20, of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Pfc. Kristofor T. Stonesifer, 28, of Missoula, Mont. Their bodies have been flown to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

U.S. Would Capture bin Laden

Myers refused to reveal today whether U.S. commandos were still on the ground in Afghanistan. "Some of us will be probably watching NFL football," he said. "I doubt if a coach is going to give away his game plan for today before he executes that plan."

The U.S. military continues their hunt for bin Laden, his associates in the terrorist network al Qaeda and the Taliban leadership, Myers said, and would handle any confrontation with bin Laden as circumstances dictate. "If it's a defensive situation, then, you know, bullets will fly," he said. "But if we can capture somebody, then we'll do that."

The Washington Post reported today that Bush gave the CIA last month its broadest authority yet to conduct lethal covert action against bin Laden andhis network. "The gloves are off. The president has given the agency thegreen light to do whatever is necessary," said a senior official quoted by the Post.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said he was "absolutelycomfortable" with the power given to the CIA. "In this case, absolutely, our forces ought to have thepower and the authority of the president of the United Statesto strike at bin Laden and the small group around himdirectly," he told NBC's Meet the Press.

The United States holds bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on New York and Washington that left more than 5,300 dead. The Taliban has sheltered bin Laden in Afghanistan and has refused to hand him over to the United States, even as air strikes have pounded their country for three weeks.

With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Afghan winterapproaching, timing could be essential in the U.S.-led war.

The U.S. military is supporting the Northern Alliance rebel group, which represents about 15 percent of the Afghan people, and today Secretary of State Colin Powell said the rebels were key to successfully concluding the U.S. military campaign. On Fox News Sunday, Powell said the United Stateswas pleased the rebels were closing in on the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif and were likely to soon "start moving on Kabul more aggressively."

Already, the United States is taking part in discussions with the United Nationsand neighboring countries to craft a post-Taliban government, drawing onvarious elements of Afghan society. Today, the Northern Alliance foreign minister rejected the idea of including even moderate representatives of the Taliban in any future government.

"There is no such thing as a moderate Taliban," said Abdullah Abdullah. "If they are moderate, why are they Taliban, because Taliban's agenda is one of the most radical on the face of the Earth."

Myers cautioned that the war on terrorism would extend well beyond this military phase in Afghanistan. "I think this is going to be a long, hard fought conflict and it will be global in scale," he said.

Bush, Putin Make Arms Progress at APEC Talks

Speaking at a joint news conference in Shanghai after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, President Bush praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for his strong support of the U.S. in the days after Sept. 11.

Putin called the U.S. action "measured and adequate." He also said the two leaders, meeting after the summit, made progress in their discussions on the 1972 ABM treaty which Washington wants to halt but Russiawants to keep.

The two also agreed to cooperate more closely to stop weapons of mass destruction including biological and chemical weapons.

Bush said he was very pleased with his talks at the summit, where the leaders who gathered agreed on a political declaration against terrorism. China's President Ziang Zemin read the statement, which contained no specific language about the U.S. military action.

While the summit was intended to discuss economic issues, the anti-terrorism campaign emerged as the central topic. Bush met with leaders of several nations to build support for the U.S.-led coalition, receiving a strong pledge of support from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday.

The president also conferred with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who cautioned Bush about the possible backlash that could be created in largely Muslim countries if the U.S. campaign causes a large number of civilian deaths in Afghanistan.

"We had a very good visit," Bush said. "He is concerned about the death of innocent people in Afghanistan, and I assured him I am too."

'Gloves Are Off'

In other developments:

Fierce U.S. strikes onwestern Afghanistan overnight have delayed by at least 24 hoursnine truckloads of U.N. aid from reaching the ravaged town ofHerat, a U.N. official said today.

Clamping down on border restrictions, Pakistani border guards opened fire today to force back a crowd of hundreds of Afghans demanding to be allowed entry into the country. Doctors said a 13-year-old boy was wounded. An estimated 5,000 refugees headed to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday, one day after Pakistan relaxed controls.

The Qatar-based television station Al Jazeera has reported that an associate of bin Laden, Abu Bassir El-Mesri, died in a hospital in Jalalabad. According to Al Jazeera, the death is from injuries inflicted by American bombing.

The latest numbers of victims from the attacks on the World Trade Center, according to New York City officials are: 4,515 reported missing and 458 bodies recovered, 408 of which have been identified.