Daily News (New York) March 4, 2002
U.S. Unleashes Firestorm -
Taliban, Al Qaeda hit by fiercest attack yet
By RICHARD SISK
WASHINGTON - U.S. war planes and helicopter gunships pounded Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in a fierce firefight yesterday in the rugged mountains of southeast Afghanistan.
"We're still seeing some pretty intense [battles]" in the biggest combined attack by U.S. and allied tribal forces of the Afghan war, said Col. Rick Thomas, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command.
He said Al Qaeda and Taliban forces were using small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to try to beat off a three-pronged offensive aimed at wiping out the main pocket of resistance 25 miles south of the town of Gardez.
Air Force B-52 and B-1B bombers and F-15 strike fighters, joined by Navy attack planes, dropped more than 270 bombs on enemy troops, vehicles, caves and anti-aircraft positions, the Central Command said. Air Force AC-130 gunships and Army AH-64 Apache helicopters also raked the region with miniguns, Hellfire rockets and 105-mm. artillery rounds.
Mortar victim
One U.S. soldier and three Afghan fighters have been killed since the dawn assault began early Saturday. Fighter Raza Khan told The Associated Press the American was killed when a pickup truck he was riding in was hit by a mortar shell.
About six U.S. soldiers were wounded. None of the injuries was life-threatening, and several of the soldiers have returned to their units.
The U.S. used two BLU-118B thermobaric bombs - cave busters that fill tunnels with lethal fireballs - on Saturday. It was the first time they have been dropped in combat.
Ground assault
The Central Command said several of the Apaches have been hit by enemy fire, but no U.S. aircraft have been shot down.
The ground assault by 60 to 100 Army troops from the Special Forces and the 101st Airborne Division, joined by about 1,400 Afghans, was proceeding against "several hundred" enemies at altitudes ranging from 8,500 to 11,600 feet, said Maj. A.C. Roper, a 101st Airborne spokesman.
Australian Special Air Services commandos and Canadian light infantry troops were aiding in the assault, Roper said. French, Danish, German and Norwegian forces were providing support.
"We are waiting for an end to the U.S. bombing to make sure they are crushed before we move in," said local Afghan commander Abdul Matin.
U.S. planes broadcast radio messages and blanketed the region with leaflets warning people against aiding the Taliban and Al Qaeda resistance.
"Hand over Taliban and Al Qaeda or you will be destroyed," the messages said in local languages. "Come forward with information about Taliban and Al Qaeda."
But there were also signs of anti-U.S. sentiment in the region, as posters appeared in local towns bearing the images of Osama Bin Laden and Taliban chieftain Mullah Mohammed Omar.
"Mullah Omar and Osama are the pride of all Muslims," said a slogan on the posters.
At the Kandahar airport, main base for the 101st Airborne, Sgt. Gwen McFadden, 32, of Manning, S.C., said the troops were thinking of the U.S. soldier killed in action.
"We prayed for his family, and we prayed that he is on his way to heaven," she said.
THERMOBARIC BOMB
The U.S. has used two cave-busting thermobaric bombs in an intensified effort to rout out Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, who have dug in in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, about 25 miles south of Gardez. Here's how a BLU-118B thermobaric bomb can unleash lethan fireballs and suck the oxygen out of the cavernous hideouts where Osama Bin Laden and his terror gang may be holed up:
1 Using a laser guidance system, the bomb is delivered to the mouth of the cave or bunker.
2 The first ot two explosions propels a mist of explosives deep into the cave.
3 The explosive mist detonates, raising the pressure and heat to lethal levels while using up the oxygen. Death can result from burns, ruptured organs or suffocation.
Source: GlobalSecurity.org Human Rights Watch
Copyright 2002 Daily News, L.P.
