Britain's SAS is believed ready to join the lead assault on the Tora Bora mountain complex of Afghanistan in an expected showdown with Osama bin Laden.
Defence briefings over the weekend indicated advanced planning at US Central Command in Tampa, Florida for assaults on Kandahar and Tora Bora, where the US Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, believes bin Laden is in hiding and where British newspapers yesterday anticipated he might be preparing a "last stand". The attacks could be launched within the week but will be determined by allied deployments and the developing tactical situation inside Afghanistan.
Meanwhile - amid continuing speculation about US plans to extend military action to include Iraq - the Sunday Telegraph reported that Britain has been asked by the US to help prepare military strikes against Somalia as part of a second phase in the campaign against bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The speculation coincided with a warm tribute to the British SAS by the US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, coupled with a warning that "the most difficult days of the Afghan campaign may lie ahead" and that "the global war against terror is still in its early stages".
In an exclusive article for the News of the World, Mr Rumsfeld described the British special forces as among "the toughest and smartest troops in the world".
He said: "In word and deed, the British contribution to the war has been unhesitating and invaluable. British aircraft have joined our own planes in bombing runs over terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan. With the assistance of America and Great Britain, opposition groups in Afghanistan continue to move forward on the ground. Our coalition is steadily destroying the capabilities of the Taliban dictatorship and the al-Qaeda terrorist network."
Gen Tommy Franks, the operational commander of US forces in the campaign in Afghanistan, reportedly made the decision to involve the SAS in the planned assault on aTor Bora after a series of successful operations conducted by the British forces over the past two weeks.
Defence sources told the Sunday Times that the SAS soldiers had "honed and developed unique skills and experience" during the raid on a cave complex near Kandahar in which 18 Afghans were killed and four Britons injured.