WASHINGTON?The front lines of battles between the Taliban militia and rebel forces won’t be ?a very safe place to be? for Taliban fighters, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday as U.S. warplanes carried out the biggest daylight attacks so far over Afghanistan.
The daylight raids were followed by nighttime attacks, and Rumsfeld indicated much more bombing was planned.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday’s plan was to attack 18 to 20 targets, including some that had been struck previously, as well as Taliban troop concentrations.
U.S. airstrikes have targeted Taliban troop formations for several days and will focus more on front-line Taliban fighters once the Pentagon gets better information from rebel forces, Rumsfeld said at a news conference.
On Sunday, the U.S. military added leaflets to the bombs and food being dropped in Afghanistan, he said.
?We?re working to make clear to the Afghan people that we support them and we want to help free their nation from the grip of the Taliban and their foreign terrorist allies,? he said. He said the Taliban members are ?accomplished liars? who make ridiculous claims about U.S. strikes killing hundreds of civilians.
He added a warning to Taliban fighters who might feel that the front lines?virtually untouched by American strikes in the nine-day campaign?are relatively safe.
?I suspect that in the period ahead, that?s not going to be a very safe place to be,? Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld spoke after American warplanes launched the biggest daylight attacks so far over Afghanistan, then followed them up with night raids.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt joined three aircraft carriers already in the region, the Navy confirmed Monday.
Air crews for the first time Sunday added leaflets?in the local languages of Pashtu and Dari?to the drops already being made of humanitarian food packets for the Afghan population, said Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who appeared with Rumsfeld.
One leaflet shows a Western soldier in camouflage and helmet shaking hands with a man in traditional Afghan dress in front of a mountain scene.
?The partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan,? the leaflet said.
Another depicts a radio transmitting tower and sketches of radios and tells times and radio stations to tune to for what it calls ?Information Radio.? The broadcasts started earlier, but leaflets telling people to listen were delayed because of windy conditions last week, a Pentagon official said.
Over the weekend, more than 68,000 ration packets were dropped, bringing the total to 275,000 since the effort began.
Bombing targets were being expanded daily as military planners cross some off the list and add others, Rumsfeld said.
?The target [plan] that existed at the outset has been significantly enhanced by additional information from the ground,? he said. ?As a result, the number of targets that are available have continued to be roughly the number that they were the day before.?
Rumsfeld said American military officials believe the Taliban still has some planes and helicopters untouched by bombs.
He took issue with Taliban government reports that U.S. bombing has killed hundreds of civilians, saying ?some of the numbers [claimed] are ridiculous,? and the ?Taliban leadership and al Qaeda are [made up of] accomplished liars.?