U.S.-led Coalition Continues Bombing in Afghanistan

National Geographic News

October 9, 2001

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Afghanistan country profile and photo gallery: Go>>

Latest news: Sunday's and Monday's air strikes damaged or destroyed 85 percent of targets throughout Afghanistan, U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said at the same briefing that the air strikes had hit every airfield in Afghanistan but one. The U.S.-led coalition could now conduct strikes in Afghanistan "more or less around the clock as we wish," he said. Listen to the Pentagon briefing.

Four members of a local organization working with the United Nations mine-clearing programme in Afghanistan were killed Monday night during the bombardment of the capital, Kabul, a UN spokesperson said Tuesday.

Rumsfeld said he couldn't confirm reports that U.S. bombs killed the UN workers. "Nonetheless, we regret a loss of life. Terrorists attacked and killed thousands of innocent people in dozens of countries of all races and religions in the United States.If there were an easy, safe way to root terrorist networks out of countries that are harboring them, it would be a blessing. But there is not, Rumsfeld said."

Commenting on the death of the aid workers, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said "for the UN it was a hard blow."

The United Nations is continuing its efforts to bring aid to the suffering people of Afghanistan while working to protect its personnel in the country, Annan said. Read Annan's comments.

CNN reported that investigators are considering the possibility that a letter sent to the mailroom of a Florida tabloid publishing company could have carried the anthrax bacteria that killed an employee. Read the CNN story.

This National Geographic News story has a sidebar on nature of the anthrax bacterium, how humans may become infected, and what symptoms to look out for: Anthrax Resistance Found in Some Mice.

Monitor the Developments in the War on Terrorism

National Geographic News report of the start of the airstrikes: Go>> http://news.mod.uk/veritas/vindex.htm

Photo gallery of the first images of the strikes against Afghanistan released by the U.S. Department of Defense: Go>>

President Bush's statement on the start of airstrikes in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Ton Blair's statement

Read the transcript of Osama bin Laden's statement after airstrikes commenced

Afghanistan Country Facts

Use National Geographic's MapMachine to view maps of Afghanistan and other countries in the region.

The White House

Read the President's statement announcing Operation Enduring Freedom

Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld

U.S. Department of Defense (for regular briefings and updates)

British Prime Minister's Office (updates and statements)

Read the Prime Minister's statement on Enduring Freedom

U.S. State Department (briefings, statements, travel advisories)

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (latest news on air safety)

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (news on the investigation of the 9/11 terrorism attacks)

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency War on Terrorism Site (terrorism FAQs, related links, information about potential bioterrorism, and more)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (updates on disaster relief)

CIA World Fact Book 2001 (profiles of Afghanistan and all other countries of the world)

Inside Al-Qaeda (Jane's Security look at the world of militant Islam)

National Geographic News Coverage of the 9/11 Attacks on America and Related Stories

Attack on America: An Islamic Scholar's Perspective
In an interview with National Geographic, Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki of the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, shares his perspective on the tragic events of September 11 and the impact they have had on the United States and the world.

After Terrorist Attack, Afghans in U.S. Challenge Cultural Stereotype
The tragedy of the terrorist attack on the United States has drawn together, but also splintered, the global family. As people around the world unite in grief and efforts to recover, there is a desperate urge for greater understanding of differences in cultures and religions.

Koran a Book of Peace, Not War, Scholars Say
Osama bin Laden, who is widely assumed to be theforce behind the September 11 hijackings in the United States, cites the Koran, Islam's most holy book, as the inspiration for terrorist attacks. But Muslim scholars around the world who are reviled by such actions explain that the Koran preaches peace.

Geographic Veteran Reflects on Fear Captured in Photographs
Fear comes in many forms, during famine, war, disease, and other situations of chaos and despair. Karen Kasmauski, who has taken photographs for National Geographic in all corners of the world, has seen the faces of fear in front of her lens many times, and is heartened by the strength of the human spirit.

Commentary: Historically, D.C. No Stranger to Attacks
In putting into perspective the September 11 terrorist attack on America, historian Edward C. Smith recalls how the British burned down the White House and the Capitol and how Washington could so easily have been invaded by the Confederacy after the first battle of the Civil War. The world wars of the last century turned Washington into a world capital. It is, Smith writes, a city defined by war.

DNA Analysis Aids Efforts to Identify New York Disaster Victims
The destruction of the World Trade Center has led to the largest and most gruesome forensics project in history. Rescue teams are working around the clock retrieving body parts from the rubble for DNA analysis in an effort to identify all the victims. have been invaded by the Confederacy after the first battle of the Civil War. The world wars of the last century turned Washington into a world capital. It is, Smith writes, a city defined by war.

Inferno Heat, Not Impact, Brought Down Towers, Experts Say
Not long after two hijacked jets crashed into the upper floors of the World Trade Center last week, millions of people watched in horror as the buildings collapsed to the ground like stacks of pancakes. Experts told the TV news show National Geographic Today that had it not been for the raging inferno caused by the jet fuel fires, the buildings might still be standing.

Search-and-Rescue Tested at New York Disaster Site
Three experimental robots, each about the size of a shoebox, are being used to search for victims in the mountain of rubble that was once the World Trade Center in New York City. The TV news show National Geographic Today looked at the development of these new search-and-rescue tools.

After the Attacks: Regrouping, Recovering, Rebuilding
As a traumatized nation began resuming the routine motions of daily life on Thursday, expressions of sympathy came from millions of people around the world, and other nations vowed to support America in the monumental task of healing and recovery after Tuesday's terrorist attacks.

Team from National Geographic Killed in Pentagon Crash
Two staff members of the National Geographic Society, along with three Washington, D.C., teachers and three students they were traveling with on an educational trip, were among the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday.