M A I N   N E W S

Troops ‘land’ near Kandahar
Anthrax: 20 of Senator’s staff test positive

Tehran, October 17
US infantry landed from helicopters today near Kandahar in south-west Afghanistan, stronghold of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, Iranian state radio said.

“Informed sources report that US helicopters from the Pakistani-Afghan border have entered Afghan territory and deployed troops around Kandahar”, a radio correspondent said. The report could not be independently confirmed.

KABUL: US warplanes pounded the Afghan cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad for a 10th straight day on Wednesday, as the opposition reported the first attacks on Taliban frontline positions and aid agencies demanded a pause in the bombing.

The onslaught, described as particularly ferocious in the Taliban’s southern stronghold of Kandahar, was followed by reports from the Islamic militia of more civilian casualties, a day after US officials admitted mistakenly bombing a Red Cross warehouse in Kabul.

A group of six international aid agencies reacted to the mounting number of accidental bombings today with a call for a pause in airstrikes to allow food supplies to be delivered before the severe winter begins to bite early next month.

Oxfam International joined Britain’s Islamic Relief, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Tear Fund and Action Aid in the appeal. As if to prove he was still alive, Mullah Mohammad Omar issued his first public statement since Saturday.

WASHINGTON: More than 20 of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s staff members have tested positive for exposure to anthrax, Senate Democratic Whip Harry Reid said on Wednesday.

Mr Reid made the announcement on a hushed floor of the US Senate and told colleagues he and others were confident that the available antibiotics would be effective. AFP, Reuters