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

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (69482)	1/28/2003 11:43:19 AM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 281500

Q&A: the battle in Afghanistan Instead of being captured or killed most of the al Qaeda escaped. timesonline.co.uk US-led troops have killed 18 Afghan rebels during a battle in south-east Afghanistan. The rebels are reportedly aligned with the renegade leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Catherine Philp, left, explains the situation. Why has fighting broken out again in Afghanistan? There have been reports over the past month that there were some opposition forces in the south and east of the country. There were reports from local officials in the area that there might be anti-government forces grouping. The Americans went to investigate a compound reportedly being held by Taleban forces, and came under fire. The Americans captured one of the group who told them of another, larger group. US helicopters were sent in, which then came under fire, and so ground forces were called in. Can we expect more battles like this one? This particular one is still continuing, and could go on for quite some time. It appears to be a series of caves. The Americans have actually stumbled over this group, so there could be many more. They were very lucky to have captured someone who gave them information. Why are there still 10,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan? Because they know that they haven't succeeded in flushing out al-Qaeda. Instead of being captured and killed, most of them escaped into Pakistan. They have been able to regroup. The Americans can't pull out until they feel there is no longer a threat. Are US troops going to stay if there is a war with Iraq? There is an awareness that they can't really scale back at the moment. The danger is that America's attention will be distracted. Afghanistan won't be such an important focus for the Pentagon if there's a war with Iraq. Who is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar? He is a former Mujahidin commander, and a former prime minister of Afghanistan. He fought against the Taleban, but then patched up his differences after the US became involved in Afghanistan. But there's no concrete evidence to suggest that his forces are connected to al-Qaeda.