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Al Jazeera, via APTN Thousands of protesters attack the empty U.S. embassy compound in Kabul, burning cars and ripping down the U.S. seal, seen at top.

Protesters storm abandoned U.S. Embassy in Kabul
U.S. and Pakistani officials work on attack plan

By Amir Shah / Associated Press

Latest developments    Recent developments related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks:    -- Thousands protest at abandoned U.S. Embassy compound in the Afghan capital of Kabul, burning cars and tearing down the U.S. seal.    -- Pakistani officials say nation and U.S. officials reach broad accord on a plan that includes attacks on camps in Afghanistan. Sticking points remain, and Pakistan warns against assisting alliance trying to overthrow Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.    -- Iran's supreme leader rules out Iranian help for any U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan, saying the U.S. is not competent to lead a global campaign and calling U.S. behavior "disgusting."    -- Crews work to dismantle last standing remnant of the World Trade Center; pieces of the seven-story facade are preserved for possible memorial. Area is declared a crime scene off limits to cameras.    -- Attorney General John Ashcroft warns of additional terrorist attacks that could include trucks carrying hazardous chemicals.    -- Stocks fall after a two-day advance, with investors wary about the economy and awaiting the U.S. response to the attacks.    -- Death toll at trade center rises to 300, missing number remains 6,347. Death toll at Pentagon 189, Pennsylvania crash 44.    -- Pentagon calls nearly 2,000 more reservists to active duty, bringing to 14,318 the number of Reserve and National Guard members called so far. President Bush has authorized the Pentagon to call as many as 50,000.    -- Bush meets with Sikhs and Muslims at the White House to discuss bigotry and reinforce his message of religious tolerance.    -- House passes $343 billion defense bill after diverting some money from missile defense program to counterterrorism efforts.    -- White House cuts back scheduled presidential trip to Asia in October to keep Bush close to home.    -- U.N. refugee agency says an assault on Afghanistan could send up to 1.5 million refugees into neighboring countries; $252 million sought to care for them.    -- Delta Air Lines announces it will cut up to 13,000 jobs, adding to more than 100,000 job cuts in the industry since the attacks. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

   KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thousands of demonstrators stormed the long-abandoned U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan on Wednesday, pelting it with stones, torching cars and a guardhouse, and ripping down the heavy metal U.S. seal above the entryway.
   Heavy new fighting was reported in northern Afghanistan as an opposition alliance pressed its bid to seize territory from the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic movement that governs most of the country.
   The United States suspects Saudi exile Osama bin Laden of orchestrating the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and has ordered the Taliban to turn him over or face punishment.
   Shouting "Long Live Osama!" and "Death to America!" the protesters burned U.S. flags and an effigy of President Bush before storming the old embassy compound, abandoned since 1988 and guarded by a few Afghan security guards.
   "We are the people of Kabul," the protesters shouted. "We are ready for a jihad (holy war) against the United States."
   Smoke billowed into the sky after about five vehicles were set afire in the embassy compound, and several men used hammers to remove the large circular U.S. seal above the front entrance. Taliban authorities eventually dispersed the protesters and extinguished the car fires.
   In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, senior Pakistani officials said Pakistani and U.S. defense and intelligence officials had reached general agreement on an anti-terror program that included some provisions for possible attacks on bases in Afghanistan, but that some sticking points remained.
   Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said both sides want to minimize the use of ground forces in any strike. They also said some differences emerged during talks that began Monday between high-ranking Pakistani officials and an American delegation that includes senior defense and intelligence representatives.
   The points of disagreement include whether the United States or other outside parties should lend support to the opposition alliance, something Pakistan -- the only country that still has diplomatic ties with the Taliban -- has expressed strong misgivings over.
   Other points of contention: what action is warranted against Pakistan-based militant groups, and whether or not the United Nations should approve any operation against Afghanistan.
   Some differences were resolved Tuesday when some U.S. delegation members met Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the officials said. A final round of U.S.-Pakistani talks was taking place Wednesday in Islamabad.
   Pakistan was clearly uncomfortable with public discussion of its role in any U.S. strike. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Riaz Mohammed Khan, said Wednesday that "no joint operation or specific contingency plans have been placed before the Pakistan government."
   He added that the fight was not against Afghanistan or its people, but against terrorism.
   "Pakistan cannot and can never join in any hostile action against Afghanistan or the Afghan people -- we are deeply conscious that the destinies of the two people are intertwined," Khan said.
   Meanwhile, officials said the State Bank of Pakistan ordered banks to freeze assets of 27 groups suspected of terrorist links, including two groups based in Pakistan -- the Al-Rashid Trust and the Harkat ul-Mujahideen, a militant group fighting Indian rule in the Kashmir.
   The groups said the U.S. decision to freeze their assets was unfair but would not impede their operations.
   Anti-government protests have been held in cities across Pakistan since Musharraf pledged to support U.S. military action in Afghanistan.
   On Wednesday, attackers threw a grenade and opened fire on hundreds of people gathering in Karachi for what would have been the first public meeting supporting Musharraf. At least 12 people were injured, police and witnesses said. The assailants fled.
   In northern Afghanistan, new battles broke out between Taliban and opposition fighters in the provinces of Samangan and Balkh. Mohammed Ashraf Nadeem, a spokesman for the opposition's northern alliance, said both sides used artillery, rocket launchers, tanks and machine guns, but that neither managed to take over new territory.
   Nadeem, reached by telephone from Kabul, said the Taliban had rushed 3,000 new troops to the region from Kandahar, the southern city where the Taliban are based.
   No casualty toll was immediately available, and it was not possible to independently confirm his account of the fighting.