The United States and Britain last night began a massive onslaught of air strikes, including 50 cruise missiles and wave after wave of raids by heavy bombers, in the opening blow of what President George Bush vowed would be a "sustained, comprehensive and relentless" campaign against Osama bin Laden and his supporters.
Initial cruise missile strikes, aimed at crippling anti-aircraft defences, were followed by bombing runs by high-altitude and stealth bombers, in sorties from the Gulf. There were also suggestions that the British-run Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, and military bases in the US itself, were used. The withering bombing campaign, nearly a month after the September 11 terrorist massacres in New York and Washington, was aimed at devastating both the forces of Afghanistan's ruling militia, the Taliban, and the threadbare infrastructure of bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation.
The first wave of attacks was followed by at least two further rounds later, although there was no confirmation early this morning of what weaponry was used in the later raids.
The first indication that the campaign had started came when several loud explosions were reported in Kabul and electricity supplies were cut. Reports later said there were at least three bombing raids on the capital. Among the targets was the defence ministry.
Aircraft carriers, believed to be in the Indian Ocean, launched 25 strike aircraft. Up to 15 land-based bombers, including B-2 stealth bombers, were also involved in the raids, as well as B1 and B52 long-range bombers taking off from the US and refuelling in mid-air. At the same time, US transport aircraft made food and medicine drops intended for refugees and Afghan civilians.
The Taliban claimed to have shot down a US or British aircraft. As the attack set in, explosions lit up the night sky around the capital, Kabul, Kandahar, the Taliban's headquarters, and its other strongholds across Afghanistan, from where it was reported that airfields, radar stations, anti-aircraft batteries and military camps had been destroyed. There was only sporadic anti-aircraft fire in return.
Kandahar, in the south, was reported to have come under particularly heavy attacks. According to Taliban sources, quoted by news agencies, the first wave saw a punishing attack on the airport. In the second wave, the Taliban's military headquarters and the home of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar were struck. The Taliban ambassador in Islamabad, Pakistan, Mr Abdul Salam Zaeef, said Mullah Omar was alive after the attack.
Yesterday's air strikes appeared to be aimed principally at paralysing bin Laden's hosts, the Taliban militia, paving the way for operations by US special forces and Britain's SAS aimed at tracking down bin Laden and his organisation. The first targets were air defences and Taliban aircraft, the aim being to allow US bombers to go in low to take out Taliban tanks and other hardware.
The rebel Northern Alliance, which had prior knowledge of the strikes, shelled Taliban positions around Kabul and on other fronts further north. The Northern Alliance's foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, predicted the Taliban's lines around the Afghan capital would not hold "more than a few days". Privately, however, Northern Alliance leaders are more cautious. Reports indicated that the air strikes were comprehensive and widespread.
Among the targets were the military airfield outside Kabul, the nerve centre of Taliban's rudimentary radar and air defences; Taliban and al-Qaeda bases around Kandahar, al- Qaeda bases near Jalalabad, and Taliban positions in the north.