The US resumed its aerial attack on Afghanistan targets yesterday as Pentagon officials said bombing alone would not defeat Osama bin Laden or the Taliban regime that shelters him.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bombing was under way for the third straight night, following the first daytime volleys. The official did not identify the Pentagon's targets.
In London, British officials said three days of attacks had caused significant damage to terrorist camps and Taliban defenses but added that it was too early to say that the coalition now controls Afghan airspace.
US warplanes struck targets around Kabul and in northern Afghanistan for a second night Monday and daylight strikes Tuesday targeted the southern city of Kandahar.
``It's unlikely that the airstrikes will rock the Taliban back on their heels,'' Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters while the second day of bombing was under way Monday. ``They do not have high-value targets or assets that are the kinds of things that would lend themselves to substantial damage from the air.''
Meanwhile President George W. Bush was filling out the lineup of his anti-terrorism team as government officials in Washington warn of the risk of further attacks.
As part of the administration's new "homeland defense" focus, Bush yesterday was announcing his choices to oversee cybersecurity and to coordinate anti-terror efforts with military and intelligence officials.
Richard Clarke, who heads the government's counterterrorism team, will direct efforts to protect the nation's information systems from attack and retired Army General Wayne Downing will work with military and intelligence resources, sources said.
US officials said the strikes likely will continue at least one more day as part of the effort to undermine the Taliban regime and rout bin Laden's al-Qaeda network of terrorists.
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