U.S. forces on hunt for Osama in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 28. The U.S special forces have been in Afghanistan for two weeks searching for Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the USA Today reported today.

Citing unidentified senior U.S. and Pakistani officials, the newspaper said the U.S. commandos arrived in Pakistan on September 13 and began moving into Afghanistan with orders to capture or kill Osama, or pin him down until the U.S. launched air strikes.

The Pentagon spokesperson, Ms. Victoria Clarke, refused to comment on the report. The Pentagon was not making any comment on the operations, she said. Officials have said the war on terrorism, declared after the attacks in which nearly 6,500 people are dead or missing, would be an unconventional one in which commandos could play a key role.

The newspaper, citing Pentagon officials and Pakistani military officials with direct knowledge of the operations, said the U.S. forces landed in the Pakistani cities of Peshawar and Quetta.

Teams of three to five soldiers, supported by Black Hawk Mh-60K helicopters based outside Afghanistan, began moving into the country to locate Osama, concentrating their searches in caves and bunkers in south-west Afghanistan near Kandahar, the newspaper said.

It also said the elite troops were having trouble in spotting Osama and had asked other nations for intelligence help.

Quoting U.S. officials, the report said several elite military units were involved in the effort to find Osama, including the Army's Green Berets, Navy Seals and the British Army's Special Air Services.

- Reuters

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