Taliban says US has not crippled Afghan defences

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has issued a defiant statement saying that US claims to have crippled Afghan defences are untrue.

The Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said: "Mr Bush’s claim that they destroyed the defence capability of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not true. American planes are flying very high and . . . they are not in the range of what we have. We do not have a sophisticated and modern defence system, but that they have destroyed our defence capability is not true."

Zaeef also said that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in last month’s attacks in the United States, is alive and safe, despite three consecutive nights of US missile attacks.

He said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is also safe and well, despite the destruction of his home and office in the southern city of Kandahar.

Zaeef added that the opposition Northern Alliance has failed to make advances against Taliban forces.