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Kamal Hyder: New raids on Kandahar

CNN's Kamal Hyder

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S.-led forces once again focused their air raids Tuesday on targets in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

CNN's Kamal Hyder is based near the southern Afghan city and filed the following report:

HYDER: The aircraft appeared over Kandahar very early in the morning around quarter past 4. The city was shaken by bombs landing in the western part of the city and, of course, waking the residents of Kandahar.

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These aircraft apparently were flying lower than usual and that prompted the Taliban anti-aircraft artillery to open up. The attack continued to almost until afternoon, with the allied aircraft circling at leisure over the Kandahar skies, finding their targets ... and then hitting them with their payload.

CNN: Have there been any reports of casualties?

HYDER: Apparently, every time there are civilian casualties, the Taliban are very prompt to inform us. They want the world to see the civilian casualties, but they're very tight-lipped about military casualties and do not allow anybody near the places that have been hit.

CNN: What does Kandahar look like after all these air raids?

HYDER: Half the population is gone. I mean, the city is very quiet with an occasional blast from a bomb dropped by allied aircraft and the sound of aircraft engines. All you hear is birds and an occasional truck that passes by. The garbage dumps are piling up with garbage. The sanitation is failing. There is no water supply here except for hand pumps or those lucky people able to afford a generator.

There is some activity in the bazaars as people go around and try to have a sense of normality.