Taliban troops suffer ‘next stage’ of US anti-terror war

US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has described the targeting of Taliban frontline troops in Afghanistan as a logical step towards the goal of destroying the Taliban and the al Qaida terrorist network it harbours.

Speaking at a Pentagon news conference last night as US warplanes struck for the 16th day, Rumsfeld said that on Sunday US jets began bombing Taliban troops arrayed against opposition forces north of the capital, Kabul, and near the northern crossroads city of Mazar-e-Sharif, a Taliban stronghold.

‘‘The reason for the air attacks on Taliban and al Qaida forces is to destroy Taliban and al Qaida forces,’’ Rumsfeld said, denying suggestions that the Bush administration had held back on bombing those frontline Taliban positions out of concern that the opposition northern alliance would capture Kabul.

‘‘We’re not holding back at all,’’ he said.

Rumsfeld also did not hold back his anger at leaks of information to the American media last Friday indicating that US special operations forces were planning to enter Afghanistan.

‘‘It just floors me’’ that people with such information would leak it, he said.

Rumsfeld said it was vital that some information about US military operations in Afghanistan remained secret.

‘‘We cannot and will not provide information that could jeopardise the success of our efforts to root out and liquidate the terrorist networks that threaten our people,’’ he said.

Rumsfeld also denied Taliban claims that two US helicopters were shot down during Friday’s raid. Video footage from the al Jazeera television network showed people gathered around several large wheels that the Taliban said were a downed helicopter’s landing gear.

‘‘The Taliban have said they have shot down at least two helicopters, which is false. They have not,’’ Rumsfeld said.

The top commander of US forces involved in the military campaign, Army General Tommy Franks, flew to the region on Sunday to consult government officials and visit some of the troops.

Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Lt Col David Lapan said Franks’ itinerary was secret, at least for now. It is known, however, to include a stop in Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the region. Franks is commander in chief of US Central Command, and his headquarters is in Tampa, Florida.

Up to now, the focus of US bombing had been Taliban air defences, airfields, aircraft, military support structures like barracks, command-and-control facilities, communications, ammunition warehouses, vehicle and weapon repair facilities, and training camps used by the al Qaida terrorists.

Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said those earlier attacks were designed to undercut the Taliban’s ability to replace troops it lost on the front lines. He noted, for example, that the attacks destroyed many Taliban transport aircraft used either to fly reinforcements to the front lines or to extract wounded troops.

In explaining the timing of the move against Taliban frontline fighters, Myers emphasised the payoff for the northern alliance, which is a loose confederation of factions that has been fighting for years to oust the Taliban.

‘‘We’re starting to work on some Taliban targets that are arrayed out in the field against folks that we would like to help, and that’s what we’re about,’’ he said.

Military analysts said this was a sensible step.

‘‘The centre of gravity for the Taliban is their military, and minimising or eliminating their military is necessary’’ to achieve the goal of toppling that regime, said George Joulwan, a retired four-star Army general.

He and others predicted that the attacks on frontline Taliban troops would go on for weeks.