Flying gunships bombard Taliban heartland

The US launched its heaviest daylight raid on Afghanistan yesterday, using the devastating firepower of special forces AC-130H Spectre gunships.

The aircraft, used for the first time in the 10-day-old campaign, carried out intense and sustained attacks on Kandahar, the Taliban heartland and the power base of its leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

There were also reports that helicopters had also been used for the first time in the war, again in the Kandahar area. One of their roles in such an operation would be to put special forces and commandos on the ground.

Residents claimed to have heard the sound of helicopter blades. However, military analysts point out that the low-flying, turbo-prop Spectres can be mistaken for helicopters.

Spectres were first used in the Vietnam war and the volume of fire they could pour on the ground, led to their nickname "Puff the Magic Dragon".

The Pentagon stated that the gunships were using "information from the ground" to help with targeting. It has already been confirmed that American and British special forces were behind enemy lines.

Other aircraft used in the attacks were 50 Navy strike jets and 10 heavy bombers, which concentrated against "military marshalling areas." US attacks were carried out on military structures in Mazar-i-Sharif, the strategic town in northern Afghanistan, and also the Kheir Khana area of northern Kabul.

The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said of the Taliban front line north of Kabul: "I suspect that, in the period ahead, that is not going to be a safe place to be". However, the opposition Northern Alliance claimed the allies still have not attacked Taliban and al-Qa'ida forces in the area because of Pakistani objections.

Residents in Kandahar said the bombardment was so intense that they were blinded by swirling clouds of dust. Taliban officials claimed 13 civilians had been killed, with some bodies buried under rubble.

Abdul Hinan Himat, of the regime's information ministry, said: "Around 130 sorties alone were carried out against Kandahar, so you can imagine the civilian casualties because the attacks, experience shows, miss their target".

The AC-130H looks from the outside much like the British Hercules transport planes from which they were adapted. But it bristles with guns, including a 105mm howitzer, firing up to six rounds a minute; a 40mm cannon and two 20mm Vulcan Gattling guns capable of firing 2,500 rounds a minute. There are five gunners in its crew of 14.

However, despite its size, the gunship is extremely manoeuvrable and also has sensors which should enable it to distinguish between friendly ground forces and its targets.

Its primary role is close air support and protection of troops on the ground but it can also be used against comparatively small targets including machine gun positions and enemy soldiers using shoulder-held surface-to-air missiles.

As well as being used in the Vietnam War, the heavy planes also struck targets in the 1991 Gulf War and more recently joined in US-led Nato air strikes on Kosovo in 1999.

The Spectre, which specialises in Military Operations in Urban Terrain – can also be used to hit individual buildings. US bombers had already hit the family home of Mullah Omar, killing his stepfather and a nephew, the family claimed. The aircraft had also destroyed cars said to be carrying Taliban leaders.

The use of the slow-moving Spectre shows that Allied senior officers believe that Taliban and al-Qa'ida anti-aircraft defences have been sufficiently degraded not to pose a threat.

US and British defence officials refused to say where the C130H were based. However, last week, the US forces established bases at Pasni and Jacobabad in Pakistan. Kandahar is about 150 miles from Jacobabad.

Any revelations that Pakistani bases had been used to carry out attacks on Afghanistan would strengthen the growing and violent protest movement in the country and put further pressure on the country's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf. General Musharraf has assured the public that the bases would only be used for support and humanitarian purposes and not for carrying out assaults on the neighbouring country.

A compound belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) in Kabul was reported to have been hit during yesterday's bombing. Two warehouses containing wheat and other humanitarian supplies were destroyed, according to Taliban officials.

An ICRC spokesman in Islamabad said the the compound was attacked despite being marked with a red cross.

The allies also continued with their propaganda campaign yesterday. Warplanes dropped nearly a half-a-million leaflets over Afghanistan with a message in the local languages of Pashtu and Dari that the United States is not the enemy. One leaflet showed a photo of an Afghan man shaking hands with a Western soldier, with the message: "The partnership of nations is here to help."

US Marines are now in carrier groups on the Arabian Sea and are expected to be the first troops to be sent into Afghanistan when the ground campaign begins.

In Britain, defence sources stated that elements of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, including the 1st and 2nd Battalions the Parachute Regiment have been told they may have to prepare for action in the near future.