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Afghans Say 7 Fighters Were Killed in a Missile Attack
Friday, February 8, 2002
By Robert Burns
The Associated Press

Franks said he will not recommend to President Bush that U.S. military operations in Afghanistan be phased out "as long as there is a credible threat from puddles or pockets of al-Qaida or residual hard-core Taliban" forces.

WASHINGTON -- Source
The U.S. commander of the war in Afghanistan said Thursday that American ground forces may be dispatched to investigate the site where suspected al-Qaida members are reported to have been killed in a missile attack by a CIA-operated drone aircraft.

In Afghanistan, a regional leader said the missile killed seven members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network, but in Washington several officials said they did not know the number or identities of victims.

Gen. Tommy Franks, commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters the missile hit its intended target, but he said bad weather in the Zawar Khili area made it difficult to verify who was killed.

Other officials said the missile was fired Monday by a Predator unmanned aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency. Among the factors that led U.S. officials to think the targets were al-Qaida members was their Arab-style dress, the officials said.

In eastern Afghanistan, Wazir Khan, a brother of regional warlord Bacha Khan, said seven people were killed in the attack, but that bin Laden "is not among those people."
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2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan