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 THOUSANDS READY FOR ASSAULT ON BIN LADEN'S HIDEOUT Tue Dec 04 2001 21:54:01 DAILY MAIL THOUSANDS of Afghan tribal fighters accompanied by the SAS and U.S. special forces moved in on a network of mountain caves used by Osama Bin Laden last night. Anti-Taliban officials said the U.S. had asked them to repair the runway at Jalalabad airport - which the Americans bombed earlier in the war on terror -- so fixed-wing aircraft could begin landing there tomorrow. The operation against Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda terror network - believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon - is entering a new phase. Forces are preparing to enter the White Mountains in Tora Bora, 30 miles south of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, for the first time. Intelligence sources and tribal leaders believe Bin Laden and 1,000 foreign fighters, mainly Arabs and Pakistanis, are hiding in a fortified complex of caves. Ironically, Tora Bora was built in the 1980s with U.S. funding as a headquarters for guerrillas fighting the Soviet occupation. Guided by satellite, the SAS and U.S. troops are expected to call in airstrikes as soon as any Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters, who have had weeks to prepare defensive positions, are seen. 'The end game is beginning in Tora Bora for Al Qaeda,' said a military official in Kabul. 'We have the eyes and the local tribal people are the ears.' Senior provincial official Mohammed Zaman said attempts to negotiate a surrender had failed and force was the only option. He added his fighters would first cut off the hideouts' sources of water. 'Without water, life is very difficult,' he said. 'Then we will attack.' U.S. warplanes have been bombarding the White Mountains for the past three nights while U.S. marines have been moved to Jalalabad by helicopter. In Jalalabad, military official Hazrat Ali said U.S. air strikes had killed 12 members of Al Qaeda in or around Tora Bora over the past two days, although he could not confirm reports that Bin Laden's top lieutenant, the Egyptian Ayman Zawahri, was among those killed or injured. Backed up by a resolution from the Eastern Shura, the council which has taken over the Jalalabad area, Ali said he had 2,000 men ready to enter the White Mountains to drive out the Al Qaeda fighters. 'It is the last and strongest Al Qaeda base left in our country,' he said. 'We are ready,' adding his forces would move today. Anti-Taliban leaders say they are more than 70 per cent sure Bin Laden is in the mountains. Unconfirmed reports said 115 civilians had been killed in eastern Nangarhar pro-vince, where Tora Bora is located, over the past five days, mainly from air strikes. U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld claimed last night the Taliban was using the civilian population in its southern stronghold of Kandahar as human shields. Afghanistan's western-approved government is to include a token woman, it emerged yesterday. A female tribal representative will take a seat alongside 28 men if the UN-brokered peace plan for the country goes ahead. She will have a nominally senior post as one of five vice presidents of the new ruling cabinet. Although southern Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai is favourite to become overall leader, haggling is continuing during talks in Bonn over who gets which posts. Aid for a UN-backed government is likely to reach GBP 8billion over the next ten years. In an interview with Time magazine, Tony Blair reiterated that British troops will not be used as a long-term occupation force in Afghanistan Although the U.S. believes it is closing in on Al Qaeda, the CIA says intercepted messages show Al Qaeda is planning a major attack on an unknown American target in the run-up to Christmas. d.williams@dailymail.co.uk |
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