Military

DATE=1/11/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN / WRAP L-ONLY

NUMBER=2-285134

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=KABUL

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT=

INTRO: U-S Marines in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar are hunting for gunmen who reportedly opened fire on an American military plane transporting al-Qaida and Taleban prisoners to Cuba. More from V-O-A's Alisha Ryu in Kabul.

TEXT: U-S Marines in Kandahar are still combing the area around the

city's airport, trying to hunt down the men responsible for the attack early

Friday morning. Marine spokesman 1st Lieutenant James Jarvis says security

procedures are also being reviewed.

Witnesses say as many as 14 people armed with automatic weapons -

opened fire from three different positions outside the base perimeter as a C-17

transport plane took off with 20 al-Qaida and Taleban prisoners on

board. The prisoners were being transferred from Kandahar to a U-S military

base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be questioned and possibly tried.

The Marines responded to the attack with assault rifles and grenade

launchers while Cobra attack helicopters scoured the area. There were

no U-S casualties and patrols around the airport later in the day uncovered

a pair of rocket-propelled grenades, but no bodies.

In the capital, Kabul, an advance team of 60 German peacekeepers arrived

Friday to lay down the groundwork for the deployment of up to one

thousand troops later this month.

The Germans are joining more than a thousand British soldiers already in

Kabul. The troops began patrols of the capital Thursday with the

newly-formed Afghan police. But British army spokesman, Major Guy Richardson, says British troops

will not be conducting joint patrols with the Germans or any other

peacekeeping teams in the near future.

/// RICHARDSON ACT ///

What we're looking at doing is sectorizing off the area of Kabul. For

example, the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment, they have a sector they

are responsible for. We do that for a very good reason and that is we get

to know the police chiefs very well. We get to know the police very well

and very importantly, we get to know the ground very well.

/// END ACT ///

British troops are now patrolling the southwest section of Kabul while

German soldiers will most likely be based on the northeast side.

Two hundred British peacekeepers are also assisting Afghan security

teams at Kabul airport. Authorities say de-mining operations and runway repair

work are nearly complete. The bombed-out airport is expected to open for

commercial flights in the next few days. (Signed)

NEB/MEM