-Caveat Lector- Difficult Targets In Afganistan Luke Harding and Rory McCarthy in Islamabad Saturday September 15, 2001 The Guardian American strategists face a dilemma as they contemplate a missile strike against Afghanistan: what, exactly, to destroy when so much has already been destroyed. Between 1992 and 1996, as civil war raged, rival Mujaheddin factions shelled Kabul relentlessly. Innumerable rockets fell from the high brown mountains that encircle the city killing some 50,000 people. Most buildings of importance were pulverised and much of the city is still a ruin. Nevertheless, US military planners will be working to identify key buildings and military installations used by the Taliban's extremist regime. The Taliban now appear to be as much a target as Osama bin Laden, the man they refuse to give up. Some important Taliban buildings are set a little distance away from the civilian population. The foreign ministry, which looks rather like a Swiss town hall, is surrounded by pine trees and stands in its own pleasant gardens. Kabul's former royal palace nearby also offers a discrete target. Senior Taliban officials hold cabinet meetings here every Wednesday afternoon. But many of the Taliban's major ministries are in the heart of Kabul itself. The modern culture ministry adjoins a busy bazaar. The interior ministry - damaged by an unexplained bomb last Saturday - is in the middle of a commercial district. And the modern education ministry is next to a row of shops, surrounded by pedestrians, cyclists and yellow Toyota taxis. Inevitably any missile strikes here would run the risk of heavy civilian casualties. Kabul airport, to the north-east of the city, is a more uncomplicated strategic target. Soon after the attacks in New York and Washington, Afghanistan's anti- Taliban opposition blasted the airport with a helicopter gunship. Further strikes would damage an airport building already riddled with bullet holes. The carcasses of wrecked planes already litter the side of the shrapnel-scarred runway. Not, though, that the Taliban have much of an airforce: they are estimated to have only three MiG jets, left by the retreating Soviet army. The most important target for any retaliatory attack is of course Bin Laden, the prime suspect. He has lived under Taliban protection inside Afghanistan since 1996. But the problem is finding him, as the Americans discovered when they bombed his training camps in Khost, south-east Afghanistan, in August 1998, following the devastating embassy bombings in east Africa. Bin Laden had left the camp half an hour earlier. He moves secretly between bases deep inside Afghanistan. They include a large Arab camp next to the airport north of Kandahar, a southern desert city; a smaller base in the remote Oruzgan mountains; and another camp near the town of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, cut into a rockface. The camp is said to boast a large Islamic library, state-of-the-art communications equipment and three uncomfortable beds. All can expect to be the targets of US retaliation. So too can the house in central Kandahar belonging to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban's reclusive spiritual leader. Mullah Omar's previous house was badly damaged by a mysterious bomb left in a truck, which killed at least 10 people. He then moved to a more spacious property, with high white walls, allegedly paid for by Bin Laden, his close friend with whom he sometimes goes fishing. Bin Laden is also believed to have a property in Kandahar fortified with anti-aircraft guns. His four wives and many children are said to live here. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Mullah Omar has temporarily moved out. The difficulty America faces is that the Taliban leadership knows full well what is coming. "Last time they only attempted to strike the camp. This time they want to eliminate the whole system and government," Abdul Hai Mutmaen, the Taliban's spokesman, said yesterday. The irony is that there is not much left in Afghanistan that has not already been blown up. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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