Aircraft 'free to bomb Afghanistan 24 hours a day'

Attacks on Afghanistan’s air defences and military aircraft have been so successful that American planes are now free to bomb 24 hours a day, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.

Mr Rumsfeld was speaking as a third night of attacks by US bombers, cruise missiles and strike aircraft got under way. British involvement tonight was limited to RAF tankers refuelling US planes in mid-air, said the Ministry of Defence.

The first waves of strikes earlier this week took place under cover of darkness, to protect planes from anti-aircraft fire, but the US Defence Secretary said this was no longer necessary.

Speaking at a Pentagon press conference at which the first official pictures of the damage caused by raids on Sunday and Monday were shown, Mr Rumsfeld said: "We will be able to run airstrikes round the clock as we wish."

And America’s senior military officer, General Richard Myers, said US forces were now confident they have control of Afghan air space: "We feel like we have essentially air supremacy over Afghanistan now."

Gen Myers reported an 85% success rate in Monday night’s raids, which saw 13 individual targets hit by between five and eight bombers, 10 to 15 strike aircraft and 15 Tomahawk missiles, fired from two ships and a submarine.

They had hit air defence sites, communications, and what the general described as "the al Qaida infrastructure and forces", as well as targeting the Kandahar home of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Monday night’s air strikes had been lower in intensity than the first wave of attacks, and had not involved RAF planes or British-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Mr Rumsfeld said he had "no information" about four civilian workers at a mine-clearing agency under contract to the United Nations, who were killed in Monday’s attacks on Kabul.

But he added: "Innocent lives are still at risk today and will be until we have dealt with the terrorists.

"If there were an easy, safe way to root terrorists out of states that harbour them, it would be a blessing, but there is not."

The UN spokeswoman in Pakistan, Stephanie Bunker, said the victims had been security guards at the agency’s building. It had been assumed that they were safe.

"People need to distinguish between combatants and those innocent civilians who do not bear arms," she said.

In Afghanistan tonight, there were reports of explosions around Kabul, Kandahar and the north-western city of Herat.

The reports said the attacks were concentrated on the cities’ airfields and air defences, although Taliban officials claimed that Mullah Omar’s home had again been targeted.

Earlier today, US warplanes mounted their first daylight sorties over the country.