Taliban `feeling the pressure' of air strikes, says Britain's defense secretary

LONDON – Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia is "feeling the pressure" of U.S. air strikes against its front-line troops, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said Wednesday.

Briefing journalists at Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street office, Hoon said the U.S.-led coalition's support for the opposition northern alliance in the northeast of the country was hurting the regime in Kabul.

"The heavy bombing by United States B-52 bombers and other aircraft is clearly weakening the Taliban front lines and providing opportunities for the northern alliance to break through," Hoon said.

"By supporting the northern alliance we are able to increase the pressure on the Taliban regime to end their support for Osama bin Laden still further," he continued. "There is clear evidence that the Taliban regime is feeling the pressure."

U.S. bombing in recent days has focused on the Taliban's front-line troops, with warplanes directing fire on Taliban caves and using 15,000-pound "daisy cutter" bombs, which explode before they hit the ground and shower the enemy with deadly shrapnel.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that American efforts to coordinate with rebel forces in Afghanistan were gradually expanding.

Hoon was briefing journalists as Blair prepared to fly by Concorde to meet President Bush in Washington. He said the two leaders would discuss the next steps in the Middle East peace process.

"Redoubling our determined efforts on the peace process is an essential part of winning the peace," said Hoon. "Destroying al-Qaida is important, but it will not solve the problem if the escalating violence in the Middle East ... is allowed to poison relations and ruin still more lives."

"Along with a long-term commitment to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, it is clear that a renewed long-term commitment to the Middle East peace process must be one of the foundations of any lasting peace."

APNP-11-07-01 1025CST