Afghanistan's ruling Taliban cranked up their propaganda yesterday, accusing the US of bombing a hospital and using chemical weapons as Britain signalled it might soon send in troops.
The Afghan capital, Kabul, spent its first bomb-free night of the two-week US-led military campaign to capture Osama bin Laden, but the Taliban said at least 50 patients were killed when bombs hit the hospital in the eastern city of Herat.
PHOTO: AFP
"During last night's raids on the 100-bed Herat hospital between 50 to 70 people were killed," Information Ministry official Abdul Hanan Himat said. "All medical equipment and facilities at the hospital were destroyed."
With the source of an anthrax-in-the-mail outbreak in the US still a mystery and the country in the grip of germ warfare jitters, the Taliban also accused the US-led coalition of using chemical and biological weapons.
"Today in my contact with doctors in Herat and Kandahar, they told me that they have found signs that Americans are using biological and chemical weapons in their attacks," Himat said.
Washington immediately denied the charge.
The Taliban also said they had found pieces of a US helicopter near the southern city of Kandahar, and Qatar's al-Jazeera television network showed footage of what it said the Taliban described as new aircraft wheels and a piece of metal stencilled with the English words "Shock. Loud Engineering."
More than 100 US special forces raided a command center near Kandahar used by Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and an airfield on Friday and Britain said yesterday its troops were ready to go in at "very short notice."
Speaking after government officials gave the strongest hint yet over the weekend that ground troops might be deployed. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon declined to say when British troops might be sent.
"I'm not going to put a timescale on that. But certainly we always have troops ready to go at very short notice," he told BBC radio.
Taliban leader Omar praised his forces who he said had "achieved significant successes recently."
"I hope that Almighty Allah will make the Islamic Emirate [Taliban government] victorious over the oppressive American government," the private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported him as saying in a statement.
AIP said Omar issued the statement from a location near Kandahar, and he expressed condolences for those killed in US-led air raids or during anti-US protests around the world.
With the leaders of the US-led coalition highlighting the approach of Ramadan and winter in their public comments, the Taliban's civil war foes said that they were preparing a push to recapture the strategic northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif.
One said US advisers had briefed General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who will head any attack on what was once his stronghold.
"Now our troops are readying themselves for a full attack on the town," General Baryalai, a deputy to opposition Defense Minister General Muhammad Fahim, said Sunday.
Northern Alliance commanders say fighters from bin Laden's al-Qaeda network have been gathering in Mazar-i-Sharif, which straddles a key supply route to the Afghan capital Kabul.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington wanted to see Kabul fall by winter, which is due in the next few weeks.
Washington, its main ally Britain and other nations have been pushing for some form of early agreement on a post-Taliban government.
Afghan factions, fighting over the spoils after forcing the Soviets to withdraw, killed thousands of Kabul residents before the Taliban seized the capital in 1996.
WTO director General Mike Moore meanwhile said trade ministers would hold their meeting on schedule next month in Qatar despite security concerns following the strikes on Afghanistan.
Moore told reporters after meeting Qatari leaders to discuss preparations for the meeting that the level of participation would not be affected by security concerns, adding: "We expect 141 countries to attend."
The meeting is expected to try to launch a new round of global trade talks.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS