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Gaining ground in mountains
Compiled from Times wires U.S. air power and ground troops attacked al-Qaida and Taliban forces entrenched in mountain strongholds near Gardez, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, seizing a major cave complex containing weapons stockpiles as well as documents that could be used to carry out terrorist attacks. "We've killed a lot of people," said Brig. Gen. John Rosa of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "They're not roaming around freely like they were. They're dug in. They're hunkered in. We've got a simultaneous attack at times with air from the U.S. and coalition forces." "On Tuesday we caught several hundred of them with RPGs and mortars heading toward the fight. We body slammed them today and killed hundreds of those guys," said Maj. Gen. Frank L. Hagenbeck, the operation's commander. Reports from the area described U.S. and Afghan soldiers inching up snow-covered mountains, using minesweepers to clear their paths. American and French warplanes flew scores of sorties over Paktia province, dropping bombs as well as decoy flares to counter heatseeking missiles -- defensive measures after two U.S. helicopters were hit Monday in incidents that left seven U.S. soldiers dead. Pentagon officials also reported no surrenders by al-Qaida fighters, a fact that reinforced their portrayal as hardcore combatants determined to fight to the finish. The fierce combat unfolding in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan is just what the Pentagon had hoped to avoid in this campaign: a battle in which superior air power and technology aren't trump cards, and hundreds of U.S. troops are fighting hardened guerrillas in rocky terrain, thin air and brutally cold weather. The large ground assault near the town of Gardez is taking the U.S. military into precisely the sort of conditions that felled the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s -- and precisely the sort of battle the Clinton administration assiduously avoided in Kosovo. It is also the ground war al-Qaida apparently wanted. In the Shah-e-Kot region, several hundred well-armed followers of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden finally are getting their wish for the first time in the war in Afghanistan: to fire directly upon significant numbers of American ground troops. Such a scenario was one that al-Qaida forces wanted at Tora Bora, where U.S. forces relied on Afghan ground troops to attack mountain caves. While it is almost impossible to envision any outcome but the eventual U.S. control of the snowy mountain ranges in Shah-e-Kot, Pentagon officials say the difficult terrain works in al-Qaida's favor. "They obviously hope to inflict as many casualties as possible and turn the stomach of the American people," said Jay Farrar, a former senior Pentagon official. "It's like fighting the Japanese in the Pacific in World War II, where they were hiding in the caves in those islands. It took us a while to get them out." On Tuesday, fresh U.S. troops were being rotated into the fight and, after an early repulse, Afghan fighter allies have resumed the offensive, Gen. Rosa said. No new casualties had been reported as of Tuesday afternoon, the fourth day of the operation, code named Anaconda, which already has cost eight American lives. Operation Anaconda is aimed at encircling and destroying diehard al-Qaida and Taliban units reportedly trapped in a rugged, snowy mountainous 70-square-mile area in the mountains southeast of Kabul near the Pakistan border. Meanwhile, details began emerging about what happened on Monday. As U.S. troops poured from the belly of a Chinook helicopter, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by al-Qaida hit the craft and American forces scurried back aboard and took off. A head count showed someone was missing. The missing serviceman was captured and killed by al-Qaida. "We saw him on the Predator being dragged off by three al-Qaida men," said Hagenbeck, referring to an unmanned reconnaissance plane mounted with a real-time video camera. The helicopter managed to fly a few miles before it was forced to put down again because of mechanical problems. "Another helicopter flew in to rescue the downed aircraft, and that helicopter included a Quick Reaction Force of about 30 special operations troops," said Hagenbeck. Pentagon officials identified the dead serviceman as Petty Officer 1st class Neil C. Roberts, 32, of Woodland, Calif. According to the Pentagon, Roberts died of a bullet wound after surviving a fall from the helicopter. His body later was recovered. Roberts and at least seven other Americans have died in the fighting since Saturday and about 40 have been wounded. Six others died in the operation after they were being put down for battle by CH-47 Chinook helicopters. The operation had originally called for a small detachment of U.S. Special Forces to work with Zia Lodin, a local Afghan commander, to enter the town of Sirkankel to flush out suspected al-Qaida and foreign Taliban forces. Sirkankel is about 25 miles south of Gardez. But many U.S. and Afghan troops were pinned down for hours by the unexpectedly stiff resistance from the Taliban and al-Qaida. Early on the operation ran into problems. Zia was unable to enter Sirkankel on Saturday when his force of up to 450 men was caught in a mortar barrage. Two men were killed and 24 wounded. A U.S. special operations soldier also was killed in the operation and two more were wounded. Elements of the 10th Mountain Division were pinned down Saturday after taking fire from the town of Marzak. Lt. Col. Frank LaCamera and a force of about 40 soldiers were caught in a 12-hour battle. Mortar rounds and RPGs landed as close as 15 yards to their position and 13 American soldiers were wounded. All the U.S. Apache helicopters flying air support during the first day of the battle were damaged. Several took direct hits from RPGs, but all of them were able to return to base. U.S. and Afghan forces met far stiffer resistance than expected in the mission to wipe out Taliban and al-Qaida troops holed up the mountains in the Gardez region. "I don't think we knew what we were getting into this time, but I think we're beginning to adjust," said Sgt. Maj. Mark Nielsen, 48, from Indianapolis. Nielsen's detachment took fire for several minutes after the helicopters dropped them off. Soldiers began taking fire from an al-Qaida military compound about 200 yards from where they had landed. The troops eventually entered the compound, about a half-mile from Sirkankel, and found several 57-mm recoilless rifles, an 82-mm mortar and documents. "It was unbelievable, in the mud hut where these guys slept, the beds were still warm and tea was still brewing," Nielsen said. "We also found lots of AK-47 ammunition and medicine along with night vision devices and radios." Also on Saturday, Col. Frank Wiercinski, a brigade commander for the 101st Airborne, landed on a ridge to the south of Sirkankel to monitor the progress of the operation. Soon after landing, Wiercinski's detachment of about 11 men was attacked and pinned down. "We survived three mortar barrages during the day and at one point we had between 9-10 al-Qaida coming to do us," he said. "But instead, we did them." "I wouldn't call this the coup de grace, but its a very large operation which could show our resolve for going after even larger targets," Wiercinski said.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
