US bombers pounded al-Qaeda and Taliban stands in the eastern mountains of Afghanistan on Sunday after a 1,500-strong coalition ground attack the day before failed to remove the well-armed renegades.
No major ground action was reported Sunday. However, US Chinook helicopters sent in supplies to American and other troops still located in the hills, a local commander said, signaling preparations for a new round of ground fighting, according to AP.
Afghan troops warned the operation to uproot hundreds of regrouping Taliban and al-Qaeda forces from their hide-outs in the mountain caves in the Paktia province was far from over.
"You can't do everything in one operation," said Raza Khan, an Afghan fighter. "This is Afghanistan. This is a guerrilla war."
Leaflets dropped by US aircraft called on residents to cooperate, "Hand over Taliban and al-Qaeda or you will be destroyed. Come forward with information about Taliban and al-Qaeda," read the leaflets.
One American soldier and three Afghan fighters were killed Saturday on the first day of the ground operation, the Pentagon said. Six Americans were wounded and airlifted out, a doctor at Gardez hospital said.
The assault, which started with bombing raids Friday, was believed to be the largest joint US-Afghan military operation of the 5-month-old terrorism campaign.
Pro-U.S. Afghan troops approached the hide-outs from three directions to isolate the renegades and prevent them from fleeing.
Meanwhile, in Florida, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, Major Ralph Mills, said U.S. jets had dropped more than 270 bombs since the start of the offensive. He said targets included troop concentrations, vehicles, mortar positions, caves and anti-aircraft sites.
The bombardments Sunday sent black plumes of smoke above the snowy peaks and shook the ground in Surmad, where a constant stream of bombers streaked overhead.
Mills claimed no U.S. aircraft had been shot down, however, some Army Apache attack helicopters had sustained damage from ground fire. None were put out of action, he said.
One Afghan commander, Abdul Matin Hassan Kheil, said his men came under fire Sunday from mortars, heavy artillery and rockets fired from al-Qaeda positions where Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis were believed to be holed up.
"You can see it is a big operation," said Kheil, who led some fifty fighters at a front-line position. He said coalition forces were dug in about two kilometers from al-Qaeda bases in the Shah-e-Kot mountains.
At least three Chinook helicopters, which zoomed toward the mountains Sunday afternoon flanked by two jets, were providing ammunition and food to American forces still in the hills, he said.
Kheil estimated it would take around a month to push the renegades from their mountain strongholds.
"These folks fight to the death, and it's no different here," Major Mills said of the al-Qaeda and Taliban renegades. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
