Time October 29, 2001
SEARCH AND DESTROY
U.S. special forces were dropped into enemy territory last week to conduct "hit-and-run" operations in the ongoing battle against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban
KANDAHAR In a week during which the U.S. used about 100 aircraft a day to pummel Afghanistan, Kandahar took the heaviest hits. Then in two coordinated missions early Saturday, one group of Army Rangers parachuted onto a airstrip about 100 mi. (160 km) southwest of Kandahar while the other group was dropped by helicopter onto the city's outskirts in hopes of nabbing Taliban leader Mullah Omar
AC-130 The low-flying AC-130 Spectre gunship was deployed last week, providing surgical firepower. Heavily armed, it incorporates side-firing weapons, including a 25-mm Gatling gun that fires 1,800 rounds per min. and the biggest gun in the sky, the 105-mm howitzer
MC-130 This commando carrier, a cousin to the AC-130, was used in Saturday's operation to drop U.S. special forces, pictured here, deep into Afghanistan
RQ-1 PREDATOR The low-flying RQ-1 Predator, armed with Hellfire antitank missiles, has been used for the first time in combat missions over Afghanistan
MAZAR-I-SHARIF The Northern Alliance closed in, taking towns on Mazar-i-Sharif's southern outskirts. American bombers targeted the airport, a potential staging area for American troops waiting just 100 mi. (161 km) north of the Uzbekistan border. The Taliban brought in reinforcements late in the week. Reports place special-ops drops near Mazar-i-Sharif
KABUL Across the Shamali Plain, Northern Alliance forces and the Taliban faced each other while 35 mi. (56km) to the south, American warplanes bombed the capital, Kabul. Targets were mainly Taliban military facilities. Special ops have been helping opposition fighters on the front lines
MH-53J PAVE LOW Often used for special operations, Pave Low and Black Hawk helicopters likely dropped Rangers into Kandahar and later ferried them out of Afghanistan
WHERE'S BIN LADEN? Experts believe the rock formations seen in a recent video statement by bin Laden place him either in the caves in Paktia or Paktika, or in Uruzgan, north of Kandahar
Sources: AP, Department of Defense, Center for Afghanistan Studies, GlobalSecurity.org, United Nations
Copyright 2001 Time Inc.
