U.S. military operations in Afghanistan seem to be far from over

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, February 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – U.S. soldiers searching a cave complex believed to be a base in southeastern Afghanistan came under fire but there were no casualties, the U.S. military said Saturday, February 1.

Shots were fired at a U.S. patrol by a single attacker on the fifth day of Operation Mongoose, a major offensive launched after heavy fighting left 18 anti-government rebels dead in mountains near the border town of Spin Boldak, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

U.S. military spokesman Colonel Roger King said the incident took place at around noon Friday, January 31 (0730 GMT) as a sweep of the area brought to 30 the number of caves searched on the rugged Adighar mountain.

"One man took some shots at a U.S. patrol, he did not hit anything. He tried to duck back in a cave," King told reporters at Bagram, a U.S. base north of Kabul.

"U.S. forces went up the hill and isolated the cave and fired an AT-4 anti-tank rocket. After the smoke cleared they went into the cave, but found no signs of any occupation. It is possible he fired and went behind a rock."

The encounter was the first confrontation since Wednesday, when a man opened fire on a U.S. Apache helicopter from a village near the mountain, almost 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the main southern city of Kandahar.

King said ongoing searches by some 300 soldiers were continuing to yield evidence of rebel forces.

"There is other evidence being found that people are still in the area. I don't want to go into specifics."

Earlier this week, cave searches uncovered mules, lanterns, cooking oil, boots and other items.

The fighters being hunted on Adighar are said by the U.S. to be supporters of Afghan former Premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami party.

Hekmatyar, who from hiding has issued regular threats against the U.S. military, is believed to have formed a loose alliance with Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants in Afghanistan.

King added that an explosion Friday which killed passengers on a bus just south of Kandahar, the home of U.S. military's second largest base in Afghanistan, may have been caused by a device planted by al-Qaeda or Taliban operatives.

"I understand there was a bus not too far from Kandahar airfields. It was blown up by something, I am not exactly sure what."

He said the explosion was caused by a device on the vehicle itself, in what may have been a deliberate attempt to cause deaths on a road frequently used by the U.S. military.

In a separate related development, eight people have been arrested following the explosion that killed passenger traveling on a bus near the Afghan city of Kandahar, reported the BBC news online Saturday, February 1.

The minibus was crossing a bridge 20 km (12 miles) south of the city Friday when the attack took place.

However, officials believe the number of people killed in the incident is lower than their original estimates.

They now say eight or nine people died as the bus was attacked with, what the authorities believe was an anti-tank mine rigged to a mortar bomb.

The head of security in Kandahar, General Akram Khakrezwal, said: "We have arrested eight suspects so far. The investigation is going on."

Just hours after Friday's blast, United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi told the UN's Security Council that support for the Taliban may be growing in some areas of Afghanistan.

"We continue to hear worrying reports that support for the remnants of the Taliban may be growing in some areas of Afghanistan," he said.

In another development, King said the bodies of four U.S. soldiers killed Thursday when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a routine training mission near Bagram have been repatriated.

Investigations were continuing into the crash, which is believed to be an accident, King said.