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Special Team Coverage • World Trade Center Destroyed: America Under Attack

Important Web Sites • The White House  • Report Information to FBI • American Red Cross - New York City • New York Blood Center • American Airlines Call: 1-800-245-0999 • United Airlines Call: 1-800-932-8555 • Family Member Information Lines (MSNBC) • New York Emergency Information (NYC.gov) • Nationwide Emergency and Contact Information (USnews.com) • Joint Chiefs of Staff • Defense Department • State Department • Justice Department • FBI • Transportation Dept. • Federal Emergency Management Agency • USAMA BIN LADEN - FBI Ten Most-Wanted poster

Chronology: All time shown below are approximate Eastern Daylight Times.

Friday, December 21, 2001

NOTE: Reports from news sources involving movements or operations of United States military personnel NOT confirmed by named U.S. government officials will be labeled as such.

Maps Detailing Allied Attacks (CNN)
Map of Coalition Bases of Operation (CNN)
Detailed Afghanistan Maps and Information (About Geography)
Afghanistan and Area Weather Forecast (AccuWeather)
Most Wanted Terrorist List (FBI)
To Report Terrorist Activities to the FBI (FBI)
English translation of Osama bin Laden videotape (Defense Department - .pdf file)

Also Today: Coalition forces in Afghanistan are interrogating over 7,000 prisoners to determine if they were Taliban or had fought for al Qaeda. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said the questioning had led to arrests that prevented several planned terrorist attacks around the world. [Details on CNN]

• The estimated death toll in the World Trade Center attack dropped to 2,963. Officials reported 555 people had been confirmed dead.

6:45 pm - The Pentagon denied attempting to conceal information in its translation of the Osama bin Laden videotape released last week. Both ABC and CNN stated that their independent translators found the bin Laden named several of the 19 September 11 hijackers, rather than the one named in the Pentagon's translation. The independent translators also reported hearing bin Laden make reference to several Saudi clerics with ties to the Saudi government who had praised the September 11 attacks. [See: Pentagon: No Cover-Up Attempt on Bin Laden Video (Reuters)]

6:30 pm - Declaring "next year will be a war year," President Bush offered to send U.S. troops to assist countries struggling oust terrorists. The White House has identified over 60 countries with active al Qaeda cells. [See: Bush Offers U.S. Troops to Help with Terrorists (Reuters)]

5:00 pm - Aides of the militant group Islamic Jihad stated they would halt suicide terrorist attacks against Israel in order to maintain solidarity within the Palestinian Authority. Earlier, Hamas, the other main anti-Israeli militant group in Palestine, also agreed to suspend its attacks against Israelis. [See: Islamic Jihad to Halt Suicide Attacks, Aide Says (Reuters)]

1:15 pm - U.S. AC-130 gunships and fighter jets attacked a convoy of vehicles near the Afghan town of Khost, located in the mountains southwest of Tora Bora. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that from 10 to 12 vehicles were destroyed. "The vehicles were destroyed, the people were killed and the compound from which they left was destroyed," stated Pace in a Pentagon press conference. According to the Pentagon, the convoy was carrying Taliban or al Qaeda "leadership." However, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) in Pakistan reported Afghan tribal elders on their way to Kabul were in the convoy and killed in the attack. [See: US Planes Attack and Destroy Convoy in Afghanistan (Reuters)]

5:30 am - Fifty-three British Marines, operating out of Bagram Air Base, have started operations as the first contingent of an international peacekeeping force ordered to oversee the takeover the Afghan interim-government. The total U.N.-designated force will grow to 4,000 troops from 16 nations. The full British contingent will be 1,500 troops. [See: Afghan peacekeeping mission begins (CNN)]

2:15 am - A new translation of the Osama bin Laden videotape shows bin Laden named nine of the September 11 hijackers instead of one. The latest translation, released by Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute was done by an independent translator who asked not to be identified. "The translators missed a lot of things on the tape," stated Al-Ahmed. [See: Bin Laden named nine hijackers on tape, not one (CNN)] 

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