gelatik
06.03.02, 01:30
GARDEZ, Afghanistan (AP) - Hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters were
killed in fierce fighting Tuesday as U.S.-led coalition forces pressed their
offensive in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan (news - web sites),
the American commander said.We caught several hundred of them with RPGs (rocket-
propelled grenades) and mortars heading toward the fight. We body slammed them
today and killed hundreds of those guys," said Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck,
the commander of the operation near Gardez, 75 miles south of Kabul, the
capital.
U.S.-led forces continued inching up the snow-covered mountains, meanwhile,
trying to reach hideouts still believed to contain hundreds more al-Qaida and
Taliban fighters. Some forces entered at least one cave complex, uncovering
weapons caches.
Allied jets flew high over Paktia province, dropping bombs as well as decoy
flares to ward off heat-seeking missiles — defensive measures after two U.S.
helicopters were hit Monday in incidents that left seven U.S. soldiers dead.
Front-line commander Abdul Matin Hasankhiel said hundreds of Afghan and
coalition forces have ringed the mountain range and trapped the al-Qaida and
Taliban fighters higher up.
"They can't escape. They're surrounded. Slowly, slowly we are pushing in," he
said.
Hundreds of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to be holed up in the
area, Brig. Gen. John Rosa told reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites).
Bombers and tactical aircraft have dropped more than 450 bombs on the area
since the assault began Friday night, he said.
"We've been able to get into at least one of the cave complexes thus far and
we've discovered mortars, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, small arms. And in a
different location we found more weapons and ammunition, as well as foreign
driver's license and foreign passports," he said. He did not say whether there
was resistance entering the cave complex.
One fighter, Nawab, who returned from a front-line position Tuesday, said about
50 U.S. special Forces were fighting alongside Afghan soldiers at his position
about 21/2 miles from Shah-e-Kot, the village that is the focus of the largest
U.S.-led coalition air and ground operation in Afghanistan to date.
Minesweepers were leading the way, clearing the paths along the snowy
mountains. Attack jets circled overhead and pounded al-Qaida positions while
Chinook helicopters ferried in supplies. A powerful fleet of aircraft —
including A-10s, F-15s, B-1s, B-52s, AC-130 gunships, and French Mirage 2000
and Super-Etendard aircraft — was participating in the assault.
The blitz is concentrating on a 60-square-mile area south of the provincial
capital, Gardez.
Nawab said fighting was less intense than in previous days. The militants were
equipped with heavy artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, mortars, cannons and
machine guns.
"Inshallah (God willing) in three or four days they will be finished," he said.
U.S. officials said Tuesday the United States had observed al-Qaida forces
reoccupying several former training camps in the region that were bombed
earlier in the war.
"We don't know how long it's going to take, but we'll be there until the al-
Qaida and Taliban forces are totally uprooted," said Gunnery Sgt. Charles
Portman, a spokesman at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla.
Eight American soldiers have been killed in the offensive, including one who
died Saturday in a ground battle. The remains of the seven killed in the
helicopter operations arrived Tuesday at a base in Ramstein, Germany, heading
for the United States. Several allied Afghan fighters have also been killed.
"We should make sure these very brave people who lost their lives did not do so
in vain," British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said Tuesday,
calling for the world to redouble its efforts to stamp out terrorism.
Neither the former Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar nor al-Qaida
chief Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) was believed to be in the Shah-e-Kot
area, but Afghans say hundreds of their supporters and their families are there.
U.S. officials said Tuesday the enemy troops included foreigners who fought
with the Taliban, al-Qaida members, and members of the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan.
As of Monday, about 100 or 200 enemy fighters had been killed and a small
number detained, said Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the war in Afghanistan.
Afghan and American defense officials said the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters
were likely armed with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles such as Russian
SA-7s and possibly American Stingers — as well as mortars, grenades and cannons.
On Tuesday, about 60 Afghan fighters outfitted in U.S.-issued parkas, their
heads wrapped in turbans, headed to the front lines from Jaji, northeast of
Gardez.
Bright orange strips were affixed to the top of the transport trucks to
identify them to the allied bombers and helicopters roaring overhead.
The American deaths Monday occurred during two operations involving MH-47
Chinook helicopters, Rosa said. In the first, a helicopter inserting special
forces was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, forcing it down. As it tried to
lift off, one American fell out, Rosa said. Another helicopter retrieved the
rest of the crew.
Three hours later, a Chinook was trying to land forces in the same area when it
was hit by machine-gun fire and a rocket-propelled grenade, Rosa said. The
helicopter was forced down, and a gunbattle took place in which six U.S.
soldiers were killed. When members of that helicopter were evacuated, the body
of the soldier who fell from the first was found, Rosa said.
Sgt. Rodrick White, 23, an infantryman from Enterprise, Ala., who is stationed
along with the 101st Airborne at the U.S. air base in Kandahar, said he was
saddened by news of the American casualties, but said he and his men were ready
if called upon to take part in the fighting in eastern Afghanistan.
"The guys that got hurt before me are in my heart and in my mind, but I know
that I have five other guys that are right beside me and it's my responsibility
to make sure that they get home," he said.
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