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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (8980)	11/5/2001 8:35:52 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

US ready for massive use of ground forces PENTAGON chiefs are paving the way for thousands of US troops to be deployed in Central Asia ahead of a ground invasion into Afghanistan. Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, discussed the dramatic enlargement of the American presence with political leaders in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. His weekend sweep through the region from Russia to India via Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan coincided with the heaviest bombing of the Taleban front line so far. He will brief the White House today. The bombing’s intensity is likely to increase in the coming days after two further teams of US special forces troops were dropped yesterday to liaise with Northern Alliance forces and “spot” targets. General Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said neither air power alone nor “just ground forces” would be sufficient as he braced the US public for the casualties in the coming phase. “This is not going to be a casualty-free operation. We are steeled to that. Our families are steeled to that.” Although the US-led campaign so far has relied on air power, the Pentagon has told Northern Alliance commanders that US ground troops will reinforce their positions as soon as they have captured the land route from Uzbekistan into Afghanistan via the strategic city of Mazar-i Sharif. Mr Rumsfeld’s trip was designed to persuade reluctant Central Asian countries to become a US supply route and troop hub, since Pakistan is deemed too unstable. The Pentagon has its eyes on three air bases in Tajikistan in particular that could provide accommodation and launch pads for US helicopters, gunships and ground troops. Military chiefs were said to be assessing the bases, two in the south, at Kulob and Qurghonteppa, and one in the north at Khujand. Tajikistan could expect tens of millions of dollars in return. All sides refused to confirm an escalation in US troop numbers, but would not rule it out. Mr Rumsfeld’s last visit to the region led to the deployment of 1,000 troops at an Uzbek airbase near the Afghan border. President Karimov has signalled his willingness to co-operate with Washington in exchange for economic aid. Currently the 1,000 US troops in Uzbekistan are stationed at Khanabad airbase 100 miles north of Afghanistan, but future deployments are expected to occupy a base at Termez, the border town on the Amur Darya river. US bombing was concentrated in northeast Afghanistan yesterday, where between 200 and 300 bombs rained on the Taleban’s strongholds along the Kalakata Ridge, three miles south of the border with Tajikistan, during a four-hour blitz that began just before dawn. The number of bombs dropped in four hours exceeded the total let loose in four previous strikes, which began last week when the US first used B52 bombers to hammer the Taleban front lines. Up to 400 wounded Taleban fighters have been moved into the nearby village of Dasht-i Archi, crammed into the mud-walled houses or lying in the streets, say villagers who crossed to the Alliance side. Many casualties were said to have severe shrapnel wounds and burns, and dozens were deaf after their eardrums were burst by the blasts. Among the wounded were Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens, the villagers said. Northern Alliance commanders said the bombers had also struck at a base used by fighters from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organisation at Shirkhan Bardar, and said that an underground Taleban command post at Imam Sahiv had been destroyed. Territory continued to swap hands rather than fall consistently to the Northern Alliance. Anti-Taleban forces said that they launched a major attack in a strategic district south of the Taleban-held northern capital of Mazar-i Sharif yesterday. An opposition spokesman said the attack in Balkh province was a joint operation by three Alliance commanders — the Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum, Atta Mohammed of the Jamiat-e-Islami faction, and Shia Muslims led by Muhammad Mohaqik. In Gulbohar, about 50 miles north of Kabul, the Northern Alliance claimed to have opened a new airstrip with the help of US military advisers. Sherkat airstrip, near Gulbohar at the mouth of the Panjshir Valley, would be the only usable airstrip controlled by the Northern Alliance south of the Hindu Kush. Further east, the Alliance confirmed that the Taleban had recaptured part of a key northern district yesterday after 12 hours of fierce fighting. Officials said the Taleban took back the eastern part of Aq-Kupruk district, 45 miles south of Mazar-i Sharif. thetimes.co.uk