KABUL - The United States followed up air strikes on caves and tunnels used by Taleban leaders with a new raid last night on Kabul amid mounting signs the US is moving towards the deployment of ground troops inside Afghanistan.
US warplanes dropped at least one bomb on the outskirts of the capital.
There was no response from the Taleban's anti-aircraft guns to the first attack on Kabul in more than 24 hours. There were also reports of further bombing of Kandahar.
Earlier, the bombing raids concentrated on caves and tunnels in southeastern Afghanistan aimed at destroying command centres of the Taleban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
The caves and tunnels provide a primitive but effective shelter for the command centres, forces and munitions against US bombs.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that three weeks of bombings had cleared the way for what he called "phase two". He said some Taleban and al Qaeda operatives had been killed, although he conceded that none were top leaders.
There is widespread belief the deployment of ground troops is now inevitable with the harsh Afghan winter looming.
A senior US defence official said plans to establish a base for commandos inside Afghanistan to support opposition forces fighting the Taleban was under consideration but no decisions had been taken.
Washington's Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, said the strikes on Afghanistan were likely to continue through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts on November 17.
Pakistani media, however, said yesterday that there were strong indications that they might be suspended or at least scaled back following a meeting in Islamabad between General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in the region, and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
In other developments in the war on terrorism yesterday:
* USA Today reported that the Taleban ran an illegal embassy in Frankfurt, issuing visas, passports and other documents for years until German police shut it in April.
Investigators are looking to see whether there are any links between the embassy and Taleban-backed terrorists.
The newspaper reported that among documents that passed through the office was a list of names that may be an extension of an "enemies list" issued in 1999 by Taleban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
In 1999, Amnesty International obtained a similar document. Several people on it have died in explosions, assassinations and other attacks.
* The New York Times reported that a top CIA official secretly travelled to Damascus this month to talk to Syrian intelligence officials about helping the US investigate and defeat bin Laden's network.
State Department and CIA officials have also had a meeting with the chief of Libyan intelligence in London.
The newspaper said that since September 11, CIA officials had opened communication lines with intelligence bodies of several nations, including Sudan, which Washington has in the past accused of providing state support for terrorism.
* A Sydney man is being held by Pakistani authorities, suspected of having links to bin Laden's terrorist network, the Australian High Commission in Pakistan said.
The unidentified 46-year-old is in military custody in Islamabad.
The Sydney Morning Herald said the man was believed to be under interrogation by officers of the ISI - Pakistan's armed forces intelligence agency - and FBI agents.
He was arrested three weeks ago with two German companions as they tried to cross into Afghanistan near the Pakistani border city of Quetta.
* A group of 21 civil liberties, human rights and electronic privacy organisations filed a request under the US Freedom of Information Act seeking information about individuals arrested or detained in America since the September 11 atrocities.
"We have been deeply disappointed with the Government's refusal to respond to our previous inquiries and to release information that would assure the American public that this crucial investigation is being conducted with the basic protections guaranteed by our laws," said Gregory Nojeim, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington national office.
Nearly 1000 people have been detained and rights groups say they have had trouble getting information on those held.
Khalil Jahshan, vice-president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said it appeared that all but 200 or 300 had been released and another 100 to 150 were still being sought.
* Tens of thousands of Afghan children could die unnecessarily this winter because the US-British coalition has ignored a plea for a three-day pause in the bombing to allow a vital programme of immunisation.
The appeal was made this month by the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.
But with just a week to go before the immunisations are due to begin, the US Government has given no indication that there will be a pause in the bombing campaign.
Aid officials in Pakistan say they are placed in a dilemma: whether to expose their Afghan volunteer staff to the risk of travelling across the country or abandon the vaccinations and thus endanger the lives of almost 50,000 children aged under 5.
* The Japanese Parliament has approved a bill allowing the country's armed forces to provide logistical support for the war.
- INDEPENDENT, AGENCIES
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Links: War against terrorism
Timeline: Major events since the Sept 11 attacks
Air raids target bin Laden's hideaways
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