AFGHANISTAN: U.S. PLANES CONTINUE ASSAULT ON TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA CAVE HIDEOUTS AS AFGHAN TROOPS GATHER ON FRONT LINE

Record ID: 649412

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: U.S. PLANES CONTINUE ASSAULT ON TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA CAVE HIDEOUTS AS AFGHAN TROOPS GATHER ON FRONT LINE
  • Date: 13th March 2002
  • Summary: (W4) SPIN TAHTA, AFGHANISTAN (MARCH 12, 2002) (REUTERS) GV MOUNTAIN RANGE WHERE AL QAEDA FORCES WERE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN BASED; AV F16 JETS FLYING ABOVE MOUNTAINS SLV FORWARD HEADQUARTERS OF AFGHAN FORCES; SLV TENTS HOUSING AFGHAN FORCES AND TROOPS; GV MOUNTAIN RANGE (3 SHOTS) LV AFGHAN SOLDIERS MOVING FORWARD UP MOUNTAIN (2 SHOTS) AV CHINOOK HELICOPTER AND COMBAT HELICOPTER FLYING; AV CHINOOK HELICOPTER CARRYING SUPPLIES (3 SHOTS) MV AFGHAN CHILDREN WATCHING AV APACHE HELICOPTERS FLYING (3 SHOTS) MV MEN LOOKING THROUGH BINOCULARS AV APACHE HELICOPTER AND CHINOOK HELICOPTERS FLYING OVER AREA; AV SPY PLANE FLYING HIGH OVERHEAD (7 SHOTS) SLV PEOPLE WITH BELONGINGS LEAVING VILLAGE
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SPIN TAHTA AND KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4KEJKQNGDJGQE0UFGHEXYNJUC
  • Story Text: U.S. planes have continued their assault on Taliban and al Qaeda cave hideouts in eastern Afghanistan as hundreds of Afghan troops and a number of tanks gathered at the battle's front line, waiting for the order to advance on remaining rebels.
    U.S. forces from the 101st Airborne Division have been returning to their Kandahar base after taking part in attacks near Gardez.
    Afghan and U.S. forces were closely inspecting a mountain range near to the village of Zormat on Wednesday (March 12, 2002) after bombing was slowed in the area where a U.S.-led force is trying to drive out al Qaeda forces.
    F16 fighter jets were still to be seen flying over the mountain range close to Zormat, 20kms southeast of Gardez despite an apparent lull in a bombing campaign which has raged for over a week in the region trying to drive out al Qaeda forces.
    At the village of Spin Tahta some 5 kilometres from the front-line, a tented Afghan forward headquarters has been set up at the base of the mountains and Afghan troops were mounting foot patrols to sweep through the area.
    American Chinook helicopters, carrying supplies, were flying over the area supporting ground forces. Apache attack helicopters were also witnessed and a spy plane flew overhead as American and Afghan forces inspected and assessed the damage from the bombing campaign.
    Hundreds of Afghan troop reinforcements have recently moved into the area as U.S. military forces say they are inching towards Al Qaeda positions in what has been named Operation Anaconda.
    The combined forces stand poised for a final assault on the rebels. The offensive has forced scores of refugees to flee from their homes.
    In Gardez, about 32 km (20 miles) from the fighting, distant bombing could be heard overnight.
    At Bagram air base north of Kabul, control point for the battle, a U.S. military spokesman said there were about 1,000 Afghan troops at the front line, and another 1,000 U.S. and other foreign troops in the combat area.
    Major Bryan Hilferty said about 600 U.S. troops had been withdrawn from the battlefield in the last few days, but said the offensive would continue.
    Hilferty said resistance was light and there had been no accurate or sustained enemy fire for more than five days.
    There had been no coalition casualties in the previous 24 hours, leaving the overall coalition toll at 11 dead and about 80 wounded.
    Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division began returning to Kandahar air base on Tuesday, after seeing combat in operation Anaconda in eastern Afghanistan.
    About 100 soldiers returned on Tuesday and more were due at the U.S. airbase in the next few days. By the end of the week, the 101st Airborne division expected to fully rebase all its troops to Kandahar.
    "I'm happy to be back to Kandahar actually. I'm just happy to be back. I'm grateful to be back to the camp, to be where's it's warm. It's kind of cold up there where I was," said Private First Class Kevin Jones, from South Haven, Michigan.
    "I'm not really at liberty to say what my real thoughts are. I'm happy to be alive. I can say that I'm happy to be alive," specialist James Copeland, from Fort Worth, Texas, said.
    The troops were being replaced by hundreds more allied Afghan fighters for what commanders described as a final push to eradicate Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters preparing for a last stand in eastern Afghanistan's mountains.
    After more than a week of fighting in the biggest U.S.-led battle of the five-month Afghan war, the reinforcements gathered near Shahi Kot, about 150 km (95 miles) south of Kabul in Paktia province, close to the Pakistani border.
    While the focus remained on the Shahi Kot fighting, a senior Afghan military official said Taliban and al Qaeda rebels had also regrouped in four eastern provinces, including Wardak, Khost, Ghazni and other locations in Paktia province.
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