London | Friday
A HANDFUL of US special forces are operating in southern Afghanistan, a senior US government official confirmed today amid growing indications that the campaign’s ”ground phase” was close to beginning.
The official said that a small number of US forces were supporting efforts by the intelligence community to undermine the Taliban regime.
Speaking anonymously, the official said military action could increase significantly in coming days but that there would never be a conventional force the size of that used in the Gulf war.
US defence officials confirmed soon after the air offensive was launched that special forces were operating in Afghanistan and British special forces are also believed to have entered the country. However, until now it had been assumed that they were involved solely in target identification work during the daily attacks by aircraft and guided missiles.
Political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic gave heavy hints yesterday that a ground offensive was imminent. The prime minister, Tony Blair, warned last night that the campaign against Afghanistan was about to enter the ”most testing time”.
The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, would not comment explicitly on ground troops, but said last night that ”you cannot really do sufficient damage” from air attacks alone. ”We simply must go and find them”, he added.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, he said that warplanes ”can’t crawl around on the ground and find people”.
The special forces in the south of Afghanistan are operating ”in support of the CIA’s effort in the Taliban heartland”, today’s Washington Post said. The Post reported that the new special forces mission was to ”expand an on-going CIA effort to encourage ethnic Pashtun leaders to break away from the Taliban militia”.
US sources also confirmed that helicopter-borne special forces units were now in place on board the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, ready to mount search-and-destroy operations against Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network, suspected of launching the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Today, on the Islamic weekly holy day, US jets briefly eased round-the-clock bombardment of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, after a pre-dawn pounding. Frightened residents seized the break to flee from likely targets of more strikes.
Last night, the 13th consecutive night of bombing, US pilots returned overnight for new strikes on Kabul. Other attacks focused on Kandahar, the Taliban’s southern stronghold, and the eastern city of Jalalabad, where al-Qaida has outposts.
In the latest wave of attacks, at least five Kabul residents died, including four members of one family, when bombs came crashing through their roofs.
Taliban officials, meanwhile, denied reports that the US-led air offensive had claimed its first victim in Bin Laden’s inner circle. The independent, Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted Taliban sources as confirming that Abu Baseer al-Masri had died – but insisted it was an accident, not a US bomb, that killed him.
The man, said to be one of Bin Laden’s chief lieutenants, was killed when a colleague tried to throw away an object after a bomb attack near his home in Jalalabad, but it hit him and exploded, it was reported.
The US president, George Bush, in Shanghai, refused to confirm reports that special forces are in Afghanistan for ground combat. ”I will not comment on … military operations,” he told reporters.
However, in Downing Street last night, Mr Blair signalled that the conflict was about to enter a critical new phase, and again hinted at the deployment of ground forces.
He said: ”I don’t think we have ever contemplated this being done by air power alone. We have always said there would be different phases to this operation. What is unfolding is exactly what has been planned.”
And he warned: ”This is a testing time. In fact, I believe that the next few weeks will be the most testing time but we are on track to achieve the goals we set out.”
Mr Blair also confirmed that the US-led coalition was giving support to the rebel Northern Alliance, following the first US bombing raids against Taliban frontline positions ranged against the alliance on Wednesday. – The Guardian
FEATURES:
Shattered World: A Daily Mail & Guardian special on the attack on the US
OFF-SITE:
Guardian’s Interactive Guide to how a attack involving ground troops may start
The Guardian’s special report on the attacks