Leaflets Accompany Bombs

Thousands of white strips of paper lay scattered across the brown plains of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province Sunday, messages and warnings from the U.S.-led military coalition:

“Hand over Taliban and Al Qaeda or you will be destroyed. Come forward with information about Taliban and Al Qaeda.”

The pamphlets littered plains leading to mountains where U.S. jets are attacking Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, pounding the cave complexes that honeycomb the snowy peaks.

U.S. aircraft dropped thousands of the leaflets overnight. Children ran through a rock-strewn field to collect them. They pushed and shoved each other to get at them, giggled and read what was written in Afghanistan’s two most common languages, Pashto and Dari.

Each paper had a message for the people of the area. “Give any information you have about Al Qaeda or Taliban to the coalition forces,” one leaflet urged.

Pashto is the language of the country’s largest ethnic group, the Pushtun. They dominate Paktia province, where it is believed that members of the Taliban--who are largely Pushtun--and Al Qaeda are regrouping with the distant help of leaders thought to have escaped to Pakistan.

The Al Qaeda and Taliban members in the mountains also are believed to be receiving assistance from Pakistani militants and rogue elements of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency.