ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: As many as 170 civilians were killed in five days of US missile and bomb attacks on Afghanistan. Out of them,100 died in Kandahar and Jalalabad, 15 were buried alive when a mosque collapsed after being hit, and the rest perished elsewhere.

This was stated by the Afghan ambassador, Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, at a press conference here on Thursday, which was attended by a large number of local and foreign journalists.

Zaeef, scotching rumours about Mulla Omar’s death, said:”He is alive and commanding the forces as are his colleagues doing.” He added that Osama bin Laden was also alive.

The envoy said that real war with the Americans and their allied forces would be fought on ground as Afghan fighters were determined not to let a single enemy soldier return alive.

He said America was deceiving the international community by claiming that the US-led forces were hitting only fixed targets while they were actually attacking and killing civilians, including women and children and destroying houses.

Replying to a question, the envoy said the Taliban armed forces were fully determined to defend their homeland.

Replying to another question, he said Osama was not permitted to launch terrorist attacks against any country from the Afghan soil. Moreover, he was not allowed to issue a statement or deliver a speech, the envoy added.

Zaeef said hundreds of houses had been destroyed by bombings in Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad and other areas of the country.

While insisting that Mulla Omar was alive, he admitted that some of his relatives were killed in airstrikes.

The envoy claimed that the plan of the US was to take in its control natural resources of Central Asia, and added that Osama was not the real target.

Zaeef said the Taliban administration had eradicated poppy production, protected honour and property of people and established a system for equitable distribution of resources among citizens.

The Afghans, he said, had not only become war-hardened in the last 20 years but had also become accustomed to all sorts of hardships.

He urged the world community and the media to understand the ground realities of Afghanistan.