Paris | Monday
– -1630 GMT: several heavy explosions are reported in Kabul and power is cut off.
– -1645 GMT: the White House announces that a new phase in its war against terrorism has begun.
– – 1705 GMT: US President George W. Bush announces that air strikes involving Britain have been launched in Afghanistan against camps belonging to the al-Qaeda network, a prime suspect in the September 11 attacks, and Taliban military installations.
– – 1735 GMT: The Taliban decries the US bombardment as an “act of terrorism” and reaffirms that it will not hand over Saudi-born terrorism suspect Osama bin-Laden.
– – 1745 GMT: Washington warns US nationals to be vigilant in case the strikes spark retaliatory attacks on American citizens.
– – 1755 GMT: British submarines have fired missiles on Afghanistan, Prime Minister Tony Blair says.
– – 1815 GMT: The anti-Taliban Northern Alliance welcomes the US-led military action, and says there were strikes on Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, Farah (west) and Kunduz on the northern border with Tajikistan as well as Kabul and Kandahar. Another representative for the armed opposition says that explosions and fires were seen at the airport in Mazar-e-Sharif, a strategic town in the north.
– – 1825 GMT: In a video recording aired on al-Jazeera television after the strikes begin, Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden vows that the US “will never know security as long as Palestine does not know security.” He says: “America has been hit by Allah at its most vulnerable point…”
– – 1830 GMT: Afghan opposition forces say they are awaiting orders to launch a major infantry offensive against the Taliban.
– An official in Islamabad announces that Pakistani air space was used in the military operation.
– – 1835 GMT: Osama bin Laden and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar have survived the bombardment “by the grace of god”, the Taliban’s ambassador in Islamabad says.
– – 1840 GMT: French President Jacques Chirac announces on national television that French forces will take part in military action led by the US.
– – 18h45 GMT: The first US objective in Afghanistan is to remove the threat from anti-aircraft missiles, says US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who confirms that planes, ships and submarines had been used in the strikes. He announces the start of humanitarian aid airlifts. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, announces that some 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired on terrorist camps and Taliban military targets.
– – 1900 GMT: Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with his defence minister, head of general staff and the head of intelligence. Russian guards also step up security on the Tajik-Afghan border.
– – 19h20 GMT: Opposition forces fire rockets on Taliban positions north of Kabul, witnesses say.
– – 1940 GMT: Iran condemns the US attacks as unacceptable and warns Washington and London not to violate its sea or airspace.
– – 1950 GMT: US Vice President Dick Cheney is taken to a new residence at a secret location as a precautionary measure, the White House announces.
– – 2000 GMT: Fighting breaks out between Taliban militia and residents of the southeast town of Zarandj near the Iranian border, Tehran’s IRNA news agency says.
– – 2005 GMT: The EU affirms its “total solidarity” with the United States and Britain.
– – 2045 GMT: Witnesses report a fresh offensive in Kabul. A very loud explosion is heard, apparently from the airport, after an aircraft or a missile flies over the city.
– – 2115 GMT: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein condemns the US-led “aggression”.
– – 2320 GMT: Taliban anti-aircraft artillery opens fire in Kabul amid a third wave of attacks, according to residents.
– – 0000 GMT: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announces that it has put all its offices and agents throughout the United States on maximum alert.
– The bureau said it was tracking “a large number of threats” emanating from groups sympathetic to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaeda terror network, and Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. – AFP
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