Rumsfeld: U.S. dropping ammunition
to anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan
By Lisa Burgess, Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is beginning airdrops of ammunition to anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, but deliveries from the drop sites to the weapons take time, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday.
The ammunition is going not only to the Northern Alliance, but to "other elements" that oppose the Taliban, Rumsfeld said. Both the Pentagon "and other government agencies" are funding the airdrops, he said.
When anti-Taliban forces "express a need for ammunition, we try to find ammunition that fits their weapons and drop it [into their territory] using chutes," Rumsfeld said.
But "it takes a long time to get [from the ground] to the weapons," because the fighters "are moving it with horses and donkeys and mules … It takes two to three days," he said.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has promised to supply the Northern Alliance with about 40 T-62 tanks and BMP armoured personnel carriers — the equivalent of a mechanized infantry regiment — by Christmas.
The Pentagon is not involved in that effort, Rumsfeld said.
As the Afghanistan bombing campaign enters its fourth week, U.S. forces on Sunday struck about six targets, according to Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
About 65 aircraft flew some 79 sorties Sunday, including 55 tactical carrier-based jets; four to six land-based strike aircraft; and the same number of long-range bombers, Myers said.
"The number of preplanned targets has ebbed over the past few days, Myers said, but pilots are now actively seeking targets in flight, he said.
The U.S. military has extended its bombing of Afghanistan northward toward the border area with Tajikistan and is also trying to hit cave hideouts of Taliban and al-Qaida forces, Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told reporters earlier Monday.
Monday’s bombing was supposed to include the Taliban military’s armor and troop concentrations. Air Force pilots are also trying to work systematically through the complex system of caves that has historically offered shelter to Afghan fighters, Clarke said.
The Bush administration is under growing pressure from lawmakers and Afghan rebel leaders to step up the military campaign in Afghanistan and send in ground troops, but key allies say increasing civilian death tolls could undercut support for the U.S. effort.
U.S. attacks on the Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least 13 civilians Sunday, and warplanes returned for a second wave of attacks.
Rumsfeld said Monday that while "there are cases where ordnance ends up where it shouldn’t … no nation in human history has done more to avoid civilian casualties than the U.S. in this effort."
But even allies are beginning to express concerns about U.S. bombing errors.
Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, warned last week against "excessive collateral damage" to civilians — a concern also voiced by the leaders of China, Malaysia and others.
Rumsfeld said that the Pentagon is "listening to its friends and allies … we are interested in their concerns and we reflect their concerns from time to time," but that "they all have sets of problems distinctive to their neighborhood."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
