Bombers 'hit bin Laden HQ'
American bombers today hit a compound south of Tora Bora targeted three years ago as Osama bin Laden’s headquarters.
The complex, in the Khost region of Afghanistan, was attacked by B1 bombers and F18 strike aircraft after reports of ‘‘significant activity’’, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Airforce General Richard Myers, said.
The bombing was the first of the new year and comes after days of air patrols across Afghan skies without bombs being dropped.
The complex was the same one which then president Bill Clinton ordered to be struck in August 1998, following the al-Qaida bombing of America’s embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Gen Myers said: ‘‘This morning we conducted strikes on a leadership compound that was a relatively extensive compound. There was significant activity."
The area included buildings, a training camp, and caves, said the general, who added: ‘‘It was conducted by B1 bombers, Navy F18 strike aircraft and AC-130s.
‘‘It is in the Khost region south of Tora Bora. It was struck by Cruise missiles in 1998 and it has been a place that the al-Qaida go to to regroup.’’
The AC-130 is the most feared of America’s air arsenal. The converted cargo plane does not drop bombs but carries heavy machine guns which it fires from the air.
Bin Laden escaped death by just a few hours in 1998 when the Cruise missiles struck.
He had been at the camp until just before the bombing and American intelligence agents believed he would be there when the missiles struck.
Gen Myers refused to discuss who was believed to be at the complex when it was struck today, but said it was used by al Qaida.
And American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the use of bombers was now an option of last resort in Afghanistan.
‘‘If you look at the amount of bombing we have been doing in the last week or so, it is obvious that is not our first choice,’’ he said.
‘‘Clearly the AC-130s which do not drop bombs but unload a terrific amount of ordinance are often a more appropriate weapon for precision targeting.’’
