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Air strikes on Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad renewed

More than 50 US fighter aircraft carrying out almost 500 sorties kept up the relentless pace of attacks on the Afghan cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad.

Reports said the US, for the first time in ten-day old strikes, deployed the deadly low flying AC 130 gunship, raking Taleban strongholds with heavy machine gun and cannon fire.

The deployment of the low-flying fighter gunship also signalled the US confidence that more than a week of strikes by ship-launched cruise missiles and high-flying jets had removed much of the threat from Taleban air defence.

Previous raids had targeted anti-aircraft artillery sites and other military installations with the aim of making the skies safe for aircraft like the AC-130. The Taleban are believed to still hold an unknown number of shoulder-fired Stinger missiles capable of bringing down aircraft, however.

High-firepower AC-130s typically are used to support ground forces trained for small-unit operations.

There was no word whether the gunship's deployment meant special forces had entered the battle on the ground.

Aiming to make the skies safe, US forces have made particular targets out of airports in Taleban territory throughout the campaign.

Attacks put the Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan out of commission almost from the start.

Other strikes have pounded Taleban jets at Kabul and the sprawling airport complex at Kandahar, which holds at least 30 housing units of Osama bin Laden's followers.

The only other major airfields in Taleban territory, at Shindand in southwestern Afghanistan and in Herat, have also taken repeated strikes.

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