Military

DATE=10/08/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-281519

TITLE=TALEBAN REACT (L)

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Taleban officials say there were at least 20-civilian deaths from Sunday's air and missile strikes against terrorist-related targets in Afghanistan. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from our Islamabad bureau the Taleban Ambassador to Pakistan says alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden survived the strikes.

TEXT: Taleban Ambassador Abdul Salaam Zaeef's statements about civilian casualties and Taleban statements saying it downed at least one allied plane have not been independently confirmed.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says, "No aircraft were hit, no aircraft were damaged." He also says Taleban claims of civilian casualties are false. The Secretary said, "We know the targets were all military targets, the al Qaeda and Taliban military targets".

Speaking to reporters at the Taleban embassy in Islamabad, Ambassador Zaeef said the Taleban is not threatened by the U-S-led strikes, which he called "terrorism".

/// PASHTO ACT..IN AND UNDER ///

The Taleban Ambassador says the strikes hit both civilian and military targets.

Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, said he believed the strikes were carefully targeted at terrorist-related sites and not heavily populated areas. President Bush says the strikes are not aimed at the Afghan people.

Ambassador Zaeef also says alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden and the Taleban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar were not harmed by the strikes. He also denied reports of widespread gains by opposition northern alliance forces. (SIGNED)

NEB/JLT/RAE