KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Jets dropped three bombs Wednesday morning near the airport in the southern city of Kandahar, Taliban sources said. It was the second straight morning of daylight raids on the Taliban stronghold.
The bombs hit about 7:15 a.m., the Taliban sources said.
The area around Kandahar's airport has been the target of multiple assaults since the strikes began Sunday night. Housing units that lodge at least 300 followers of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden are located in that region, as are key Taliban air defense systems.
Kabul was reported quiet Wednesday morning.
The raids ushered in a second straight morning of airstrikes. A U.S.-led coalition is seeking to punish Afghanistan's rulers for sheltering bin Laden, believed to have orchestrated the devastating attacks four weeks ago on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The previous night, a deafening new barrage of anti-aircraft opened up in Kabul, the capital, The power has gone out each night as Taliban anti-aircraft guns come to life, and Taliban radio is off the air after its transmission tower was wrecked.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A U.S. F-14 "Tomcat" waits to take-off on the U.S.S. Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the Arabian sea October 8, 2001. Afghanistan counted the cost of a second night of U.S.-led air and missile strikes October 9, 2001 as U.S. officials lowered any expectations of a rapid military victory over its Taliban rulers. Reports from Kandahar, headquarters and spiritual home of the Taliban, spoke of daylight attacks on the southern city -- the first since the military operation began Sunday. (Ruben Sprich/Reuters)