Britain has said that it was committed to a relentless, deliberate and sustained campaign in Afghanistan. At a press conference, the British Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, said that American and British forces had struck at 30 targets in Afghanistan last night.
He said that they were all military installations and the Afghan civilian population had not been targeted. Britain is to deploy tanker and reconnaissance aircraft to support further action in Afghanistan.
Along with the Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, he was careful not to give away any detail of military strategy. He said that three of the targets hit were in Kabul.
Admiral Boyce said that 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired by the allies and that three nuclear powered British submarines had been involved.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been holding intelligence briefings at Downing Street as the military continues its assessment of how successful last night's strikes have been.
Mr Blair was due to record an interview for an Arab TV station in which he is expected to reinforce the message that the war is against terrorism and not Islam.
A British war cabinet has now been formed and is expected to meet on an almost daily basis while this initial air phase of the military action continues.
Mr Blair has been speaking to key partners in the coalition, including the French president, the German Chancellor, the prime minister of Spain and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
