Military

DATE=10/14/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-281785

TITLE= AFGHAN ATTACKS (L)

BYLINE= AYAZ GUL

DATELINE= ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S warplanes are pounding Afghanistan in the second week of relentless campaign to flush out suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and members of his Al-Qaida group hiding in the country. As Ayaz Gul reports from neighboring Pakistan, the group is threatening to retaliate against the United States and Britain.

TEXT: An Afghan news service reports U-S bombs struck military targets

and the airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, causing a fire.

The city is the stronghold of the ruling Taleban movement, which is

sheltering terror suspect Osama bin Laden.

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press says American jets have also

carried out five raids on Herat airport in western Afghanistan. It says

some bombs have hit nearby residential areas, but there are no immediate

reports of casualties. Raids are also reported in Kabul and other cities.

Some reports say anti-aircraft opened fire when an unidentified plane flew

over the Afghan capital, Kabul. Witnesses are quoted as saying the fire

from the ground was week and sporadic, indicating the city's anti-aircraft defenses may have suffered serious damage in U-S led air strikes.

Earlier, a spokesman for Al-Qaida warned U-S and British Muslims not to ride in planes or live in high rise buildings. In his words - the "storm of high-jacked planes" will not stop until the attacks against Afghanistan end.

The United States has dismissed the statement as propaganda from the group,

which it accuses of carrying out last month's terrorist attacks on U-S cities.

Taleban leaders say the U-S-led air raids have killed more than 300

civilians, though there has been no independent confirmation. Washington

maintains it is not targeting civilians, but officials acknowledged on

Saturday that a U-S bomb mistakenly hit a residential site in the Afghan capital.

Meanwhile, a group of Western journalists - closely guarded by Taleban

authorities - have entered Taleban-controlled Afghanistan - the first

foreign journalists allowed to do so since the U-S attacks began a week ago.

(SIGNED)

NEB/Ag/KBK