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Summary of Latest Events after US-British Strikes in Afghanistan
Here is a summary of the latest developments as US forces again strike targets in Afghanistan in response to the September 11 terror attacks on US cities.
- US warplanes and cruise missiles targetted strategic installations in Afghanistan for a second night of reprisals. Five land-based B-1 and B-2 stealth bombers, as well as 10 carrier-based tactical aircraft and 15 Tomahawk cruise missiles, struck at Afghan targets, US officials said.
- Missiles fired from the air and sea pounded Afghanistan after the Taliban defiantly vowed to wage a drawn-out guerrilla war against the United States and its allies. Frightened Kabul residents said they heard jets roaring overhead and Taliban gunners responding with long bursts of anti-aircraft fire.
- The United States is put on its highest state of alert to counter any reprisals as President George W. Bush installed a new security czar to spearhead the fight against terrorism.
- Members of the UN Security Council have expressed unanimous support for the US in the wake of the air strikes and after the United States warns it could take "further actions" against other countries in its war on terrorism.
- Pakistani cities face further riots by hardline Islamic militants, but President Pervez Musharraf showed no sign of losing his nerve having taken the tough decision to back the US.
- US President George W. Bush assured a nervous US public that the first wave of reprisals had gone well and said the task ahead was difficult but not impossible.
- Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament that Britain is involved in military action in Afghanistan "for the long haul" as he set up a war cabinet.
- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was set to fly to the United States early Tuesday for talks with Bush in Washington and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York.
- The Bush administration is preparing to expand a list of individuals and organizations it says are linked to terrorism, freezing their assets in the United States.
- Osama bin Laden is alive and hiding in Afghanistan but he has had no contact with the ruling Taliban militia, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef said.
- The FBI investigated a second case of anthrax in Florida, which US Attorney General John Ashcroft said was being treated "very seriously," amid concerns over a possible bioterrorist attack.
- Two Palestinians were shot dead and at least 200 injured as student protests against the US strikes degenerated into gunbattles with Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority has promised an inquiry into the incident.
- Afghan opposition forces said they were shelling Taliban positions in the strategic northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in conjunction with US-led air strikes.
- The Taliban released detained British journalist Yvonne Ridley and handed her over to Pakistani authorities at the border
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