KABUL/WASHINGTON, Oct 12: US forces stopped blasting fixed Taliban and al-Qaeda targets on Friday in deference to the Muslim holy day, but kept up pressure on “emerging targets” in Afghanistan in the American war on terrorism.

“Military operations continue but we are not doing any pre-planned operations today, as Friday is the Muslim holy day, but we do have forces available to hit any emerging targets,” Gen Richard Myers, head of the US military Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

Emerging targets, also known as targets of opportunity, include leaders of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, accused by the United States of harbouring Osama bin Laden.

Bomb damage photographs presented at a Pentagon briefing showed strikes on a storage site for surface-to-air missiles near a garrison site at Kandahar, a raid on the Kandahar airfield that destroyed military aircraft, and a hit on a guerilla training camp near Jalalabad, including buildings and gun emplacements.

Gun-camera videotape showed the destruction of transport planes at Kabul airfield and at Herat airfield.

BOMBING: On early Friday morning, Afghanistan’s capital came under sustained bombardment.

An AFP reporter in Kabul counted 10 explosions, as planes flew over the city in several waves, beginning at 3:15am (08.15 PST). Taliban gunners responded with a steady barrage of anti-aircraft fire.

“At times there were no planes but still explosions, so there must have been some missiles coming in as well,” he said, adding that some of blasts were felt inside the city. —Reuters/AFP