Taliban Leaders Defect

LONDON, Thursday – Military strikes on Afghanistan are “already having an impact” on the cohesion of the ruling Taliban regime and led to defections in the upper echelons, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said yesterday. “It is clear that the coalition effort is already having an impact on Taliban cohesion,” Hoon told reporters at a press conference in London. “Reports suggest that some of Mullah Omar’s followers are starting to have second thoughts. Some are clearly defecting,” he said, referring to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. Hoon said there have been “reports of both individuals defections and of groups defections”. “These reports are a good indication they’re (the Taliban) having increasing difficulties to maintain their coherence.” Fifteen people died when the US bombed and destroyed a mosque and surrounding houses in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, the Taliban’s ambassador to Pakistan told a press conference on Thursday. “In this mosque demolished by a US attack, 15 people are reported to have been martyred and also four houses have been destroyed,” Abdul Salam Zaeef said. Earlier, the Taliban’s Education Minister, Amir Khan Mutaqqi, told AFP the mosque was destroyed in heavy overnight bombing by US forces that targeted Jalalabad, the nation’s capital, Kabul, and the regime’s southern stronghold of Kandahar. US planes launched daylight air strikes on Thursday against targets around Kabul and Kandahar, with residents reporting six loud explosions. The first ever afternoon raid against Kabul prompted a heavy barrage of anti-aircraft fire as three bombs fell on a hilltop near the airport. Another explosion was heard in the east of the city. At least one plane could be seen circling the capital in bright sunshine, an AFP reporter in the city said. In Kandahar, a civilian guard told AFP by telephone that he heard several planes fly overhead and two explosions. Kabul and Kandahar had been pounded overnight on Wednesday in the heaviest aerial attacks since US-led forces launched their assault against the network of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors on Sunday. AFP Ends