OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.00PM
THE United States has attacked two chemical factories on the outskirts of Khartoum in Sudan, and six “terrorist-related facilities” in Afghanistan.
In a live broadcast from Martha’s Vinyard before returning to the White House, US President Bill Clinton said the attacks were not only in retaliation for the August 7 bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, but to pre-empt further terrorist attacks on Americans.
US Secretary of State Madeleine Allbright said on Thursday night that the attacks were part of a “longer battle against terrorism”.
The attacks were carried out using US cruise missiles launched from ships at 17.30GMT.
Both the US and members of the Sudanese opposition say the chemical factories hit in Khartoum were used for the manufacture of chemical weapons, in particular a component of the VX nerve gas.
However a Sudanese diplomat interviewed by the BBC said the factories were privately owned and used for “manufacturing antibiotics for children”.
Both factories were flattened and a part of Khartoum was reported to be on fire. There appear to have been casualties, but numbers are not yet clear. Riots broke out in Khartoum shortly after the attack, with an angry mob throwing stones at the US embassy there.
The facilities attacked in Afghanistan were said to be a large and active “terrorist training camp” linked to the extremist Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden. US officials said on Thursday night they had solid evidence linking Osama to the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bombings.
The US said that intelligence reports indicated there were about 600 people in residence in the Afghani facility.
Osama, who has been lkiving in Afghanistan under the protection of the extremist Taliban militia, was reportely warned about an hour before the attack and was able to escape. The Taliban said he was unharmed. His whereabouts is unknown.
The radical Palestinian group Hamas has threatened to strike out at the US and Israel in response to the raids.
“We condemn this American aggression in Sudan, which is an attack against the whole Arab and Islamic world,” the spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassine, said. “It is a provocation and a proof of state terrorism used by the United States against the entire world. Our answer will come in Palestine against Israeli aggression which supports the United States.”
US citizens worldwide have been warned to be on the alert and to take extra care in the event of retaliatory attacks.