World

Taliban Chief Escapes Bomb

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 25, 1999 / 5:38 AM EDT / CBS

In an apparent attack on the TalibanÂ's supreme leader, a powerful truck bomb rocked the home of Mullah Mohammad Omar, who escaped unscathed while ten people were killed and at least 40 were injured.

Despite fierce fighting with opposition forces inside Afghanistan, officials from the Islamic movement immediately hinted that the United States was behind the blast.

Â"The enemies of the Emirate (Taliban) carried out this act of sabotage and we can't blame any specific body for it,Â" said Abdul Hai Muttmain, a key Taliban spokesman. But he added that suspicion was falling on the U.S., who have heaped pressure on the Taliban to hand over accused terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Kandahar has been one of the towns frequented by bin Laden.

The White House said on Wednesday the U.S. was not involved in the bombing.

"We're aware of the explosion but we're not aware of the origins of that explosion beyond knowing that it was not something we were involved in," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters covering President Clinton's vacation on Martha's Vineyard.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Foley said the U.S. had contacted the Taliban to disown any connection with the bomb.

He said the decision to contact the Taliban was taken in response to Afghan press reports of a U.S. connection. In the past, similar reports have inflamed anti-American sentiment in neighboring Pakistan, where there is a substantial U.S. presence.

The explosion, shortly after 10 p.m. local time Tuesday in southern Kandahar, shattered windows and doors and sent frightened residents scurrying for cover.

The truck was parked three houses away from Mullah Mohammed Omar's home, said Muttmain.

Omar was not at home at the time of the explosion, which slightly damaged his walled compound, officials said.

The Taliban religious army, which rules 90 percent of Afghanistan, is fighting an opposition alliance that until has been restricted to northern Afghanistan.

Tuesday's truck bomb was the first attack on the Taliban in their stronghold of Kandahar, hundreds of miles from the fighting.

Last year, the United States fired Tomahawk cruise missiles on eastern Afghanistan, where Washington believed bin Laden was running training camps for his terrorist network. Bin Laden escaped.

The United States has accused bin Laden of orchestrating the devastating bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998.

The Taliban have refused to hand over bin Laden, saying he is a guest in Afghanistan, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. The Taliban also are demanding proof of his involvement in terrorist activity.

That a truck bomb was able to breach Taliban's defenses was not a concern, said Muttmain.

Â"Our security is good ... but we have enemies, and anywhere these things can happen,Â" he said. It wasn't clear whether additional security was eing arranged.

The Taliban launched a major offensive this month to smash the last resistance to their stern Islamic rule from Rabbani's former military chief, veteran guerrilla Ahmed Shah Masood.