US claims 500 killings in Afghan mountain offensive
US-led forces have killed half the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters holed up in caves in eastern Afghanistan in attacks on their positions that began last week, a US military official said today.
"We've killed up to 500 or more," said Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Piatt. "Initially, we thought it was only about a couple of hundred but now we think it's about half [of the total enemy force]".
|
|
A US soldier runs for cover during a fierce battle between US-led ground forces and al Qaeda and Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.
Photo: Reuters |
But Lt-Col Piatt said it was unclear whether the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters had been able to reinforce their positions since the intense fighting began.
"We're watching that very closely. The signs we're looking for are reinforcing. These mountain ranges are very high... right now it's hard to tell," he said.
Earlier, hundreds of US troop reinforcements were airlifted into a mountain battlefield in eastern Afghanistan today preparing for a lengthy confrontation with al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels.
Afghan soldiers back from the front line in the fighting 20 miles east of Gardez, capital of Paktia province, said a noose was slowly tightening around rebels in well-defended bunkers and caves at heights of several thousand metres.
But the region's governor warned it could take weeks before the al-Qaeda and Taliban forces were defeated.
"We are getting so close to them now that sometimes we are just shooting with pistols," an Afghan soldier said.
Other Afghan soldiers have said they were within 100 yards of the rebel lines which twist through the mountains.
|
|
US troops disembark from a CH-47 helicopter near Sirkankel, Afghanistan.
Photo: Reuters |
Reuters correspondents in Gardez said they could see little US bombing of the area Wednesday morning (local time), indicating aerial attacks were being held back to allow ground troops into the area.
Paktia Province governor Mr Taj Mohammed Wardak said: "The encirclement of the rebels is getting more suffocating. I am certain the whole game will be over in a few weeks."
US military officials said they were prepared for a lengthy battle.
Overnight, US Chinook helicopters took off from Bagram, a sprawling Soviet-built complex about 30 miles north of Kabul which was apparently becoming the main base for US military operations in Afghanistan.
Some troops were armed with shoulder-launched rockets that were crucial to blasting the Taliban al-Qaeda forces out of their snow-covered cave entrances.
The rebels, dotted among thousands of caves in the mountains near the Pakistan border about 95 miles south of Kabul, were retaliating with rockets of their own, mortar bombs and heavy machinegun fire.
Major Bryan Hilferty confirmed in an interview with Reuters there had been a major movement of troops from the present main US base near the southern city of Kandahar to Bagram.
"About 1,000 US troops are actively involved in the battle. This battle is going to go on until they [the Taliban and al Qaeda] all surrender or die," Maj Hilferty said.
He said three battalions, which usually number 500 to 600 men, had been brought in to reinforce the base at Bagram to assist Operation Anaconda, the codename for the offensive.
A total of eight US troops and at least seven Afghan soldiers have died in the operation and there have been about 40 US and 30 Afghan troops wounded.
AFP &