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U.S.
Uses Illegal ‘Thermobaric’ Bomb In Afghanistan
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U.S. using bomb
condemned by Geneva Convention
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KABUL,
March 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. warplanes continued Sunday to
bomb alleged Al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, where
the United States said it had for the first time dropped a powerful thermobaric
bomb.
The
bomb, which has been described by experts as a low-yield nuclear bomb, and built
on a principle roundly denounced by human rights groups in the past, was among
the more than 80 pieces of ordnance dropped by U.S. warplanes south of the
Afghan city of Gardez where intelligence had discovered a concentration of
Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We
used one thermobaric bomb in that operation," Navy Lieutenant Commander
Matthew Klee, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, told AFP. "It was
the first time we used it."
The
bomb (BLU-118B), which belongs to the category of so-called fuel-air munitions,
is capable of penetrating deep underground to reach hidden command bunkers or
caves and explode upon hitting its target, according to experts and defense
officials.
Its
explosive charge is designed in a way that allows the attacker to practically
pulverize all occupants of the underground structure.
"It
works as a combination of a shock wave and a fuel explosion," Klee
explained. "The first explosion spreads flammable aerosols through the
underground complex. Then, the second ignites the fuel."
According
to independent experts, the bomb, once detonated, produces rapidly expanding
shock waves flattening anything near the epicenter of the aerosol fuel cloud,
and capable of causing extensive damage far beyond the immediate strike area.
In
addition, shock waves produced by the BLU-118S are capable of navigating
underground labyrinths and literally leaving no stone unturned, according to
Klee. "When the shock wave from a normal bomb hits a wall it stops,"
said the spokesman. "With BLU-118, the shock wave goes around the
corner."
The
Russian army reportedly used a version of a fuel-air bomb in the breakaway North
Caucasus republic of Chechnya in late 1999, against mountain hideouts of local
separatist rebels, according to Human Rights Watch, an international monitoring
organization.
In
a letter sent in February 2000 to Vladimir Putin, then Russia's acting
president, the group warned that fuel-air explosives, which are compared by some
experts to low-yield nuclear bombs, could cause massive loss of life especially
in or near populated areas.
"Their
use against populated areas would violate international norms on indiscriminate
attacks," said Joost Hiltermann, Human Rights Watch's top weapons expert.
Klee
said the U.S military was aware of Moscow's use in Chechnya of a bomb built on a
similar concept but assured that the U.S. BLU-118S "falls under the
guidelines of the Geneva Conventions."
The
spokesman declined to disclose why the Pentagon had chosen to use such a
powerful munition against a cave complex near Gardez, saying only that "a
pocket of Taliban and Al-Qaeda resistance" had been discovered in the area.
Asked
if Osama bin Laden could be hiding in the area, Klee said, "We are not
going to speculate. We don't know where he is."
According
to a statement released by the Central Command, fighting continued south of
Gardez into early Sunday. "Firefights have been intense at times in heavy
combat actions," the statement said. "The exact size of the enemy
forces occupying a series of cave complexes is not known."
One
U.S. soldier and three Afghan troops have been killed so far in the operation,
and an unspecified number of U.S. and Afghan forces have been injured, according
to the command.
A
witness said a U.S.-led ground advancement by at least 1,000 Afghan troops has
been held up by stiff resistance from the more than 2,000 Al-Qaeda members in
the Amra mountains. "The ground advancement has been blocked and
stopped," Gilani, the son of local warlord Padsha Khan, told AFP by
telephone. "The Arab and Al-Qaeda fighters are resisting fiercely. At the
beginning we didn't think they would resist so much," he said.
As
he spoke by telephone, Gilani said he could see two U.S. military helicopters
and two B-52 jets bombarding the area.
Al-Qaeda
and allied fighters from outside Afghanistan were defending high ground with
machine gun fire during the assault, according to U.S. military sources,
reported CNN’s online news service.
Afghan
fighters returning from the front lines Saturday said they were badly
outnumbered and were being pushed back by Al-Qaeda forces, who have been holding
out in the region for weeks, said CNN.
Some
of the returning soldiers said that as many as 5,000 Al-Qaeda fighters may be
engaged with the Afghans and Americans.
In
October, news agencies reported that the U.S. Forces used massive GBU 28, laser
bombs that also have the ability to penetrate 30 meters underground or go
through 6 meters of armed cement. These bombs weighed a little less than 2.3
tons.
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