gelatik
02.03.02, 19:28
GARDEZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan troops, aided by U.S. bombing and
American advisers, were beaten back in an attack on up to 5,000 al Qaeda and
Taliban forces in eastern Afghanistan (news - web sites) on Saturday, soldiers
back from the front saidThe fighting, which started on Friday night, was
shaping up as one of the biggest battles between the two sides since Taliban
and al Qaeda forces were routed by U.S.-led attacks in December.
The Afghan soldiers said they feared some of their units might have been cut
off or surrounded in the battle about 20 miles east of Gardez, capital of
Paktia province, and near the Pakistan border.
"Some people think there are 3,000 fighters against us. Some think 5,000," one
soldier said.
A Reuters television cameraman saw flashes and loud explosions from B-52
bombing strikes. At least two U.S. Chinook military helicopters headed out of
the battle area in the mountain village of Shahi Ko in Arma district.
Bombing continued at nightfall on Saturday.
The Pentagon (news - web sites) has said pockets of Osama bin Laden (news - web
sites)'s al Qaeda network and followers of deposed Taliban leader Mullah Omar
are traveling to the area from all over Afghanistan seeking to regroup in
Paktia province.
THREE DEAD
The soldiers back from the front said they believed at least three Afghan
troops in the force of 1,000 that attacked the die-hard al Qaeda and Taliban
fighters, had died in the battle. There were also a number of wounded.
"There were 200 of us and five car loads of Americans with us. There were no
civilian casualties, at least not in this area, Right now the whole campaign
has retreated. We failed and our campaign did not succeed," Rahmatullah, who
was at the front, told Reuters.
Rahmatullah arrived back in Gardez with the body of 27-year-old Kalim, who was
killed in the fighting.
He said the Afghan forces were falling back to Gardez in the face of the
stubborn resistance.
"For some time now, coalition and Afghan forces have been conducting operations
in eastern Afghanistan to eliminate al Qaeda and Taliban groups that have been
identified in the area," U.S. military spokesman Major A.C. Roper said at the
main U.S. military base in Afghanistan at Kandahar.
"We are moving methodically to identify those al Qaeda and Taliban to achieve
that goal."
He declined to comment on reports that a large number of U.S. troops had been
moved from Kandahar air base to Bagram air base on the outskirts of Kabul and
much closer to Paktia.
BIN LADEN AND MULLAH OMAR NOT THERE?
Paktia Governor Taj Mohammad Wardak told Reuters he did not believe bin Laden
and Mullah Omar were in the area under attack, although he thought the pair
were still alive.
"I don't believe Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are there, but I believe some
of the leaders of the Taliban have been there. This was their escape route," he
said.
Gardez is about 150 km (95 miles) south of Kabul toward the Pakistan border,
often mentioned as a likely hideout for the two leaders.
"There has been heavy U.S. bombing since last night and it is still going on
today," Kamal Wazir, a spokesman for the province's key warlord and former
governor Padshah Khan Zadran, told Reuters.
"We started a ground attack by 600 of our fighters on the area at 2 a.m. this
morning (4:30 p.m. EST Friday). There are 50 or 60 American advisers with us,"
Wazir said. "The Taliban and al Qaeda men are fighting back by firing rockets
and heavy weapons at us.
"The fighting is around the mountain village of Shahi Ko in Arma district."
Rahmatullah and other soldiers said their opponents were in bunkers built
during the Afghan mujahideen fight against occupying forces from the former
Soviet Union in the 1980s.
They said for weeks the cornered fighters had gone to local markets and bought
up to 1,000 sacks of food supplies each week.
