http://www.boston.com/dailynews/283/world/Heavy_explosions_anti_aircraft:.shtml

Heavy explosions, anti-aircraft fire in Kabul in fourth night of U.S.-led air campaign By Associated Press, 10/10/2001 11:38 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) Heavy explosions were heard from around Kabul's airport, and Taliban anti-aircraft batteries opened fire on high-flying jets over the Afghan capital Wednesday in the fourth night of the U.S.-led air campaign.

Taliban gunners opened fire from at least three positions near the center of Kabul. Most of the firing appeared to be from the west of the city around Rishkore and Kargah both areas where Osama bin Laden is believed to have terrorist training camps.

Within minutes, anti-aircraft fire appeared to be stepping up from every direction and the roar of a number of jets could be heard overhead.

Heavy explosions, presumably bombs or missiles, could be heard from the area of the Kabul airport. They shook windows and buildings in a wide area.

It appeared that a large number of jets were flying toward the west of the city, where the Darulaman Palace and Rishkore are located.

In Islamabad, Pakistan, the private Afghan Islamic Press reported explosions in Shamshaad, a Taliban military base about four miles from the Pakistan border.

The agency, quoting Afghan sources, said five or six explosions were heard near the base and flames could be seen rising in the night sky.

Targets in and around Kabul were struck in the first two nights of the U.S.-led air campaign, launched on Sunday. On Tuesday night, a deafening new barrage of anti-aircraft fire opened up, but there were no strikes in the city. Residents of a village 20 miles outside Kabul, however, said a missile hit near there, causing some injuries. Strikes late Tuesday and early Wednesday targeted the cities of Kandahar and Herat.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/283/world/KABUL_Afghanistan_AP_trainin g_:.shtml

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) training camps. Within minutes, anti-aircraft fire appeared to be stepping up

By Associated Press, 10/10/2001 11:22

Within minutes, anti-aircraft fire appeared to be stepping up from every direction and the roar of a number of jets could be heard overhead.

On Tuesday night, Taliban anti-aircraft artillery opened fire on high- flying warplanes passing over Kabul, but there were no reports of strikes in the capital. Residents of a village outside Kabul, however, said an errant missile hit near there, causing some injuries. Strikes late Tuesday and early Wednesday targeted the cities of Kandahar and Herat.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

Fox is reporting the troops are using a 5,000lb "Bunker Blaster." Sounds like one of those complicated drinkies.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

KATU.com

October 10, 2001

'Bunker bombs' to lay groundwork for special ops raids

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is adding 5,000-pound "bunker-buster" bombs to the mix of weapons aimed at shaking up the Taliban and laying ground for commando raids in Afghanistan, officials said.

A fourth day of aerial raids, including attacks on the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan capital, moved the U.S.-led campaign closer to the expected start of ground operations against the al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban government.

Publicly, the Pentagon offered no information about Wednesday's attacks, although officials speaking on condition of anonymity said "leadership targets," such as command-and-control facilities in underground bunkers near Kandahar were to be hit with 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs. Taliban's headquarters are in that southern Afghanistan city.

The officials said they could not verify immediately that the attacks were conducted as planned.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has hinted that more attacks would be aimed at such targets.

"The command and control and leadership structure may still be intact," he told CBS News on Tuesday.

Officials said U.S. warplanes also would begin dropping cluster munitions, anti-personnel bombs that dispense smaller bomblets, for use against moving and stationary land targets such as armored vehicles and troop convoys.

The Pentagon released a brief statement with minimal details about Tuesday's bombing raids, the smallest since attacks began on Sunday. U.S. forces struck six military targets in Afghanistan, using between five and eight bombers and eight to 10 carrier-based Navy strike aircraft, it said.

Tuesday's targets were airfields near Kabul in the east and Herat in the west; surface-to-air missile emplacements near Kabul and Jalalabad and an al-Qaida training camp near Kandahar, the Pentagon said. Also, a maintenance facility at a Taliban army garrison near Mazar-e-Sharif was struck for a second time.

Unlike the first two days of attacks, Tomahawk cruise missiles were not fired Tuesday, and none were planned for Wednesday.

Two Air Force C-17 cargo planes on Tuesday dropped 35,000 packets of humanitarian food rations in north-central Afghanistan, and another airdrop was planned for Wednesday, officials said.

The Pentagon also announced that 495 additional Army reservists were called to active duty for transportation and military police work, and 75 Marine Corps reservists had been called up. It also said Rumsfeld will preside over a memorial service Thursday for the 189 people killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. President Bush is to deliver the principal address.

The focus of the air campaign over Afghanistan is turning to more difficult targets, after opening salvos neutralized the Taliban's meager air defenses. Among priority targets now are deeply buried command-and-control facilities associated with Taliban leaders' compounds, including those near Kandahar, officials said.

Air war planners selected the 5,000-pound "bunker-buster" bombs for use against those targets, three senior defense officials said.

During the Gulf War, the Pentagon developed the GBU-28, whose inventory and performance characteristics are classified secret, for striking deeply buried targets. It was used on Feb. 27, 1991, against a bunker complex in Iraq; two years ago a version with an improved guidance system was put into production.

The B-2 stealth bomber is capable of dropping the improved version of the bomb, known as the EGBU-28. B-2s have flown missions over Afghanistan and dropped 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs known as the Joint Direct Attack Munition.

At Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, Brig. Gen. Tony Przybyslawski, commander of the 509th Bomb Wing, told reporters Wednesday that six B-2s flew from Whiteman to their targets in Afghanistan, then continued to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, where fresh crews took over for the return flights to Whiteman. The 44-hour combat missions were the longest in history, he said.

The next phase of the U.S.-led military campaign probably will include secret raids by small groups of Army special operations forces - perhaps Rangers or Green Berets - ferried into Afghanistan by low-flying helicopters to rout out al-Qaida or Taliban leaders, military analysts said.

Small teams of British and U.S. special reconnaissance teams already were inside Afghanistan before this week's airstrikes began. The next deployment is expected to be much larger now that the strikes have made freer movement of troops possible.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001

BBC Wednesday, 10 October, 2001, 22:05 GMT 23:05 UK

Heaviest attacks yet shake Kabul Attacks by day and night as US claims "air supremacy"

US jets have launched the heaviest air strikes yet on Kabul, as a fourth night of attacks gets underway.

Several loud explosions were heard near the airport on the outskirts of the Afghan capital as planes roared over the city. A military academy east of Kabul was reportedly hit.

Taleban gunners opened fire from at least three positions near the city centre.

The southern city of Kandahar, where the Taleban's headquarters is located, has also come under heavy fire.

Most of the shooting appeared to be from the west of the city around Rishkore and Kargah, the Associated Press news agency reported. The Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden is believed to have training camps in both areas.

: Military glossary

Guide to the military hardware being used

And the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported explosions in Shamshaad, a Taleban military base east of Jalalabad, near the Pakistan border.

Earlier, the United States carried out more daylight air raids, after officials in Washington said their forces had secured air supremacy.

Several Taleban leaders are believed to have died on the first night of US and British attacks, according to a CNN report on Wednesday, quoting a senior US official.

Unconfirmed reports from sources inside the Pentagon said that adult male relatives of Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were among those killed.

Mullah Omar appeal

Mullah Omar is appealing to Muslims around the world to back the Taleban in their fight against the United States.

In a pre-recorded statement played to the BBC on Wednesday by Taleban officials, he said that although US troops were strong, they were not invincible.

It was his first statement since the US air strikes started on Sunday night.

Earlier, the Taleban gave Bin Laden free rein to battle the United States. Previously he had been barred from using telephones, fax machines and the internet.

"Now that America has begun its war against Muslims, the situation is totally changed, and there are no restrictions on Osama," Abdul Hai Muttman, spokesman for the regime, told the BBC's Pashto service.

"Jihad is an obligation on all Muslims of the world," he said.

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2001