KABUL (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Kabul counted the dead Monday from a night of thunderous U.S.-led air attacks on Taliban targets while thousands fled the Afghan capital in fear of more strikes by the world's most modern military.The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan told Reuters the raids, which he described as ``horrendous terrorist attacks,'' had killed at least 20 people across the country, including women and children living near Kabul airport.
The official Voice of Shariat radio said Kabul had suffered neither casualties nor material damage and the army's morale was boosted.
The cabinet of the ruling Taliban called an emergency meeting in Kabul to discuss the crisis, but officials said no details were available.
Taliban officials said three people were killed and at least four injured in three air raids on the Taliban movement's southern Afghan stronghold of Kandahar, home of its spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, the protector of Osama bin Laden.
Thousands of Kabul residents, fearing more attacks after three waves of bombing in the night, packed up what they could and fled the capital as dawn broke and the nightly curfew was lifted. (Read photo caption)
Taliban officials said Saudi-born fugitive bin Laden -- the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks in the United States -- had escaped unscathed along with Mullah Omar.
As Kabul mosques opened for early morning prayers, calls rose for a jihad (holy war) against America.
``We have to sacrifice ourselves for our country and Islam,'' was the call at one mosque.
Afghan Islamic Press, based in the Pakistani frontier city of Peshawar, reported that 10 people were killed near Kabul airport on the northeastern edge of the city and another 10 died when a bomb fell near the official Voice of Shariat radio station.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Afghans leave the capital in the aftermath of U.S. strikes on October 8, 2001. The United Nations refugee agency said it would take days and possibly weeks before it knew how many people fled. (Sayed Salahuddin/Reuters)