Japan's Ministry of Finance announced that payments or fund transfers to accounts in Afghanistan and to Taliban-related individuals living outside Afghanistan needed its permission.
Afghanistan shut down its airspace[?], two weeks after threatening to close it if the United Nations did not lift sanctions against Ariana Afghan Airlines. Although no flights were landing in Afghanistan, many flights were flying across Afghan airspace. Each time an aircraft flew over Afghanistan the airline had to pay Ariana $400. The money was deposited in accounts in Geneva that were frozen because of the sanctions.
Tajikistan's armed forces were placed on alert following reports that 5,000 Taliban militia in Afghanistan had approached the border.
Pakistan's army reported that Taliban troops of between 20,000 and 25,000 had been deployed just across the border from the Khyber Pass. A Pakistani army officer said Pakistan had reinforced its own troops fanned out along the region.
U.S. president George W. Bush told his military to get ready for a long War on terrorism, adding that they would smoke the enemies "out of their holes".
The Taliban information minister, Qadratullah Jamal[?], said that Afghanistan had "fortified our bunkers and our important installations, including military bases and airfields."
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar met with senior clerics and received their support.
A Pakistani newspaper reported that Osama bin Laden had snucked out of Kandahar, along with his wives, children and followers and moved to an undisclosed secret location in Afghanistan.
A Russian division of 7,000 men based in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, was placed on heightened combat alert. However, Tajikistan announced it would not allow Western nations to launch attacks on Afghanistan from its territory. Tajikistan was struggling to recover from a five-year civil war between Islamic opposition forces and a hard-line secular government, and was heavily dependant on Russia for military and political support.
United States Secretary of StateColin Powell said that Pakistan agreed to cooperate if the United States decided to strike Afghanistan. The Washington Post reported Pakistani officials had agreed to allow the United States to use Pakistani airspace in the event of a military strike against Afghanistan, but Pakistan would not involve its forces in any action beyond its own geographical boundaries.
Mullah Mohammad Omar[?] issued a call for jihad against the United States and its supporters if they attacked or assisted an attack on Afghanistan. The Taliban also asked all foreigners to leave Afghanistan in view of a possible attack by the United States.
India, which did not share a formal military relationship with the United States, decided to allow its facilities to be used for strikes against Afghanistan. India also provided the United States with intelligence information on training camps of Islamic militants in the region.
The World Food Program warned that, following exodus of aid workers, about 1.5 million Afghans could emmigrate out of Afghanistan in search of food. The U.N. estimated that, to date, Afghanistan had 900,000 internally displaced persons and that there were more than three million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan alone. Furthermore, the U.N. estimated that a quarter of the population (5.5 million people) would be reliant on food aid if they were to stay alive through November.
In anticipation of U.S. strikes, Muslim militants were reported fleeing Kabul, Afghanistan, while other residents were said to be digging trenches around the city.
Three Western diplomats, representing eight aid workers on trial for allegedly preaching Christianity, left Afghanistan amid an exodus of foreigners concerned over possible U.S. attacks. Family members of the detainees also left the country. However, the eight aid workers remained in the custody of the Taliban militia as an Islamic court continued their trial behind closed doors.
Terrorists attacked the U.S., killing more than 3,000 people, destroying the two towers of the World Trade Center and part of The Pentagon. Early speculation about the source of the attack centered on Saudi-born guerrilla leader Osama bin Laden, who was living in and working from Afghanistan. Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
Rocket explosions and anti-aircraft fire rocked Kabul, Afghanistan. Both the U.S. and Afghan oppositional forces denied involvement.
Afghan opposition leader Ahmed Shah Massoud was assassinated. A suicide bomber, posing as a journalist, blew himself up after gaining access to Masood's office. The suicide bomber was killed along with one of Masood's followers, and the Afghan commander's guards killed the second person posing as a journalist. The terrorists first conducted interviews with opposition soldiers in Shomali[?] before meeting with Massoud. The bomb was either hidden in the camera or concealed around the waist of one of the terrorists. Massoud did not die immediately, and underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Tajikistan.
The Afghan Supreme Court resumed the trial of eight foreign aid workers held for allegedly preaching Christianity, but no detainees, diplomats or journalists were present.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban jailed 35 Afghan employees of one of the recently expelled foreign assistance groups.
Eight foreign aid workers on trial for promoting Christianity in Afghanistan appeared for the first time in the Supreme Court, and said they were innocent of proselytising. The hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Noor Mohammad Saqib[?] and 18 other judges. One of the six female defendants was wearing the head-to-toe cloak which is mandatory for Afghan women in public, while the others had veils over their hair only. The defendents walked slowly into the court under the escort of armed guards, who did not allow them to answer questions from journalists waiting outside the court.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban took control of the Shokhi[?] and Khan Aqa[?] districts in Kapisa province[?] after several days of heavy clashes with the Northern Alliance led by Ahmad Shah Masood. The mother of one of the US prisoners and the father of another accompanied their daughters into the court but the cousin of the Australian man was kept waiting outside along with Australian, German and US diplomats.
The United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell[?], arrived in Kabul, saying the trial of the arrested foreign aid workers would be meaningful only if it is held in an open court. Despite an earlier promise to do so, the Taliban had not allowed journalists, Western diplomats or relatives of the accused any access to the proceedings.
The World Food Program announced that Afghanistan was on the brink of famine, and appealed for $151 million to fund an "emergency operation".
The Central Board of Revenue of Pakistan approved zero-rated export of cement and tobacco leaf to Central Asian Republics and Afghanistan via land route.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban denied Western diplomats access to a court where eight foreign aid workers were on trial for promoting Christianity, but Chief Justice Noor Mohammad Saqib[?] said the defendants could hire foreign lawyers. He also said that the defendants could face hanging. Despite repeated requests, Australian, German and U.S. consuls in Kabul had been denied any meetings with Taliban authorities for a week.
The wife of jailed Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman sent letters to U.S. president George W. Bush and the Taliban leadership to urge them to exchange Abdel-Rahman for the eight foreign workers standing trial.
The United Nations called for fair trials for all 24 foreign and Afghan aid workers detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The detainees were charged with promoting Christianity.