US planes unleashed their biggest raid to date on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban as the killing of a Westerner in Kuwait fuelled fears of reprisals by Muslim radicals inspired by Osama bin Laden.
With their reclusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar calling for help from the Islamic world, Taliban officials said yesterday the overnight raids had killed 15 civilians in their power base of Kandahar and hit a mosque in the eastern town of Jalalabad.
PHOTO: AP
In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, radicals denounced government inaction and vowed fresh protests over the raids, saying they would track down Americans and Britons and force them to leave.
Taliban Education Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said bin Laden, the man Washington blames for the devastating Sept. 11 suicide hijack attacks on New York and Washington, was alive and well. "He is fine in a secret place," he said.
Anti-aircraft guns blazed away for a fourth successive night over the capital Kabul. Jets screamed overhead. Bombs and missiles rained down on different parts of the city as residents cowered in their homes.
"This is the worst night that we have had so far," one said. "I cannot tell you how frightened people are. It is terrible."
Muttaqi said the raids hit Kabul airport, military bases to the east of the city and government facilities in Kandahar, home of Mullah Omar.
Pentagon officials said a military garrison near Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan had also been attacked.
A Taliban official in Jalalabad said a mosque on the outskirts town had been hit. He was unable to give more details.
Jalalabad has been surrounded by bin Laden training camps.
One US official said two of Mullah Omar's close relatives were killed during the first day of strikes on Sunday, when British submarines took part by launching cruise missiles.
"There were two close relatives of his, adult males, who were killed," the official said, adding that other Taliban military officers had been killed in the strikes.
Pentagon officials who asked not to be identified said the military planned to use helicopter gunships to hunt down bin Laden's shadowy al Qaeda network but not immediately.
A government spokesman in Pakistan, Afghanistan's neighbor and the only nation with diplomatic ties with the Taliban, confirmed US military personnel had arrived in his country but stressed its own role was limited to logistical support.
US President George W. Bush issued a list of 22 "most wanted terrorists" -- starting with bin Laden.
Those listed all have names suggesting they are from the Middle East and have been indicted for five major incidents in the 1980s and 1990s, including bombings and hijackings.
"Eventually, no corner of the world will be dark enough to hide in," Bush said.
Mullah Omar asked the Muslim world to help his Taliban, who have imposed their own brand of Islam on an impoverished country that has proved a graveyard for foreign armies.
"Every Muslim, having a strong faith, should resolutely act against the egoistic power [America]," he told the BBC. "They should extend any help and support they can to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."
In Kuwait, a Canadian man was shot dead and his Filipina wife was wounded on Wednesday, diplomats and security sources said. Some reports suggested the attack may have stemmed from anger at the US-led raids on Afghanistan.
Diplomats said a man in Saudi Arabia threw a Molotov cocktail at a car driven by a German couple on Tuesday in an incident which might also have been linked to the raids. The two were unhurt.
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