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."