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U.S. Cranks Up Pressure on Afghanistan
Saturday, September 29, 2001
Business Day News-Information Analysis

... Delta Force, its airborne Rangers and Navy SEALS, along with the British Special Air Service (SAS), are reported to be operating out of bases in Pakistan and Central Asia ...

WASHINGTON -- AFP
The US-led campaign against terrorism turned up the pressure on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Saturday, but confusion surrounded reports of covert action in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

A UN Security Council resolution to punish terrorism's state sponsors strengthened Washington's hand as it prepared to strike at the Kabul regime shielding the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on US cities.

But, amid reports that US and British special forces had already infiltrated Afghan territory on scouting missions, the news from New York was overshadowed by reports that five US commandos had been captured by Taliban forces.

Qatar's Al-Jazeera television reported that five armed US troops, including two of Afghan origin, had been caught in southwest Afghanistan near the Iranian border carrying maps showing the base camps of bin Laden's Al-Quaeda group.

Asked about the claim, made by a television company which has had contacts with bin Laden in the past, a Pentagon spokesman said: "We're not going to get into the habit of commenting on every story that comes out of that region."

US and British officials have refused to publically confirm persistent reports that allied special forces are inside Afghanistan paving the way for a mission to snatch or slay bin Laden, but evidence is building.

President George W. Bush himself hinted in a radio address Saturday that action was being carried out in secret to hit back at the Saudi radical blamed for more than 6,000 deaths in September 11 suicide attacks on US cities.

"This war will be fought wherever terrorists hide, or run, or plan," he said, "Some victories will be won outside of public view, in tragedies avoided and threats eliminated. Other victories will be clear to all."
(More: BDay.co.za News Source)
© BDFM Publishers 2001

Dan