US bombs hit humanitarian relief depots

US planes continue to pound Afghanistan. Bombs rained down on the capital Kabul and further attacks hit a Taliban military complex in Kandahar.

The US military is now using low-flying ground attack aircraft. Planes of this type are used to support ground troops, and their deployment may pave the way for action by American special forces.

In Kabul, US bombs destroyed Red Cross wharehouses filled with humanitarian food aid. The buildings were racked by explosions, destroying relief supplies and injuring a guard who was taken to hospital.

A Pentagon statement said that US warplanes had targeted nearby warehouses thought to be holding Taliban military equipment. The ICRC has expressed outrage at the mistake and said the buildings were clearly marked with Red Cross symbols.

According to the Taliban, a US bomb has hit a truck loaded with refugees fleeing from the air attacks near the sounthern city of Kandahar. The Taliban reports have not yet been confirmed.

In the north of the country, the opposition Northern Alliance is reporting considerable success in driving back Taliban fighters.

Pakistan: New Afghan government could include the Taliban

The Northern Alliance was up on the political agenda during talks between the US and Pakistan on Afghanistan's political future. Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharref warned the Northern Alliance on Tuesday that no group should seek to take advantage of a possible political vacuum left by the destruction of the Taliban network.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Musharref said an agreement for the political future of Afghanistan should not be overshadowed by the military attacks. He called for a "broad-based, multiethnic government freely chosen by the Afghans without outside interference." This could also include moderate Taliban leaders.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell is in India on the second leg of his south Asian tour. Powell had hoped to keep efforts to consolidate support for the US-led campaign against terrorism at the top of his agenda. But his talks yesterday in Pakistan and today in Delhi have been clouded by the latest clashes in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee is believed to have expressed his concern to Powell that the United States has been tilting towards Pakistan at the expense of India. In recent weeks, the US has given strong backing to Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharaf, who it regards as a key ally during its campaign in Afghanistan.

As a reward for cooperation in the US-led military campaign, the US are planning a major debt relief package for Pakistan. Mr. Powell said during his visit that the US were committed to helping Pakistan's economy and to strengthening the country for the international community.

Israeli cabinet minister assasinated

Tony Blair met with Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat,on Tuesday. Blair, in an attempt to blunt the message of Osama bin Laden, who identified himself with the Palestinian cause in a statement last week, told the conference that Bin Laden did not speak for the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat, who is walking the political tightrope at current because of Islamist support for Bin Laden within his Palestinian authority, repeated his condemnation of the suicide attacks on America.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the main causes of resentment in the Muslim world towards the US, which has long backed Israel. Both the US and Britain are anxious to reduce the tension caused by the conflict.

On Tuesday, Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi was shot at his hotel in East Jerusalem. A Syrian-based radical Palestinian group has claimed responsibility. An official for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine told Reuters that his group had shot Zeevi, to avenge Israel's assassination of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa in August.

Similarities found in anthrax letters

US authorities investigating the recent anthrax attacks say there are similarities in two letters that contained the potentially deadly bacteria.

According to the US Justice Department on Tuesday, the letters sent to an employee of NBC News in New York and Senator Tom Daschle in Washington were both postmarked from Trenton, New Jersey. Both were handwritten in similarly printed letters and numerals. However, US Attorney General John Ashcroft said there was no conclusive evidence yet to link the incidents to the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Meanwhile, anxiety in the United States about the danger of a terrorist attack with biological weapons is growing. Some Americans have reacted to the scare by stocking up on anti-biotics. As a result, shares have risen sharply of producers of the drug approved in the US to treat anthrax, ciprofloxacin. German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, currently the only supplier of the drug to the US, has said it will boost its production to 200 million tablets in the next three months.

Monday's anthrax scare at the Chancellery in Berlin proved to be a false-alarm, but it did succeed in raising new questions about public safety. Security questions have been a central issue in the German government for several weeks - on Tuesday the German interior minister Otto Schily announced a package of effective changes to the country's security laws.

Among the changes is a proposal to add personal biometric data and fingerprints to German identity cards and passports. The Social Democrats parliamentary leader Peter Struck said the government intended to seek enactment of the changes in the coming weeks.

But the proposals have further strained relations with the government's junior partner, the Greens, who say they intend to oppose some of the measures.

German future participation still under discussion

Germany continues to discuss the nature of its own future participation in the anti-terrorism campaign. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said on Tuesday that Germany would be called upon to supplement its present contribution of military personnel on NATO Awacs aircraft.

In its Wednesday edition, mass-circulation tabloid Bild declared German armoured vehicles, which can detect nuclear, biological and chemical agents, would be deployed to the Afghanistan region. However, parliamentary speaker Uwe-Carsten Heye denied on Wednesday the immediate deployment of German troops.

The German Chancellor warned his junior coalition partner, the Green Party, to stop calling for an end to the US airstrikes. Although the Greens are unlikely to wield sufficient votes to block any future deployment, such a move could threaten the future of the current coalition. First signs of a potential rift opening up within the governing coalition showed up on Monday.

Schröder has pledged unreserved solidarity with the US, and issued a clear warning to the Green Party. "I have absolutely no intention of relinquishing any of my authority on this issue. It is up to the chancellor to determine the political course and anyone who violates that principle should be aware of the consequences," he said.

A Green vote against sending troops to join the US-led campaign could signal the end of the governing coalition - a prospect few in Berlin would relish at this point.

APEC summit begins

Ministers attending the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, or APEC, have begun their first round of talks. The original aim of the meeting was to focus on how to boost the global economy. But the attacks in the US and America's military response are also likely to feature strongly.

Ministers from the 21 APEC countries are attending the conference. World leaders, such as Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Jiang Zemin are expected this weekend. The hosts are doing everything in their power to ensure that the terrorism issue won't take over the agenda, which is headed by efforts to get the global economy back on track. US President George W. Bush is due to arrive on Thursday to shore up Asian support for the campaign against terrorism.

Australia says it will deploy nearly sixteen hundred troops to the Gulf region to take part in the US-led military campaign against terrorism. Announcing the move on Wednesday, Prime Minister John Howard said US President George W. Bush had asked for Australia's help. Its contributions will include elite Special Air Service troops, four fighter planes, three frigates and two refuelling planes.