WASHINGTON - The United States military reportedly had Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in its sights on the first night of its bombing raids on Afghanistan but failed to kill him.
The claim is made in an excerpt released yesterday from the forthcoming issue of the New Yorker magazine.
JournalistSeymour Hersh cites intelligence and military sources on the incident which reportedly had Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "kicking a lot of glass and breaking doors".
US officials have said that two adult members of Mullah Omar's family were killed on the first night of the raids on October 7 but have given few details.
Hersh said that the precise sequence of events was unclear, but a US reconnaissance aircraft had identified a convoy carrying Mullah Omar as he fled last Monday.
