U.S. soldiers frisk Afghanis

KABUL, January 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A U.S. special forces soldier was shot in the leg during a night skirmish in Afghanistan's western province of Herat, as Taliban fighters are reportedly returning from Pakistan and regrouping around Spin Boldak near the southern border, according to news reports Friday, January 17.

A U.S. military spokesman said Friday that the soldier was part of a special forces patrol which came under small arms attack late Thursday, January 16, about 50 kilometers south of the Shindand airbase where U.S. forces are based, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The patrol returned fire and broke contact," the spokesman said in a statement.

The injured soldier was evacuated to an airbase used by the U.S. military in the southern city of Kandahar. He was listed in a stable condition.

In December, an attack on a special forces patrol in a similar vicinity triggered a B-52 bombing raid with no casualties reported from the seven 500-pound bombs dropped on the area.

Some 8,000 U.S. soldiers dominate a 10,000-strong international coalition which has been hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants since the launch of U.S.-led military operations in October 2001.

The Taliban regime collapsed within two months but its top leaders and hundreds of al-Qaeda followers are still at large.

Taliban Regrouping

U.S. forces in Afghanistan repeatedly come under attack

In a related development, Afghan government took steps Friday to tackle a reported regrouping of Taliban and al-Qaeda factions in the south of the country.

Around 5,000 police have been sent to the southern town of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan.

Sources have told the BBC news online that some former Taliban activists are trying to re-group in the region.

On Thursday, January 16, a humanitarian official said  Taliban fighters are returning from Pakistan and regrouping around Spin Boldak.

A growing number of Taliban fighters or former Taliban are gathering in the small frontier city, 600 kilometers southwest of the capital Kabul in the province of Kandahar, said the source, requesting anonymity.

They were taking advantage of the porous border there.

The source said the return of the members of the ousted regime could be interpreted in two ways.

Some could be returning to their homes to resettle in peace and without plans to attack the new transitional government.

Or there could be a deliberate infiltration aimed at launching attacks against pro-government or U.S. forces at the start of spring in a few months.

Kandahar, home to tribal Pashtuns, was the stronghold of the former regime, which took power in 1996.

There have also been reports of clashes between alleged Taliban activists and Afghan government forces in the area.

The head of security in the city, Mama Ubaidullah, told the BBC they had information that a wanted Taliban leader, Hafiz Abdur Rahim, was living there.

He was believed to be staying in the Loye Karaiz area - but may have fled the city altogether.

During a clash with an alleged Taliban group, Ubaidullah said the security forces killed four people and injured four others. A further five people were arrested.

Repeated Anti-U.S. Attacks

U.S. troops have come under repeated rocket attacks, mainly along the eastern border with Pakistan, where hundreds of al-Qaeda members are believed to be hiding.

The troops have been uncovering hidden weapons stashes almost daily across the country.

Four separate caches were discovered Thursday.

A stash of 20 rifles, machine gun rounds, anti-personnel mines, plastic explosives and a time fuse cord were found near the eastern city of Jalalabad.

A local villager near Bamiyan directed U.S. soldiers to a hidden stash of more than 245 rockets, 330 mortar rounds, 6,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and 650 rifle rounds. The weapons were destroyed on the spot, according to AFP.

U.S. forces were also tipped off by a local villager near Gardez in the south-east and discovered a draw in the ruins of a small compound where 85 Chinese, Yugoslavian and Iranian mortar rounds, and Russian grenades were hidden.

A weapons cache was also discovered in Spin Boldak.

In a separate related development Friday, one person was killed and one injured when a bomb exploded in Balkh province in Afghanistan's unruly north, a local official said.

"The explosive device was concealed in a radio. The explosion killed one person and seriously injured another," security official Sayeed Noorallah Ajha told AFP by telephone from the main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

"The bomb was to have been placed in a public place in order to create many casualties, but it apparently exploded prematurely," Ajha said.

The explosion occurred in the town of Balkh, some 20 kilometers northwest of Mazar-i-Sharif, on Monday.

Ajha alleged that al-Qaeda agents were behind the blast but did not elaborate.