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The U.S. has initiated a new offensive in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants.
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BAGRAM
AIR BASE, Afghanistan, September 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)
- U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have launched a major
operation in the southeast of the country against Al-Qaeda and Taliban
remnants, a military spokesman said Tuesday, September 10, as reports
indicate the former rulers of Afghanistan are regrouping and heading
back into the country from Pakistan and Iran.
Hundreds
of troops have been deployed as part of “Operation Champion
Strike” in the Bermel Valley of Paktika province near the border
with
Pakistan
, said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Roger King.
A
number of people had been “taken in for screening” as part of the
ongoing operation, King told a press conference at this coalition air
base north of Kabul.
He
said that “troops number in the hundreds but we cannot give any
specific details because it is an ongoing operation.”
Major
Richard Patterson, another spokesman, said the operation had been
running for several days and had uncovered a substantial number of
weapons.
“The
operation was undertaken to capture or kill Al-Qaeda and deny them the
ability to conduct operations within that area,” he said.
“To
date, we have uncovered several caches consisting of AK-47s, anti-tank
mines, 107 mm rockets and hand grenades, and have secured personnel
for screening.”
The
operation is taking place around 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of
the city of Khost where fresh fighting broke out this week between
supporters of a renegade warlord and forces of the local governor.
Warlord
Padsha Khan said his forces had surrounded Khost Tuesday after
launching rocket attacks which officials said had killed three
civilians.
Khan
said he was intent on seizing control of the city from official
governor Hakeem Tanewal after his men had been forced out of the
governor’s office over the weekend during mediation talks with the
U.S.
military.
According
to
King
,
U.S.
forces were monitoring the situation but keeping their distance.
“There
are troops on the ground trying to keep an eye on what’s going on,
but at the same time they are not getting involved unless they are
challenged.
“The
Afghan government can handle its internal problems, but the coalition
forces reserve their right to preserve their freedom of movement in
the battlefield and if that freedom of maneuver is threatened, we will
take action,” King said.
Meanwhile,
Al-Qaeda operatives who fled into
Pakistan
after the U.S.-led attacks on the Taliban regime last year are
regrouping and moving back into
Afghanistan
, The New York Times reported Tuesday, quoting
U.S.
intelligence officials.
Since
late 2001 thousands of Al-Qaeda members have fled
Afghanistan
and scattered throughout
South Asia
and the
Middle East
, including
Iran
and
Iraq
, according to the intelligence officials.
But
the largest concentrations of Al-Qaeda operatives remain in
Afghanistan
and
Pakistan
and small groups are now returning to
Afghanistan
, the officials said.
Al-Qaeda
members were probably behind recent attacks on
U.S.
forces in
Afghanistan
, as well as the attempted assassination last week of Afghan President
Hamid Karzai, Afghan and
U.S.
officials told the Times.
The
paper said
U.S.
intelligence officials had tracked some Al-Qaeda operatives into
Iraq
and
Iran
but were divided as to whether they had received official support from
the governments of either country.
U.S.
officials told the Times Iranian intelligence agencies were
controlled by “hard-line anti-U.S. clerics” and some elements
within the agencies might be giving refuge to members of Osama bin
Laden’s network.
Al-Qaeda
operatives who fled to
Iraq
were likely to be Iraqis linked to Ansar al-Islam, an Iraqi extremist
group, who were returning home, senior intelligence officials told the
paper.
U.S.
intelligence officials have different views about the ties between
Ansar al-Islam and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Times
reported, adding that intelligence officials had found no evidence
proving
Iraq
’s link to the September 11 attacks in the
United States
.
Since
the attacks, some 2,700 known or suspected Al-Qaeda operatives have
been detained or arrested around the world, the Times reported.
The
military campaign in Afghanistan and the arrests had prevented at
least six Al-Qaeda plots over the last year, the officials told the Times,
based on information gleaned from interviews with captured Al-Qaeda
members.
The
paper said some senior U.S. counter-terrorism officials believed Bin
Laden’s network could not currently execute a large September
11-style attack.
“Could
Al-Qaeda mount four simultaneous operations against major targets in
the
United States
today? I don’t think so,” a senior law enforcement official told
the Times.
