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SAS Troops Clash with Taliban Unit Deep Inside Afghanistan
Sunday September 23, 2001
By James Clark, Tony Allen-Mills & Stephen Grey

Prepared for action: US marines on a training exercise near Camp Pendleton, California, as America continues to build up its forces for the expected attack in Afghanistan.
Photograph: Mike Blake.

Washington
SAS troops in Afghanistan have been fired upon by Taliban soldiers in the first clash of the campaign against global terrorism.

Nobody was hurt, military sources said, adding that the gunfire had been "more symbolic than directed". They suggested that the small SAS team had "spooked" Taliban soldiers near Kabul, who had fired indiscriminately before fleeing.

However, the incident marks an escalation in what has so far been only an intelligence war. The Taliban are in a high state of alert for coalition forces waiting to enter their country.

It is rare for Ministry of Defence insiders to confirm that their forces have been involved in skirmishes, but a source close to the SAS said there had been a clash late on Friday.

SAS troopers, together with members of MI6 and the CIA, are working with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in the search for Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi-born millionaire believed to have masterminded the suicide hijacker attacks on America 12 days ago in which 6,818 are feared to have died.

They are seeking intelligence about Bin Laden's whereabouts, the location of mines, routes he might take out of the country and the help of guides for later operations.
(More: Times Newspapers Ltd News Source)

Dan