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U.S. Operations Under Way in Afghanistan
Monday, September 9, 2002
The Associated Press

U.S. Army 82nd Airborne unload supplies at the Chapman air base on Sunday in Khost, Afghanistan.
Image Credit: The Associated Press.

Hekmatyar, who returned this year from Iran, is believed hiding here in Kunar, possibly forging an alliance with remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida. “These raids have made people angry,” said deputy provincial intelligence chief Hassan, whose long, unkempt red beard is reminiscent of those the Taliban required of all Afghan males. “Everyone is afraid of them.”



At the crumbling Red Crescent Center in the heart of Asadabad, the Kunar provincial capital, a half dozen workers sat around on cushions and complained about the presence of U.S. soldiers, who live in a former Taliban barracks. The Red Crescent is the Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross.



ASADABAD, Afghanistan -- AP
A shattering explosion rattled the windows Sunday at an Islamic relief organization. “It’s the Americans,” grumbled Bahader, a stocky, gray-haired employee.

“Every day they are firing, searching homes, bothering people. Everyone wants them to leave,” he said.

With little fanfare, U.S. special forces have been scouring the mountains here in Kunar province, about 120 miles northeast of Kabul, for three months in search of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters and for anti-government militiamen loyal to former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The U.S. military has said little about operations in Kunar, focusing instead on missions in southeastern Afghanistan around the provinces of Khost and Paktia.

However, for the people of this remote, mountainous province along the Pakistani border, the war is ever-present in the rumble of distant explosions and the faint roar of B-52 bombers passing overhead.

And the U.S. operation is fueling hostility against the Americans, even among officials loyal to President Hamid Karzai who admit they asked the U.S. military to come here because of threats from Taliban fighters hiding in the mountains.
(More: The Dominion Post News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan