U.S. military drops bombs, leaflets on Afghanistan

U.S. warplanes launched daylight and nighttime attacks over Afghanistan today and the Pentagon said they began dropping leaflets to assure Afghans that the bombing is aimed at ridding their country of terrorists, the Associated Press reported.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the leaflets dropped Sunday were the first since bombing began Oct. 7, and that the drops are coordinated with aerial broadcasts of messages to the Afghan people.

The ninth day of bombing opened with jets roaring across the dawn sky over the capital of Kabul, striking in the area of the airport and a military base. A single jet bombed the western outskirts of Jalalabad in the east of the country, reportedly hitting Osama bin Laden's training camp at Tora-Bora and a third target near the village of Karam. More bombing resumed after nightfall.

Rumsfeld took issue with reports by the Taliban government that the U.S. bombing has killed hundreds of civilians. Rumsfeld acknowledged that some Afghan civilians have been unintended casualties of the U.S. attacks, but he offered no specific numbers.

Joining Rumsfeld at the news conference, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said U.S. and British strikes hit 17 targets Saturday, including al-Qaida terrorist training camps, airfields, air defense forces and command-and-control facilities.

Myers, who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about 25 American aircraft were used, including land-based bombers and strike aircraft launched from U.S. carriers in the Arabian Sea. Myers also said 15 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired Saturday from U.S. and British ships and submarines. Sunday's attacks hit seven targets, he said, including Taliban troop staging areas.

In Pakistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with the nation's officials on reopening military ties and to encourage a reduction in tensions with India over Kashmir. Powell will meet with President Pervez Musharraf Tuesday and then travel to India for talks Wednesday with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.