AFGHANISTAN: US forces are still actively engaged in Afghanistan. David Orr joined them in a hunt for the Taliban - Operation Dragon Fury - in the mountains near Pakistan.
The Blackhawk helicopter gunships darted back and forth across the peaks as we stood on a rocky crag, gazing down at a mud-brick farm compound. I had joined American soldiers from Bravo company who had just arrested four suspects at the isolated farmstead. As American troops air-assaulted into the area, a group of men had been escaping from the location.
We made our way down the rocky slope and reached the farm compound by whose outer walls cowered a wretched dog with no ears. The four seated prisoners - or Persons Under Control (PUCs) to use American military jargon - had been hooded and cuffed with their arms behind their backs.
Judging by the gray beard protruding from one of the black cloth hoods, one of the men was elderly. All had labels attached around to strings tied around their necks. Dressed in tattered shirts and baggy pants, the barefoot captives rocked back and forth.
I had been airlifted along with the troops into the mountains of eastern Afghanistan to witness Operation Dragon Fury - the largest combat mission by American and coalition forces in Afghanistan in more than a year.
Spearheading the ground assault were some 500 soldiers from the US 82nd Airborne Division. These troops were under orders to hunt down enemy militiamen in one of the hottest corners of the country: a high-altitude wilderness in Paktia province near the border with Pakistan.
Around the impoverished farm building, clothes and other personal belongings of the farming family lay scattered on the ground. A small collection of rusty and broken weapons had been arrayed on a piece of cloth by the door. Inside the mud house, women and children huddled in a darkened room.
The four prisoners were pulled to their feet and dragged down a mountain track for interrogation at a heavily-secured camp. They stumbled blindly as sharp stones cut into their feet. One man's trousers fell down. Two soldiers were sent back to the compound to find them shoes.
An American military policemen repeatedly bawled "chup show" - shut up in the Farsi language of Afghanistan - at one of the prisoners.
"If they're not actual Taliban members, they may be facilitators," said intelligence officer Lt Michael Swift, after questioning of the prisoners had begun. "It's what they're not telling us, what they're trying to hide, that's interesting."
The interrogation of the four hooded men started during the blazing heat of the day and continued throughout the bitterly cold night.
The quartet was among 21 so-called PUCs taken during Operation Dragon Fury and subsequently airlifted out for further questioning at "an undisclosed location".
An officer explained these captives were "guests" and were being encouraged to take part in "conversations" with intelligence officials.
"Our intelligence indicates an increase in traffic through these mountains in recent weeks," said Lt Swift. "A lot of enemy recruits are coming into this region from camps inside Pakistan."
Intelligence sources also believe at least one anti-coalition cell has established itself in the area. Shahikot serves as the main channel for fighters coming across the Pakistani border, 55 miles away at its nearest point. Among those fighters are reported to be Arab and other Islamic extremists.
To the frustration of young American soldiers, no significant enemy elements were encountered. The day Operation Dragon Fury ended, however, Afghan government fighters in eastern Afghanistan scored a significant victory, killing 40 Taliban suspects in one of the bloodiest exchanges between Afghan troops and the Taliban since the overthrow of the fundamentalist Taliban regime a year and a half ago.
Seven government soldiers loyal to the governor of Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan also died in the battle north of Spinboldak, near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.
The press bulletins put out by the US airbase at Bagram catalogue incidents as they occur in Afghanistan: a rocket attack on an American firebase; the detonation of a mine or "improvised explosive device"; the discovery by coalition forces of a cache of weapons and ammunition. Such "incidents" occur on a daily basis.
It is evident the Taliban is still operational and dangerous. It is even possible that anti-coalition forces may be regrouping. What is not so clear is whether American and coalition forces can overcome them.
"The mountain passes are opening up at this time of year so we can expect to see more ACMs (anti-coalition militias)," said Lt Col Douglas Lafforge at Bagram US air base after Operation Dragon Fury.
"But the largest group confronted by our special or conventional combat forces this year has been about 20 men. Right now we can't say if this is because they're getting smarter and moving in smaller groups or if they can no longer get enough of their buddies together for a fun time."
There are, however, other indications that the Taliban may be on the move.
A significant increase in the number of attacks on US forces, Afghan de-mining teams and aid agency convoys has occurred in southern Afghanistan this year. United Nations agencies now only travel in the region with armed escorts and organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are confining their presence to the main towns of southern and south-eastern Afghanistan.
"The security situation is not good," says ICRC spokesman Simon Schorno.
"We've reined in operations in six southern provinces. We were going to open a full operation in Gardez last month but now there are only local staff, no expatriate personnel. A number of our programmes have been suspended. A number of aid agencies have pulled out because it's too dangerous."
Operation Dragon Fury focused on the same highlands where Operation Anaconda - designed to surround and crush Taliban and al-Qaeda forces once and for all - was launched in March of last year.
Now, the only reminder of Anaconda's fierce battles are the spent cartridges and decaying packaging of American MREs (meals ready to eat) that litter Shahikot's barren landscape.
