Daily Star September 28, 2001
SMASH 'N GRAB TO FIND LADEN'S HIDEOUT
By ROSS KANIUK
US commandos are set to nab hundreds of Osama bin Laden's henchmen in an effort to force out information about the world's most wanted man.
Bin Laden's associates have fled their training camps and are hiding out in caves and tunnels in Afghanistan. American special forces are preparing to mount raids on the hideouts using the latest precision weapons. They are using a hi-tech network of satellites to find their targets.
Commando forces being deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom will be used to take prisoners to gain intelligence about where to find bin Laden.
Bin Laden disappeared on September 11, the day his followers are suspected to have launched deadly kamikaze attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The first phase of the war being planned by the Pentagon will be a wave of air strikes using bombs and Cruise missiles against the Taliban's military targets. American planes and helicopters can then patrol the skies above the war-torn country.
After the air strikes, small groups of highly-trained special forces will move in from bases in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan to hunt down bin Laden and his associates.
An American official said: "This will involve tracking down terrorists in groups of a dozen or more all over Afghanistan." Snatch squads from the ultra-secret Delta Force, which specialises in hostage rescue and anti-terrorist raids, will undertake lightning strikes.
Military analyst John Pike said: "The taking of prisoners is going to be very important."
Owen Cote, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: "Satellite techonology will revolutionise war tactics."
Copyright 2001 Express Newspapers
