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GARDEZ, Afghanistan/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fierce mountain battle raged on Tuesday with U.S.-led ground forces saying they killed hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, but Pentagon officials warned the mission was far from over as seven slain U.S. troops were taken home. Much of the U.S. ground force in Afghanistan was flown into Bagram Air Base north of Kabul for the offensive in snowy mountains near the town of Gardez. The offensive, which has involved about 1,000 U.S. troops, so far has claimed eight American lives and about seven allied Afghan soldiers. "On Tuesday we caught several hundred of them (al Qaeda and Taliban) with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and mortars heading toward the fight," said Maj. Gen. Frank Hagenbeck, a U.S. operational commander, according to a media pool report. "We body slammed them today and killed hundreds of those guys," Hagenbeck said, referring to an assault by U.S. helicopter gunships and warplanes. U.S. military officers in the battlefield spoke of stiffer resistance than expected. "I don't think we knew what we were getting into this time, but I think we're beginning to adjust," said Sgt. Maj. Mark Nielsen, 48, from Indianapolis, in the media pool report. Six Americans were killed in a firefight on Monday when their helicopter was forced down by ground fire in the battle. A Navy special forces "Seal," who died after falling out of another helicopter as it took off, was seen by a spy plane being dragged away by three al Qaeda fighters, Hagenbeck said. His body was later retrieved by U.S. forces. The eighth U.S. soldier was killed in another incident. 'OPERATION ANACONDA' MEETS FIERCE RESISTANCE "Operation Anaconda" is the biggest U.S. ground push and the deadliest in terms of American lives in a campaign that has toppled the Taliban and routed al Qaeda in punishment for Sept. 11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people in the United States. Commandos from other Western countries also are involved in the operation. At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a guard of honor stood to attention as pall bearers transferred seven coffins draped in the Stars and Stripes from one plane to another for the final leg of the journey from Afghanistan to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday evening. U.S. warplanes and helicopters pounded the regrouped and dug-in al Qaeda and Taliban forces after they put up fierce resistance from their caves in the freezing peaks. All the U.S. Apache helicopters flying air support during the first day of the battle were damaged. Several took direct hits from RPGs, but all of them returned to base, the pool report said. "After a heavy night of bombing, yes, I would say that we are softening up (opposition forces) in certain portions. But there is still a lot of work to be done. We are far from over," Air Force Brig. Gen. John Rosa, an operations officer on the U.S. Joint Staff, said on the fifth day of the mission. "We killed a lot of people," Rosa said, adding: "They are not roaming around freely like they were. They are dug in, they are hunkered in." Maulvi Saif-ur-Rehman Mansoor, a commander of the al Qaeda and Taliban forces, vowed to fight to the death. "We prefer death than living a shameful life," he was quoted as saying by the private Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). "The fight against America for the supremacy of Islam and the defense of our country will continue until our last breath." In Afghanistan, U.S. Army Maj. Bryan Hilferty said there had been a major movement of troops from the U.S. base near the southern city of Kandahar to Bagram, a sprawling Soviet-built complex about 30 miles north of Kabul. "About a thousand U.S. troops are actively involved in the battle. This battle is going to go on until they (the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters) all surrender or die," Hilferty said. He said three battalions, which usually number 500 to 600 military, had been brought in to reinforce the base at Bagram. Hundreds of Afghan troops and forces from other countries, including Australia, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway, also were involved in the attack on the al Qaeda and Taliban forces. 'VERY AGGRESSIVE' "If you want a description of our posture on this, it is very aggressive and very forward leaning," Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in Washington. Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Rahim Shirzai said even when the Gardez operation was over "it may take a long time for us to get rid of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters." Afghan officials said they believed neither Saudi-born al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden nor Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar were in the battle area. U.S. officials have left open the possibility that bin Laden, who they accuse of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, is dead, but said they have no clear evidence of his fate. On the battlefield, Afghan commander Abdul Muteen said U.S. and Afghan forces advanced to within 100 yards (91 meters) of the enemy, who were trying to hold them off with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. U.S. and Afghan commanders said their enemy seemed determined to fight to the death. "They are ready for martyrdom and will die to the last man," Muteen said. The resurgence of fighting in the five-month-old Afghan campaign followed a lull of several weeks in which some Washington politicians questioned the U.S. campaign's success. Fears have been raised that the country will fall back into the warlordism and anarchy that reigned before the rise of the ousted Taliban. The interim government is trying to keep local warlords under control and prevent factional squabbles. Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim on Tuesday started a two-day meeting with warlords from all over the country whom he summoned to Kabul to discuss the security situation. With competing warlords threatening the peace, the United States and its allies are considering doubling the number of foreign peacekeepers, perhaps under U.S. command, diplomats at the United Nations said. So far the international security force in Afghanistan has been confined to Kabul and its environs, with 4,500 troops, despite pleas from Hamid Karzai, head of the U.N.-backed interim government, to expand the force to other cities. Diplomats said talks were intensifying among U.S. and British officials on extending the effort to a few urban centers, such as Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz to the north and Jalalabad to the east of Kabul, with a decision possible in two weeks. Numbers could reach another 4,500 soldiers. Washington has been considering this option, but was seen as unlikely to commit peacekeepers, especially while its forces are involved in heavy combat in the mountains south of Gardez. In another example of security fears, Afghanistan's former King Zahir Shah may delay returning to his homeland after nearly 30 years of exile if the threat to his personal safety in Afghanistan is too great, his son said on Tuesday. The former monarch had planned to return home by March 21 but aides are concerned about threats to his life. --> |
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